Miss. incumbent leads in 1st District fundraising

State News

October 22, 2009

Anonymous Picayune Item Thu Oct 22, 2009, 08:12 AM CDT

JACKSON — Both national parties are looking at north Mississippi’s 1st District congressional race as a priority in the 2010 elections.

So far, finance records show Democratic incumbent Travis Childers has collected more campaign cash than one of the Republicans who intends to run, state Sen. Alan Nunnelee of Tupelo.

Childers, a former chancery clerk from Booneville, first won the seat in a special election in mid-2008 when Republican Roger Wicker moved from the House to the U.S. Senate. Wicker had held the 1st District seat since January 1995.

Childers was elected for a full, two-year term last November.

The latest reports filed to the Federal Election Commission show Childers had $507,221 cash on hand and $100,000 of debt through Sept. 30, while Nunnelee had $181,163 on hand and no debt.

Childers is a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat who has bucked his party’s leadership on some issues but voted for the $787 billion federal stimulus package.

Nunnelee is chairman of the powerful state Senate Appropriations Committee, and he has frequently criticized Childers’ stimulus vote. Nunnelee said Tuesday that 96 percent of his campaign money so far has come from Mississippi.

“I think that says a lot about our candidacy,” Nunnelee said. “I did not start raising money until Aug. 1, so what you see is a two-month period.”

Brad Morris, chief of staff in Childers’ congressional office, said constituents in north Mississippi see Childers as an advocate of their interests. Morris also said Nunnelee’s fundraising was weak.

“For a sitting chairman of one of the most powerful committees in the state Legislature, it just doesn’t seem that impressive to me,” Morris said.

Childers on Tuesday was one of 42 incumbents listed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Web site as “Frontline Democrats 2009-2010.” The site seeks campaign donations.

Ryan Rudominer, spokesman for the DCCC, said in a statement that Childers is “an independent voice and a true fiscal conservative.”

Rudominer also said: “Sen. Nunnelee’s ’say one thing and do another’ hypocrisy when it comes to hiking taxes and using recovery funds he rails against is the last thing Mississippi needs.”

Andy Sere, spokesman for the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview that the GOP in 2010 wants to retake the majority in the House by winning at least 40 seats now held by Democrats.

“This race is at the very top of our list,” Sere said. “We think Travis Childers is among a handful of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country.”

On the Net:

Federal Election Commission: http://www.fec.gov

Text Only

State News

MHP on patrol for holiday
Even though there has been a remarkable reduction in the number of fatalities in Mississippi over the past seven years, last year’s Memorial Day Weekend was particularly deadly.

May 26, 2012
Forecasters: 9 to 15 storms this hurricane season
U.S. forecasters predicted Thursday that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season would produce a normal number of about nine to 15 tropical storms.
As many as four to eight of those storms could strengthen into hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s initial outlook for the six-month storm season that officially begins June 1. One to three of those could become major hurricanes with top winds of 111 mph or higher.

May 25, 2012
Miss. court sets execution dates for 2 of 3 men
Mississippi will not execute three men on three consecutive days in June, after the state Supreme Court set execution dates a week apart for two men and declined to set a date for a third.

May 25, 2012
New, old law makers tout legislative successes
Four state law makers held a legislative review for members of the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce at the newly opened Southern Char restaurant Tuesday night to share with business owners information about new bills and laws that have been passed.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Prosecutors: Delay sentencing in hate crime case
Federal prosecutors want to delay the sentencing of three white men who pleaded guilty to hate crime charges stemming from a months-long pattern of harassing blacks that culminated in the fatal rundown of James Craig Anderson.

May 24, 2012
Bryant signs laws affecting students and veterans
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill Wednesday that requires kindergarteners or first-graders to be tested for dyslexia, a reading disorder that can sometimes go undiagnosed for years and leave children struggling to learn.

May 24, 2012
Losing bidder sues over revised bid at state port
A contract dispute has put on hold elevation work at the state port in Gulfport.
The port’s West Pier is being expanded, elevated and updated to house a modern containerized cargo operation. When completed, the pier will include 180 acres elevated for storm-surge protection by 15 feet, to 25 feet above sea level.

May 23, 2012
Mom of man in sisters abduction gets new charge
Prosecutors have increased the severity of charges against the mother of a man who abducted two young Tennessee girls after he killed their mother and oldest sister.

May 23, 2012
Sheriff: Gang started prison riot in Mississippi
A gang fight in a prison for illegal immigrants quickly escalated into a riot involving as many as 300 inmates, some lashing out with sticks or homemade knives as the uprising spread through the sprawling prison, a sheriff said.

May 22, 2012
Miss. voter ID bill signed, awaits feds’ scrutiny
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday signed a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, but it’s unclear whether it will become law.

May 18, 2012
More State News Headlines

State News

Search Results

Miss. incumbent leads in 1st District fundraising

Site Map

Contact Us