DeSoto Crossover

Commercial Appeal - Crossover voting in Tuesday's primary elections figured prominently in the races for the 1st District congressional seat -- in both parties. Undoubtedly, that was a factor in DeSoto County. "It cost us several hundred votes, yes," said Chris Wilson, chairman of the DeSoto County Republican Party Executive Committee, who was working hard for the Davis campaign.

Samuel Williams, DeSoto County chairman for the Democratic Party, said the crossovers "gave us a bunch of votes. It could have been several thousand. "I believe we got more Democratic Party votes (Tuesday) than for any race here I can remember, certainly more than for any primary."

With the runoff just three weeks away, Davis, 42, and McCullough, 53, were both back on the campaign trail Wednesday. "We're out knocking on doors and making phone calls and thanking all the folks for their support," Davis said.

Meanwhile, Russell, 54, was preparing to endorse McCullough in the runoff race. Today, at a press conference at the Hampton Inn in Oxford, Russell said he plans to announce his support for McCullough. "Glenn shares our same political philosophy," Russell said. Davis responded, "Dr. Russell has the right to support whoever he wants. I just think the voters of the 1st District are smart enough to make up their own minds."

Crossover voting may have occurred in other counties of the district, but no county would have had the number of crossover votes that DeSoto had. Impact? Davis was getting a steady 70 percent of the vote in the Republican Party primary in DeSoto County. If 3,000 Republicans crossed over, the likely loss to Davis in the county would have been about 2,100 votes -- enough to put him ahead of McCullough, but not enough to avoid a runoff.