The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 1/14/8
State Rep. Steve Holland’s entry into the 1st Congressional District race was Friday’s surprise as the qualifying deadline passed for party primaries.
“I have enjoyed a wonderful bond with the people of the 1st District for almost 30 years now,” said the Plantersville Democrat.
A businessman and a state House member for 25 years, he began his political career as an aide for then-U.S. Rep. Jamie Whitten.
Other new entries into the U.S. House race, for a seat vacated Dec. 31 when Roger Wicker of Tupelo was appointed the state’s interim U.S. senator, are Republican Dr. Randy Russell of Oxford, an ophthalmologist; independent Wally Pang, a Batesville restaurant owner; and Democrats Marshall Coleman, a Calhoun City restaurant owner, and Ken Hurt of Verona, a political consultant.
When Wicker’s interim appointment seemed highly likely, Holland cast his name into the list of “possibles.” Also on that list was a Holland ally, former state Rep. Jamie Franks, a Mooreville Democrat, who later said he would not run.
Earlier announced candidates are Republicans Southaven Mayor Greg Davis and former Tupelo mayor Glenn McCullough Jr., and Democrats Travis Childers of Booneville, a longtime Prentiss County chancery clerk, and Brian Neely of Tupelo, an attorney, and Green Party candidate John Wages Jr. of Tupelo, a professor at Itawamba Community College, who will run only in the general election.
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