Campbell Failed To Win In Lauderdale
One Senate primary that we thought could be competitive involved the east-central District 31 seat currently held by Sen. Terry Burton. He was being challenged by Rep. Tad Campbell, who didn’t have much of any money, but was certainly not afraid to go on the offensive.
During the last session, Burton, as chairman of the Senate redistricting committee, had aggravated conservatives first with his proposed Senate map and then his (perceived) support of the House map. During the race, Burton strongly defended his map as good for Republicans (and we agree with that) and shot back at the notion that he supported the Tommy Reynolds plan.
On Tuesday, Burton won rather easily. One of the main reasons I pegged this as a potentially competitive race was because of geography. Burton hails from Newton county while Campbell is from Lauderdale county. And in the GOP primary, Lauderdale provides most of the votes. And that was trued in this race. A full 67 percent of the vote came from Lauderdale.
However, Campbell only managed 41 percent in his home county and just a quarter of the vote in Newton which provided basically all the other votes. (A few votes from Scott county also came in). For various reasons, Lauderdale votes chose Burton and he is very likely to win re-election in the fall. The question will then lead to whether or not Tate Reeves taps him to lead redistricting once again.
Updates from previously undecided Senate races:
** In SD 8, Patsy Gregory has scored the narrowest of victories over Victor Horn in the Republican primary. According to the latest vote totals, Gregory has 1,327 votes compared to 1,323 for Horn. Horn decided against a review of the results, and offered this statement: “The election has finally been certified and the people have spoken. That is part of what makes our country so great. I just congratulated Patsy Gregory on her victory as the Republican candidate. My prayer has been and will be that God will lead committed Christians to lead our state and country. We are so thankful to all those who supported our campaign. May God bless you all.”
** It looks like a runoff is likely in the SD 25 GOP primary. Madison county has finished their voting, but I believe Hinds has yet to do the same. Last vote total I had seen was 7,095 for Will Longwitz and 7,139 for Charles Barbour and Sean Corcoran.
(A)Tad Campbell is a nice guy, but he really was a “Do Nothing” member of the House–a fact exploited brilliantly by Burton; (B) Tad fell into the same trap many GOP recruits encounter, that being that the folk who talked him “out of retirement” promised him tons of help and money that never appeared; (C) Something dramatic happened in Burton’s campaign right after his miscues on WMOX–don’t know how it happened but he suddenly turned into a campaign machine, showing up at the right events, saying the right things, actually going door-to-door in Lauderdale, and dropping targeted mail pieces that were quite effective; (D) Tate’s going to have to deal with Burton one way or the other– he could learn from Amy Tuck that Burton is a loyal team player, or he can deal with Burton on the floor as one of the two smartest current Senators when it comes to redistricting and securing consensus. Tate would be well-advised to remember that the only difference between Burton’s and Phil’s plans was the Pine Belt seat. Regardless, Burton ran a masterful campaign with brilliant execution, while Tad kept checking the mail box for the funds he was promised by those who recruited him.
Tad had the help of the State Auditor’s press secretary and still loss – she is also working for Lee Yancey as he advances to a runoff with Lynn Fitch. It will be interesting to see if he comes out on top.