Election ’07: Negative ads backfired in runoffs

The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 9/4/7

In the waning days of the Democratic primary runoff race for state auditor between Mike Sumrall of Mount Olive and Todd Brand of Meridian, the Brand campaign paid for the broadcast of a television commercial that accused Sumrall supporters of lying to state voters in recorded phone messages that claimed that Sumrall was black and a member of the NAACP.

Sumrall, who is white, denied the allegations. Brand told WLBT-Channel 3 that he never accused Sumrall of actually making those phone calls in the commercials, but that he wanted to find out who did.