MS-01: In what may or may not be an issue in the GOP primary, Hotline says that some Republican sources question what effect Angela McGlowan’s ties to Steve Wynn’s gambling empire will have on her chances as the race heats up. The First District is not exactly as friendly toward gambling as the rest of the state may be.
MS-01: Henry Ross recently re-posted this story from last March on his campaign website. It is an editorial he wrote for the Daily Journal called “Big Spending is Bad Medicine” where he criticizes the Obama administration for their spending habits.
MS-01: Guilt by association? Apparently, Angela McGlowan was followed at the National Tea Party Convention by Joseph Farah, the editor of WorldNetDaily, who went on to question Barack Obama’s birth certificate. The Washington Independent (although I am not sure how independent they are) thinks that fact is an issue in their story, “A Congressional Bid and a Birther Monologue.”
MS-01: Democrats are hoping to take full advantage of a three-person GOP primary. After McGlowan’s entrance into the race today, they sent out a press release saying this: “Given Alan Nunnelee’s record, it’s no surprise that conservative activists in Mississippi are stepping forward to challenge him. Whether you’re a Republican, an Independent or a Democrat, you don’t want to support someone who broke their word to the people of Mississippi. Nunnelee signed his word that he wouldn’t raise taxes and then worked to raise tobacco tax and hospital taxes. With a record like that, it’s no wonder more candidates aren’t getting into the race to make sure Nunnelee is accountable for his record.”
MS-01: Travis Childers’ campaign website isn’t quite ready for the 2010 race yet. When you click through, you get a homepage that reads, “Travis Childers will continue standing up for North Mississippi families as their Congressman. Travis knows hard work.” You can link to a contribution and volunteer sign-up page only. The issues/ news have yet to be updated.
MS-01: We have updated the story from earlier today regarding McGlowan’s official entrance into the race to include the campaign press release.
NRCC: Looking at the Mid-South region for a minute, the Commercial Appeal is calling the area “ground zero” for GOP pickups in the fall. The GOP is targeting five seats currently held by Democrats, including AR-01 which is being vacated by Marion Berry, AR-02 which is being vacated by Vic Snyder, TN-08 which is being vacated by John Tanner, and TN-06 which is being vacated by Bart Gordon. MS-01 rounds out the fifth seat in play in the region (although Travis Childers is the only Democrat on that list not retiring).
2012 President: We paid great attention to Haley Barbour’s trips to the early presidential primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire over the summer, and now Barbour is scheduled to go to South Carolina- host of the first primary in the South. Barbour continues to insist there is nothing to it.
We can now say there are three official candidates in the GOP primary for the First District. In one of the worst kept secrets in recent memory, Fox News analyst and conservative author Angela McGlowan made her official intentions known in Oxford earlier today.
She will be visiting courthouses through the week as part of her campaign kickoff tour.
More information on the candidates is available at the 2010 list.
Update: NRCC spokesman Andy Sere said this about Angela McGlowan’s entrance into the GOP primary: “We welcome her to the race. Obviously, Sen. Nunnelee has been in there for a while and has turned out to be one of the best candidates for us this cycle. They’ll have a primary, and Northern Mississippi voters will decide.”
Update 2: The McGlowan campaign sent out this press release announcing her entrance into the race which is below:
We have talked a good bit about fundraising recently as fourth quarter figures were do at the end of January. Fundraising usually makes for a good chance to spin your numbers- or your opponents- to your advantage.
Alan Nunnelee can brag about raising more than $200,000 in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to just $109,000 for Travis Childers during the same period. Childers, on the other hand, can point to total cash on hand. Right now, he has $550,000 versus $292,000 for Nunnelee. So it can cut both ways.
This is how Brad Morris, chief of staff to Childers, saw it: “The fact is Congressman Childers had a phenomenal year in fundraising. He’s raised about $850,000 this cycle, roughly twice as much as his nearest competitor. He ended the year with $550,000 cash on hand, which is nearly double the cash in hand for his competitor.”
One area where I think Nunnelee can make a valid winning argument is where that money a candidate raises came from. On Friday, Nunnelee said, “The thing that I was excited about in our fundraising was we showed strong support throughout North Mississippi. We got money from a lot of individuals where the other side is getting almost all their money out of Washington.”
