Jackson Free Press

With the March 1st filing deadline fast approaching, I don't see any evidence that any well-known Democrat has emerged to make a viable challenge to Haley Barbour. A channel surf to WJTV TV-13 a few minutes ago made this especially clear to me. The three announced D candidates are:

William Compton, Jr. -- Who's he? A Google search for "William Compton Jr." plus "Mississippi" returns two matches, one a church bulletin from Kentucky, the other a genealogy record for a man born in 1828.

Elmer Fondren -- Love the last name, but who is he? A Google search for "Elmer Fondren" turns up two matches, one a page in Norwegian, the other a list of surviving relatives in an obituary.

Bill Renick -- The most famous of the three is former Musgrove chief of staff Bill Renick.

I'm glad that the Mississippi Democratic Party is fielding candidates--because there's always a chance that a major scandal could erupt--but right now Barbour is polling well and none of his opponents have a clear statewide publicity platform.

***

The lieutenant governor's race looks interesting. Jamie Franks is not a perfect candidate but he is a young, charismatic, and well-financed candidate, and getting elected could tip control of the Senate back over to the Democrats, which would be a very good thing. With the Musgrove sex scandal cropping up, it looks as if Franks will run unchallenged for the party nomination. Good for him. He has a bright political future ahead, regardless of the outcome of the November race.

The Republican primaries also interest me because Phil Bryant and Charlie Ross are more different than most people seem to realize. Bryant is an old school social conservative who recently made a name for himself by going after immigrants, and he's very popular with the AFA and so forth. Ross is a tough fiscal conservative who focuses on gun rights and tort reform. Ross is by far my favorite of the two, but Bryant has more name recognition.

If I had to handicap the LG race right now, I'd say that Franks has his work cut out for him--but if he does manage to pull off a victory, I'll be thrilled.

***

Eric Clark's unexpected resignation as secretary of state has opened up the position to a wide range of rumored candidates, including Republican mayors Greg Davis and Jeffery Rupp and former U.S. representative Ronnie Shows. The party affiliation of the secretary of state could be important from a voting rights perspective, or it could be completely unimportant, depending on the candidate. My feelings about Ronnie Shows are well documented, but fortunately there are still plenty of other candidates to choose from--I was going to name-drop Gary Anderson and Harvey Johnson, and I see that Magnolia Report already has Anderson's name in the rumor mill, which is exciting. State senator Gloria Williamson (also in the Magnolia rumor bill) would be a fantastic candidate, too. This would also be a good place for Mike Moore to stage his comeback, if he's still planning to run for governor in 2011.

***

With Phil Bryant running for LG, you'd think there would be some Democratic candidates lined up to pursue the open state auditor's seat. Where the heck are they? Magnolia Report lists none, I've heard of none, and it's one of those positions where party affiliation is not likely to be a deciding factor--but it's also a great way to establish name recognition and a statewide base of support, as Bryant is demonstrating as we speak.

***

The most competitive local legislative race seems to be Senate District 29's Richard White (R) versus Eric Clark's communications director, David Blount (D). White, as you may recall, was awarded a victory over Democratic opponent Dewayne Thomas under highly controversial circumstances. White is not one of my favorite senators, to say the least, consistently working against policies that fight social stratification while at the same time pushing for an extreme-right agenda. Blount is a charismatic candidate, more urban and cosmopolitan than most white Democrats in Mississippi, and if he wins District 29 he could not only put the divided 26-26 Senate back into Democratic hands regardless of the outcome of the LG race, but he would also be well situated to pursue statewide office himself in 2011 or 2015 if he so chooses. I am hearing excellent buzz surrounding Blount. Whatever the outcome in November, I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing from him again.

Previous Comments

ID

110391

Comment

According to the Clarion-Ledger, Fondren is a former state representative living in Gautier. Compton is from Lauderdale County. Some more information on Fondren can be found in this Mississippi Press article.

Author

Ex

Date

2007-02-11T13:20:38-06:00

ID

110392

Comment

UPDATE: Mike Sumrall (D) has announced that he will run for the open state auditor's seat. Good for him! Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-14T14:52:49-06:00