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Senate 29
Breakdown Turnout is anticipated to be heavy on both sides. Each is rallying their perspective voters and appear to be ready to mount heavy turnout operations Tuesday. The Mississippi Republican Party has taken to the radio waves on behalf of White with a radio spot (Barbour.mp3) featuring Governor Haley Barbour. DeWayne Thomas' father narrated a radio ad (DThomas.mp3) for his son that is currently on the air defending the fact that Thomas is a lawyer, even comparing him to the ‘good Samaritan’. Using the John Cougar Mellencamp copyrighted song ‘Small Town’ as background music, the ad closes with the slogan of “we’re not gonna’ take it anymore” leaving you to wonder if Thomas is a fan of the 80’s rock band ‘Twisted Sister’. Several pieces of mail supporting White have surfaced in the past week. Some were paid for by White while other we funded by the State GOP. Perhaps the most explosive piece of mail sent out on White’s behalf is from the Rev. Donald Wildmon, founder of the Tupelo-based American Family Association. In his letter (Wildmon.gif), Wildmon endorses White and then launches a scathing attack on Mississippi Right to Life director Sandy Ellard.
When asked about his involvement, Barbour pointed to the piece and stated Thomas had tried to pull one over on the voters by painting himself as a conservative. Barbour further stated that he’d been friends with White and was supporting him because “he’s the real conservative in the race.” Earlier this year, the Magnolia Report highlighted the similarities between Thomas’ campaign materials and Barbour’s. Thomas’ yard signs featured the exact same design as Barbour’s. His palm cards not only sported the same design, but also copied the text almost verbatim. Thomas has made a heavy media buy on local network television, Jackson cable and area radio. Thomas’ media buy totals over $50,000, even though he only reported having $3,790 cash-on-hand and hasn’t reported anything other than an in-kind contribution from Lamar Advertising on the 48-hour reports that are required by law to be filed. Like his opponent, Thomas has also been busy knocking on doors in the district. From reports around the district, Thomas is working swing-precincts in Belhaven and as well as heavy African-America precincts. The race was thrown into limbo for a short time this week when Greg Kelly, a Thomas voter from Belhaven, petitioned the Hinds County Chancery Court to declare the Senate resolution ordering a new election null and void. The suit also asked the court to declare that there was no fraud in the election and “determine that the certification of Thomas as the winner of the District 29 Senate election was correct.” After
the case was scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. Monday hearing before Judge Patricia
Wise, state Republicans were concerned that the The election uncertainty didn’t last long. Shortly after he filed his suit, plaintiff Greg Kelly said that it was voluntarily dismissed. The GOP and Democratic Party traded jabs Friday and Saturday over their respective candidates. Friday the state GOP sent out a press release (www.msgop.org/Lawsuits.htm) chiding Thomas for believing lawsuits are the “solution to every problem.” They pointed to a January 1, 2003 Clarion Ledger article stating that Thomas had filed “about 150 lawsuits in the last two days of December, more than he often files in a year…” in order to beat the legislation that went into effect regarding tort reform. State Democrats sent out a release of their own accusing Republicans of trying to buy the election for White. State Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole highlighted their grassroots efforts on behalf of Thomas. With all of the problems in the November election, the Hinds County Election Commission has totally revamped its operating procedures to ensure that all requirements of state law will be met. They are particularly focusing on ballot security and the integrity of their voting machines. The commission has even gone as far as to bring in additional voting machine technicians to be on hand at every precinct. If
there’s a more interesting Senate election in Mississippi history,
we haven’t heard of it. This one has entangled alliances, legal
wrangling, Senate hearings, big money and sides that are deeply dug in.
About the only thing that the Magnolia Report can predict about Wednesday
morning is that Barbara Blackmon still won’t be lieutenant governor. District 29 Comparison
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