Continue reading Nunnelee and Childers Battle Over Fundraising Numbers >>
Over the weekend, Brad Morris- chief of staff for Rep. Childers- said this about former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee: “Why would he bring in a guy who lets murderers loose on the street?” During his time as governor, Huckabee granted clemency to an Arkansas inmate who is now accused of killing four Washington state police officers.
Huckabee still maintains a high profile in GOP circles, and will be hosting a fundraiser for Alan Nunnelee next week.
The National Republican Congressional Committee hit back saying this about Childers’ ties (and support) for Joey Langston:
Continue reading NRCC Goes After Childers For Huckabee Comments ??
MS-01: As we noted earlier this week, former Eupora mayor Henry Ross kicked off his Congressional campaign this week with several courthouse speeches. The video is from Ross’ announcement speech in Corinth.
MS-04: As we recently mentioned, Fourth District GOP candidate Joe Tegerdine will be making a lot of stops this month in an effort to get his name out there as he takes on Rep. Gene Taylor, who has been in DC for about 20 years. Tegerdine says he can win if he can build a grassroots organization similar to what Jason Chaffetz did in Utah. Tegerdine has also pledged to not accept any earmarks, a winning issue with economic conservatives.
MS-04: If you support Joe Tegerdine and want to win a shotgun, the Tegerdine campaign has a challenge for you. The person who raises the most funds over $1,000 by March 5 will win a new Browning shotgun. Check out the link for more information on the fundraiser.
MS-04: Don’t be fooled by impersonators. Rep. Gene Taylor is not as devoted to social media as some Congressmen, but his opponents would like you to think he is on Twitter. Using the handle @RepGeneTaylor, his bio includes: Congressman of Mississippi 4th district is facing his greatest challenger in the 2010 election. You can also find tweets of thoughts that are less than gracious to Taylor.
MS-01/ MS-04: Are you on Facebook? So are several 2010 challengers including Henry Ross, Alan Nunnelee, and Joe Tegerdine. Angela McGlowan also has a Facebook page, but it is not campaign specific.
President: Happy Birthday Mr. President! Ronald Reagan would be 99 today. In his honor, DC is snowed in and government is shut down. I’m a sure the president would have enjoyed that.
This is a campaign flyer that was recently found in Oxford. It is, obviously, for Angela McGlowan’s campaign and says, “February 8th through 12th Angela McGlowan will have several public forms to deliver an important message to the people of Mississippi.”
Note: This flyer caused the AP to write a story on McGlowan entering the race, but I believe we are the only ones with the actual flyer.
She will be speaking in Oxford on Monday, Corinth on Tuesday, Tupelo on Wednesday, Columbus on Thursday, and Hernando on Friday.
Last night at the National Tea Party Convention she said she could not make an official announcement on her plans to run for Congress, but will do so next week- starting on Monday.
We have updated the 2010 list to reflect her official entrance in the race.
Below is a video of Angela McGlowan speaking at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last night. Well worth watching. She says she is about to “embark on another endeavor in life,” but can not make an official announcement until Monday. And she does manage to take a shot at Travis Childers. Very much a campaign kickoff speech.
Or if you’d like, you can click through to the C-SPAN website to watch the speech.
Continue reading Watch Angela McGlowan’s Tea Party Convention Speech >>
A bill that is expected to be signed into law by Governor Haley Barbour now requires consumers to obtain a prescription from a doctor for drugs that include pseudoephedrine. Lawmakers and the Governor see this as a way to combat the rise in meth labs in the state. I can’t bring myself to see what exactly they are seeing. As someone who on many occasions has gone to the store to get some Claritin or Sudafed over the counter I am disappointed in this bill and the ramifications it will have. I think it is beyond ridiculous for us to now clog up doctors offices for simple cases such as this one that most people could self medicate and have done so for decades. Also, this will have little impact on meth addicts in this state in my opinion. If they want to make meth they still will and they will either go to other states to stock up or will find an alternative. Addicts will do what they have to do to get high and thats a fact that the Governor and the Legislature are overlooking in my opinion. You can try to regulate it all you want, but the only people that are truly affected by all of this are the good and honest consumers who only want to by this when they are sick and don’t have the time or money to go to the doctor. This bill clearly does more harm than good in my judgement.
