.svg) | |||||||||||||||||
Mississippi's 1st congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Childers: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Davis: 50–60% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The2008 Mississippi 1st congressional district special election was a special election in the state ofMississippi to determine who would serve the remainder of formerRepresentativeRoger Wicker's term. After an April 22, 2008 ballot resulted in no candidate receiving a majority,Democratic Party candidateTravis Childers defeatedRepublican candidateGreg Davis in a runoff election on May 13, 2008.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Travis Childers | 40,919 | 41.41 | |
| Democratic | Steve Holland | 30,274 | 30.63 | |
| Democratic | Marshall Coleman | 12,913 | 13.07 | |
| Democratic | Brian Neely | 10,624 | 10.75 | |
| Democratic | Ken Hurt | 4,095 | 4.14 | |
| Total votes | 98,825 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Travis Childers | 20,797 | 56.58 | |
| Democratic | Steve Holland | 15,958 | 43.42 | |
| Total votes | 36,755 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Glenn McCullough | 17,082 | 38.88 | |
| Republican | Greg Davis | 16,161 | 36.79 | |
| Republican | Randy Russell | 10,688 | 24.33 | |
| Total votes | 43,931 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Greg Davis | 16,733 | 50.82 | |
| Republican | Glenn McCullough | 16,196 | 49.18 | |
| Total votes | 32,929 | 100.00 | ||
On December 31, 2007,Mississippi governorHaley Barbour appointedRoger Wicker to the Senate seat vacated 13 days earlier by Sen.Trent Lott. At the time of his appointment, Wicker was already a U.S. Representative for Mississippi's District 1. As a result of Wicker's appointment to the Senate, his House seat became vacant, necessitating a special election to determine who would serve the remainder of Wicker's term.
Mississippi's 1st congressional district covers the northeastern part of the state, including the cities ofColumbus,Grenada,Oxford,Southaven, andTupelo. The district had been represented by RepublicanRoger Wicker since 1995. The district has demonstrated itself to be "reliably conservative" in past elections, withGeorge W. Bush winning the district by 25 points in the 2004 presidential election.[5] Early speculation had RepublicansGreg Davis,Glenn McCullough, andRandy Russell and DemocratsSteve Holland andJamie Franks as contenders.[6][7] All but Franks ended up as candidates.
The party primaries were held on March 11.[6] The primary runoff election was held on April 1, 2008.[8] According to Mississippi state election law, those who voted in the Democratic Primary on March 11 were only allowed to vote in the Democratic runoff on April 1. Mississippi was one of the states where right wing commentators such asRush Limbaugh suggested people cross party lines on March 11 in order to keep the competition alive between Democratic presidential candidatesHillary Clinton andBarack Obama. Several websites such as theDaily Kos[9] andpolitico.com[10] suggested that this is why the Republican primary runoff was so close between the more moderate McCullough and Davis as many of the more Conservative Republicans were not allowed to vote in that runoff. It is also believed that this has led to the final special election race involving a conservative Democrat (Childers) who has a better than usual chance to win the general election. Republicans were particularly concerned that a race between Childers and McCullough would've increased the Democrat's chances.[10]
The initial special election to fill the seat was held on April 22, 2008; no one received a majority of the vote so a runoff election was held between the two top vote getters: DemocratTravis Childers (who was the top vote getter with 49.4% of the vote) and RepublicanGreg Davis (who received 46.3% of the initial special election vote) on May 13, 2008.
TheNational Republican Congressional Committee spent over $1.3 million in support of Davis' bid for the vacant seat.Freedom's Watch, a Republican-supporting advocacy group, purchased an additional $550,000 in advertising. TheDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $1.5 million in support of Childers.[5]
Despite the district's Republican leanings, Childers defeated Davis in the final round of the special election by a 54% to 46% margin.[11] Once sworn in, Childers will serve through the end of the110th Congress in January 2009.
Childers victory represents the 3rd time during the 110th Congress that a Democrat has been elected to a previously Republican-held seat in a special election. Childers victory is seen as a surprise upset for the Republican party as Mississippi's 1st district has been historically right leaning. It is believed that this sends "a clear signal of national problems ahead for Republicans in the fall".[12]Negative campaign ads approved by Davis tried to link Childers with presidential candidateBarack Obama and his controversial former pastor Rev.Jeremiah Wright.[13][14]
Childers and Davis faced off against each other in the November general election.[15] Again, Childers won that contest.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Travis Childers | 33,304 | 49.44 | |
| Republican | Greg Davis | 31,177 | 46.28 | |
| Republican | Glenn McCullough | 968 | 1.44 | |
| Democratic | Steve Holland | 789 | 1.17 | |
| Independent | Wally Pang | 725 | 1.08 | |
| Green | John M. Wages, Jr. | 398 | 0.59 | |
| Total votes | 67,361 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Travis Childers | 58,037 | 53.78 | |||
| Republican | Greg Davis | 49,877 | 46.22 | |||
| Total votes | 107,914 | 100.00 | ||||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||||
Childers was endorsed by theNortheast Mississippi Daily Journal,[18]The Commercial Dispatch,[19] andThe Commercial Appeal.[20]
.jpg)
.jpg)
