Key Mississippi congressional race up for grabs _ twice
This Feb. 10, 2008 file photo is a campaign photograph provided by Childers for Congress, showing Democrat Travis Childers, the chancery clerk of northeast Mississippi's Prentiss County in Booneville, Miss. Childers will face Southaven, Miss., Mayor Greg Davis, who is a Republican, in a May 13 runoff to decide who will fill north Mississippi's vacant congressional seat for a few months. (AP Photo/Childers for Congress, HO)
(AP)
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Thursday, May 8, 2008; 3:58 AM
WEST POINT, Miss. -- Democratic congressional candidate Travis Childers isn't afraid to get dirty to win.
"Let me tell y'all something mighty quick because I know y'all didn't come to a cow sale to hear a politician," Childers said recently as he stepped into a muddy stockyard pen, wearing a suit and black dress shoes. "I'll be responsive to the needs of north Mississippians."
Childers _ a socially conservative county official from the far northeastern corner of the state _ is trying to wrest a congressional seat away from the Republicans in the deeply conservative state.
Actually, he's trying to win the seat twice.
Childers faces Republican Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, in a May 13 special election runoff to serve the final months of a seat vacated by Roger Wicker, a Republican appointed to the U.S. Senate when Trent Lott resigned.
After the runoff, Childers, Davis and two other candidates will be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, seeking a two-year term that starts next January. The runoff winner will be the incumbent with a likely advantage in fundraising and name recognition.
Democrats are hoping for a repeat of this past Saturday's congressional election in Louisiana, where a conservative Democrat won a seat long held by a Republican.
In both Deep South states, the Republicans have tried to hurt the Democratic congressional candidates by tying them to presidential candidate Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Democratic congressional candidates, running on opposition to abortion and support of gun rights, say their races are not a referendum on the national party.
Despite the strong conservative leanings in a state that has voted Republican in every presidential race since 1980, political scientist Marty Wiseman said Mississippi's 1st District is "a very winnable district" for the Democrats this year _ partly because of Democrats' apparent momentum in the presidential race.
The race also has drawn attention from the highest levels: The White House said Vice President Dick Cheney will appear at a Davis campaign rally May 12, the day before the special election.
The 1st District, with about a 75 percent white voting-age population, stretches from the Delta flatlands on its western edge to the Appalachian foothills in the northeast. The area's furniture manufacturing industry has eroded over the past two decades, but a new Toyota plant is being built near Tupelo.
Childers has signed a pledge not to approve any international trade agreements if he's elected, saying that deals such as NAFTA have made jobs disappear.