Who Wants An Airplane?
I think it is funny that some Democrats in the Legislature are trying to put the state airplane up for sale on eBay. In something that would only be fitting they should put it up for sale then buy it back at a lower price and mention how much cheaper they got it for this time. Now that is completely a sarcastic look at, but would anybody really be surprised. I know it wouldn’t shock me a bit. The whole idea is just off the wall and a shot in the dark to try and fill a much bigger hole than what the money they could get off the sale could fill. With that approach lets just sell all the little things the state owns until we have enough to fix the budget for ONE year. Then when next year roles around we are left with the same hole, but no longer any assets to sell off to fill the hole. It almost makes too much sense, but I guess you really just never know how some people think.
Chief Phillip Martin 1926-2010
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the state of Mississippi lost a great and dedicated leader this week with the passing of Chief Phillip Martin.
Chief Phillip Martin, the former Choctaw Indian Tribal leader who served in public office for 48 years and helped to lead his people from abject poverty to unprecedented growth and prosperity with economic development initiatives that included the construction of two casinos in Neshoba County, died on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at a Jackson hospital. He was 83.
Chief Martin also served this country in the United States Air Force. The casino projects and the Pearl River Resort project have brought great economic success to the Choctaw people. Through his leadership Chief Martin and the MS Band of Choctaw Indians have reached great heights and I am sure he will be remembered very fondly by all.
Chief Phillip Martin 1926-2010
It is no secret that the First District favorite in the GOP primary among the party leadership is State Sen. Alan Nunnelee (R-Tupelo). Nunnelee has received donations from the likes of Gov. Haley Barbour, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA). They certainly have not been going around campaigning for Nunnelee but their implied support is there.
The NRCC considered Nunnelee’s entrance into the race last summer a major win for the party’s recruitment efforts. However, we know today that Nunnelee will not exactly have smooth sailing into the general election against Rep. Travis Childers, and that is causing some in the NRCC to take a second look at how they handle this, and how involved they should be until the primary is over.
Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) said that the NRCC should proceed with caution as FoxNews analyst Angela McGlowan enters the race. He said they should “give some time to see how the situation develops.” Davis is helping the NRCC’s recruiting efforts and met with McGlowan when she was recently making the rounds on Capitol Hill.
A couple of other GOP insiders, however, did not take kindly to Davis’ suggestion. One source said, “I don’t see the logic of Geoff Davis going out there and being supportive of anybody other than the guy who has already gone out there and outraised and outworked the incumbent.” Another source also said Davis’ comments could affect Nunnelee’s ability to raise money for the time being from certain sources.
Continue reading Possible Split In GOP Leadership Over How To Handle MS-01 >>
Angela McGlowan, who is expected to announce her candidacy for Congress next week, is scheduled to speak at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. McGlowan has spent the past year making the rounds at Tea Party events in North Mississippi, but will take the big stage this weekend.
She will be speaking between 7 and 8 pm tomorrow night along with Joseph Farah, founder of World Net Daily (a conservative website).
Here is her bio from the convention’s website with no mention of her intent to run for Congress.
Since we are talking about the National Tea Party Convention, I have gone ahead and inserted a couple speeches McGlowan has given at previous Tea Party events recently:
Continue reading McGlowan To Speak At National Tea Party Convention >>
- Negotiations are expected to begin soon between the House and Senate on how to handle a bill meant to restore some of the cuts to the budget the governor had to make as revenues continued to fall off. Senate Democrats hoped to send the House bill to the governor, but two Democrats joined all Republicans in inviting conference with the House. Both sides, however, seem to be in agreement that they need something done quickly.
- House Appropriations Chairman Johnny Stringer (D-Montrose) said it makes sense to send the House bill to the governor which uses $100 million from one-time funds to restore cuts. His reasoning? “The vote in the Senate was so close and we got a strong vote in the House for spending the $100 million. The Senate is divided. I think we ought to use the $100 million.”
- Speaking of budget cuts, the Supreme Court threw a wrench in the governor’s cuts to the judicial system saying that he does not have the authority to make such cuts. Their appears to be some confusion on what- if anything- the governor’s office can do to appeal, but right now the cuts are on hold. Kevin Upchurch, executive director of the Department of Finance and Administration, said he is worried he could be arrested if he follows through with the cuts until he gets further clarification.
