Six days to go

Clarion Ledger - Sid Salter - 2008 congressional races present important, difficult choices - Democrats will choose between Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers of Booneville and longtime state Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville. Childers, a political newcomer outside his home county, showed surprising strength in leading the Democratic ticket in the first primary. In the Democratic second primary, Childers will face Holland - the outspoken, sometimes controversial legislator who has openly battled Gov. Haley Barbour on issues like Medicaid and education funding. Legislative experience and name recognition should be on Holland's side, but unfortunately not all Holland's name recognition has been beneficial to him. On the Republican side, Southaven Mayor Greg Davis faces former TVA chairman and former Tupelo mayor Glenn McCullough in the second primary. McCullough led the ticket in the first primary. The Davis-McCullough showdown has taken on a strange twist in that Cochran has endorsed the candidacy of McCullough while former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott has thrown his support to Davis. Cochran and Lott didn't see eye-to-eye on a number of issues - some policy, most politics - while they served together in Congress. Seems McCullough fell from favor with Lott when he refused to endorse a Lott-backed TVA initiative that McCullough found to be dubious.
Davis has DeSoto County numbers on his side, but McCullough showed surprising strength in the district's rural counties.

ClarionLedger.com - Jere Nash - Update on Congressional Finances - Greg Davis -- $222,662.99; Glenn McCullough -- $177,034.01; As for the Democratic runoff in the First Congressional District, at least if you believe the FEC reports, both candidates are virtually out of money. Travis Childers, who led the field, reported $9,456.21 cash on hand at the March 12 close of the pre-runoff report and has disclosed $2,000 in contributions since then. As for Steve Holland, his pre-runoff FEC report shows a NEGATIVE cash balance of $93,061.70 as of March 12. Since these FEC reports are supposed to be filed using the cash basis of accounting, instead of the accrual basis, I am at a loss to explain a negative cash balance. In any event, since that report, he has reported receiving only $10,300 in contributions.