Candidates questioned on heated race

The Clarion-Ledger, 10/7/8

Senate candidates Roger Wicker and Ronnie Musgrove met separately with The Clarion-Ledger’s editorial board on Monday.

Musgrove, a Democrat from Batesville, and Wicker, a Republican from Tupelo, are competing in a special election to fill the final four years of Republican Trent Lott’s unexpired term. Lott left office in December.

Wicker, 57, represented north Mississippi in Congress for seven terms before Republican Gov. Haley Barbour appointed him to Lott’s seat. Musgrove, 52, was governor from 2000-04. Barbour defeated him in his bid for re-election.

The Wicker-Musgrove race is one of the most contentious this election season, and both candidates took shots at each other as they answered questions.