- Clarion-Ledger columnist Sid Salter shot back at that House Democrats proposal to sell the governor’s plane. He said, “In terms of public policy, it’s more of the same- spending non-recurring funds (net proceeds of the plane’s sale) for recurring expenses (the state car-tag fund). So what do we sell or hock next year? The Woolfolk State Office Building? The state’s Welcome Centers? Maybe the Bilbo statue. Bottom line? This is a political stunt, not sound public policy.”
- While one-time money may not be the solution, Jim Hood has announced a news conference where he is expected to announce a settlement that will “put millions into the state coffers.” I am sure the legislature will not mind.
- Look for Haley Barbour to sign HB 512, otherwise known as the Meth Bill. Once law, it would require a prescription to get any medicine containing Pseudoephedrine, one of the key ingredients in meth-making.
Rep. Travis Childers sent out a press release yesterday expressing his disapproval with AIG bonuses’ that were paid out in the past quarter. I have talked about it before, but you can chalk this up to an attempt to continue his populist play. The populist appeal helped Childers in 2008, and it looks like 2010 is going to be known as the “year of the populist.” AIG bonuses’ are a pretty easy target, and Childers’ press release is below:
Today, Congressman Travis Childers (MS-01) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury expressing his extreme disappointment in American Insurance Group’s (AIG) disbursement of employee bonuses this quarter. AIG received taxpayer-funded bailout money under the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP), but while the company has since reduced its employee bonuses, it has not altogether ended them.
The following is a video from an Alan Nunnelee for Congress campaign kickoff rally in Tupelo. The video is a bit lengthy, but good viewing for political junkies. And if you just want to see Nunnelee, he starts speaking at around the six minute mark.
Note: If you are reading this via E-mail subscription or RSS, you will have to click though to the blog to see the video.
Continue reading Alan Nunnelee for Congress Campaign Kickoff Rally Video >>
The State House has just voted to sell the governor’s plane, apparently in their attempt to raise money for the general fund. A final vote is not available yet, but here is the text of the bill:
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 61-13-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO SELL THE STATE’S CITATION JET, EITHER BY COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDS, BY PUBLIC AUCTION OR BY ONLINE AUCTION ON EBAY, WHICHEVER METHOD THAT THE DEPARTMENT DETERMINES WILL PRODUCE THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF REVENUE TO THE STATE FROM THE SALE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE JET SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY, WHICH SHALL BE USED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED TAX MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ALL REVENUE GENERATING ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
We will post a link to the roll-call vote when it becomes available. As I have said before, House members- especially the leadership- don’t just disagree with the governor, they despise him (for a variety of reasons). This was nothing more than a partisan hit-job that will see the same fate as bills requiring the governor to use $100 million from one-time funds.
I am not sure what the voters are thinking but House Democrats have clearly dug their heels into opposing the governor- and making him look bad- at all costs.
Update: It looks like the final vote was 66 to 54. Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian) called it “another partisan shot at Gov. Barbour, resulting in a near party-line vote.”
After making note of the lack of website for the Henry Ross campaign in the notebook this morning, I got word that the campaign site is nearing completion. You can check it out at HenryRossForCongress.com.
And for what it’s worth, it looks great and has a lot of good information on there.
- Former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will headline a fundraiser for First District candidate Alan Nunnelee on February 17. The $125 per-person lunch will be held at the BancorpSouth Conference Center in Tupelo. In case you were wondering, $125 to see Huckabee is a pretty good deal. He will headline a lunheon the following day for South Carolina congressional candidate Res Rice with a going rate of $300 per person.
- Despite officially entering the race for MS-01 today, former Eupora mayor Henry Ross has yet to release a campaign website. For comparison, 2008 Second District candidate- who may be running again this year- Richard Cook has a website as does another long shot candidate- Pearl River County supervisor Hudson Holliday- who is running for governor in 2011.
- Andy Sere, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said this about Nunnelee’s fourth quarter fundraising figures: “It’s exceedingly rare that a challenger significantly out raises a Washington incumbent, but that’s what Sen. Nunnelee managed to do.”
