Primary Review
Well the much-anticipated primaries in MS-01 and MS-04 have come and gone and we now have a better idea of the match-ups we will see in November. There is still a runoff to be held for the GOP candidate in MS-02, between Bill Marcy and Richard Cook, one will get to be the latest sacrificial lamb against Bennie Thompson. The two headline races did not disappoint as both winners had tough battles to win the nod for November. Alan Nunnelee did just enough to keep his numbers over the 50+1 threshold all night long with Henry Ross getting his fair share. This race may have been considerably more interesting from a results standpoint had it just been Ross and Nunnelee. I think you could easily put Angela McGlowan’s votes in with the Ross numbers and it really could have been interesting coming down to the wire. Down south Steven Palazzo held on to take out Joe Tegerdine. It was a competitive race and I think Tegerdine did a pretty respectable job for his first run at public office. Palazzo’s built-in base was just too much to overcome in the end and no I do not think Gene Taylor supporters played any role in the outcome.
Sour Grapes
It is only natural to be upset and disappointed that your candidate did not win the primary and it is human nature. I preached last week that nothing positive comes of demeaning your former opponent and I will reiterate this week. Angela McGlowan should have kept her mouth shut if all she could manage was a backhanded comment toward Alan Nunnelee. I have seen the reactions of Joe Tegerdine supporters on here and it is disturbing to see such a negative reaction to Palazzo winning. Attitudes like this make you look stupid as you campaign for months saying you want Travis Childers or Gene Taylor out of office because they are liberal puppets and all of the sudden you are not willing to stay that course and support the only option to achieve that original goal. When you divide the party you lose, plain and simple.
Moving Forward
I think you could flip a coin in MS-01 between Travis Childers and Alan Nunnelee to get a winner. It is a true toss-up and the result will be dictated by who shows up to vote in November. The turnout this week was really bad and I expect a lot of Democrats to stay at home in November as their interest is at a low. There is a very real possibility that Nunnelee can win this race, but I expect it to be a dogfight. The situation to the south in MS-04 is very different and I think Steven Palazzo will need some amazing support to pull off a major upset. Gene Taylor is entrenched and has enough support from both sides to win easily, but Palazzo may be the best challenge he has had in a while in what could be a bad year to have a D next to your name. These races should be interesting to follow over the coming months.