Jackson Free Press

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-2nd District, easily trounced his Democratic opponent Chuck Espy in the June 6 primary. Thompson, who has held his seat for more than a decade, won the election with more than 55,000 votes, or 65 percent, to Espy's 30,000, or 35 percent.

Voter turnout was light this year, with no presidential election fueling a voters' run to the polls. Two years ago, a war over the reelection of President George W. Bush spurred almost 150,000 voters to choose Thompson, and more than 100,000 to vote for his Republican opponent Clinton B. LeSueur.

Still, Thompson was heartened by his success, telling reporters, "I have the support of my people because they know who has their best interest."

Thompson ran a campaign labeling Espy as a stalking horse for Republicans—a label Espy did not dispel when he told local newspapers that he welcomed support from conservatives and moderates.

Espy, in turn, labeled Thompson as the great divider, closing communications with conservatives and moderates.

Many politicos expected Thompson to have the hardest fight of his career on June 6, pointing out that LeSueur did well against Thompson, and that Espy could garner the same moderate-to-conservative votes that supported LeSueur's near success.

"I'm not surprised that Thompson pulled out of this race with a win," said JSU political science professor Leslie McLemore, who is also a city councilman. "But I bet even Bennie was surprised by how well he pulled it off. I bet even he wasn't expecting to win that big."

Thompson now faces Republican Yvonne Brown in November. Brown, who is the mayor of Tchula, was successful enough in her hometown to win a second term.

Thompson is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, a seat Espy faulted him for taking in lieu of his ranking seat on the Agriculture Committee. If Democrats reclaim the House in November, Thompson will be chairman of Homeland Security, which will give him enormous power in post-9/11 America. Thompson says he plans to use his chairmanship to bring new health and security businesses to his state.

Ole Miss professor and political commentator Joe Atkins said Thompson's fearless criticism of the Bush administration—even when Bush opinion polls were in the high 80s—and his frequent condemnation of the war in Iraq may resonate with disenchanted voters who currently give Congress and the president very low approval ratings. He said only time will tell whether Thompson and other Democrats carried through after November.

"As far as where the House goes, I guess I would have to take a wait-and-see attitude because I've been so discouraged by the behavior of Democrats over the past 10 years. They've got to find their soul again. I don't know if it began with Bill Clinton, but Clinton pushed Democrats in that direction where they felt like the key to success was to be more like Republicans," Atkins said.

"I want to see Democrats with courage and a willingness to stand up for the core beliefs of their party and tradition, and not to feel like they've got to be like Republicans to be successful. I think people are getting pretty sick of Republicans right now."

Meanwhile, four Democratic candidates now have more fights ahead of them as they pair off for the June 27 runoff. Political adviser James Hunt of Verona is running against attorney William Bambach of Columbus. One of the two political unknowns will face long-time Republican U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker.

Also, two Democrats looking to battle U.S. Sen. Trent Lott must first win a runoff on June 27 as Clinton Rep. Erik Fleming squares off against business consultant Bill Bowlin.

Fleming was surprised that Bowlin was his opponent in the runoff.

"I felt that if there was going to be a run-off, it was going to be O'Keefe. He ran a really strong campaign. He gave it everything he had, and I felt he was a candidate who made a good run. He had a platform to run on, and Bowlin came in at the last minute and pulled enough votes to secure a runoff," Fleming said.