- Fourth District GOP hopeful Joe Tegerdine has been a busy man visiting the district, and that will be no different in February. In fact, the Republican has twelve events planned in the first eighteen days of the month. You can view his calendar here.
- Although federal campaign finance reports for the fourth quarter were due last week, Tegerdine has yet to release those numbers with both the FEC and Open Secrets showing totals through September 30 only. Rep. Gene Taylor currently has about $225,000 cash on hand.
- No Mississippi politician is sitting as pretty when it comes to fundraising as House Homeland Security Committtee Chairman Bennie Thompson. The Second District Democrat has more than $1.9 million cash on hand.
Following the release of the January 30 campaign finance reports, we can look closer at who wants to be a major player in 2011- and who has some work to do.
Businessman Dave Dennis put up a nice showing, especially for someone not currently in politics, but Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant currently has about a 2-1 cash on hand advantage. Dennis and Bryant will both most likely be running for governor. Despite the advantage for Bryant, Dennis’ numbers are respectable and show he will be a serious competitor in the GOP primary.
On the Democratic side, Bill Luckett had a very nice showing but those figures were partially inflated by a very nice gift from his friend Morgan Freeman. Still, money is money- and Freeman has plenty of it.
The Republican race for Bryant’s current job could get very interesting. Treasurer Tate Reeves had the most impressive showing with $1.2 million cash on hand. With numbers like that, you have to imagine he is looking for something besides a third term as Treasurer. You have to suspect there is a very good chance he tries for the number two job and with fundraising like this he is as well positioned as anyone.
He won’t be the only one though.
State Sen. Billy Hewes is running for lieutenant governor and he claims more than $670,000 cash on hand. I would also suspect Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is seriously eyeing the number two job and he has more than $315,000 cash on hand. That would make for one heck of a competitive, and very fun, GOP primary. Right now, the GOP primary looks like it will be the general election unless some Democrat really steps up.
Continue reading Thoughts On 2011 After Looking At Latest Round of Campaign Finance Reports >>
We can officially call former Eupora mayor and senior counsel in the Justice Department Henry Ross a Republican candidate for the First District.
Ross has stops scheduled in Corinth, Tupelo and Columbus today to announce his candidacy.
We have made the changes to the 2010 list to reflect the news.
We are getting very close to the three-way race in the GOP primary for the First District. Angela McGlowan, who has long been rumored to run, will announce her candidacy next week as part of a three-stop tour, according to the Daily Journal.
At least one of those stops includes the Alcorn County courthouse in Corinth where she will campaign on February 9 at noon.
When the announcement is official, we will make the appropriate changes to the 2010 List.
Continue reading MS-01: McGlowan To Make Announcement Next Week >>
- Rep. Alex Monsour (R-Vicksburg) has introduced HCR 17, a Constitutional amendment which is meant to be a direct shot at the pending federal healthcare legislation. Under HCR 17, it would be unlawful to require any person, employers, or healthcare provider to participate in any healthcare system.
- Mississippi University for Women will remain Mississippi University for Women. After the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee did not vote on a bill that would give the state College Board authority to change MUWs name, the issue appears dead for the legislative session. State Sen. Doug Davis (R-Hernando), Chairman of the Universities and Colleges Committee, said the bill died because similar legislation was not filed in the House.
- Those who predicted a quick death to the House bill requiring the governor to use $100 million of one-time funds to help ease the budget gap were right. The bill stalled in the Senate when the body voted to send the bill to conference with House members.
- Haley Barbour is calling on the legislature to approve SB2928 which would shift law enforcement housed in the Mississippi Department of Transportation to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. The purpose of the bill is to streamline motor carrier safety operations, and in return increase the number of state troopers who focus on enforcing traffic laws.
- Speaker Billy McCoy is no fan of a bill that trim the size of the state legislature. State Sen. Walter Michel (R-Jackson) had introduced legislation that would reduce the number of senators from 52 to 40 and representatives from 122 to 90. The Senate Elections Committee cleared a bill that would cut the legislature by ten percent- to 47 senators and 100 House members. McCoy, however, called this a “stupid idea” and said there is “no support for it in the House.”
- A bill that would institute a state-sponsored lottery saw no action today as only five of the 15 members of the House Gaming Committee attended a meeting on the bill. If the bill does not pass tomorrow, it will be dead for the legislative season.
