AP – Childers leads in 1st District fundraising
Both national parties are looking at north Mississippi’s 1st District congressional race as a priority in the 2010 elections.
So far, finance records show Democratic incumbent Travis Childers has collected more campaign cash than one of the Republicans who intends to run, state Sen. Alan Nunnelee of Tupelo.
Childers, a former chancery clerk from Booneville, first won the seat in a special election in mid-2008 when Republican Roger Wicker moved from the House to the U.S. Senate. Wicker had held the 1st District seat since January 1995.
Childers was elected for a full, two-year term last November.
The latest reports filed to the Federal Election Commission show Childers had $507,221 cash on hand and $100,000 of debt through Sept. 30, while Nunnelee had $181,163 on hand and no debt.
Childers is a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat who has bucked his party’s leadership on some issues but voted for the $787 billion federal stimulus package.
Nunnelee is chairman of the powerful state Senate Appropriations Committee, and he has frequently criticized Childers’ stimulus vote. Nunnelee said Tuesday that 96 percent of his campaign money so far has come from Mississippi.
AP
10/20/9
Magnolia Tribune
