2010 Congressional Pre-Primary Rundown
CD-1
The current Congressman in this district is Rep. Travis Childers, an “accidental” congressman elected two years ago in this heavily Republican District because of a rift in the Republican Party over two Republican challengers. The reason I say he is an accidental congressman is because he would never have been elected if the losing candidate’s supporters in the Republican Party primary would not have just stayed home or would not have actually voted for Rep. Childers out of anger of their candidate losing.
Rep. Childers is unopposed in the June 1st primary, so the only reason this date has any significance to the Democratic Party is to find out who will be Rep. Childers official Republican opponent.
On the Republican side it gets interesting. The candidates are Sen. Alan Nunnelee, a State Senator, Henry Ross, a former mayor of Eupora, and Angela McGlowan, an author and former Fox News analyst. This race has been interesting because it has gained a lot of news coverage from around the state mainly because of McGlowan’s somewhat high profile nationally and her self-proclaiming to be the Tea Party candidate. Henry Ross has made some news and has been an aggressive campaigner and may just surprise the heck out of us in this primary election. Sen. Nunnelee is the favorite among the Republican establishment, and McGlowan has been trying to use that against him in a year where not many establishment candidates seem to be fairing well, but it is not working against Sen. Nunnelee. Sen. Nunnelee is a solid conservative with a record as a very strong businessman in the city of Tupelo, which negates the claim he is a career politician. In my opinion this race is not as close as it looks.
. . .
CD-4
The current Congressman in this district is Democrat Rep. Gene Taylor. He has been a long serving Congressman in this typical Republican district. The reason he has been a long serving Congressman in this district is due to the fact that he votes more often than not with the Republicans on Capitol Hill. Rep. Taylor does not let the Democratic leadership tell him how to vote, and, therefore, has not risen through the democratic ranks like Rep. Thompson but has been very popular among his constituents for this very reason. I have met Rep. Taylor several times and like him and frankly would have voted for him (if I lived in the district) in the past mainly because when it comes down to it he is usually more conservative than his Republican opponent.
This year is different, however, the Republicans are in position to win a majority in the house, but it will be CLOSE!!! So close that it could come down to one Representative. If that Representative becomes Rep. Taylor, he would probably vote for Rep. Nancy Pelosi for Speaker giving the Democrats control of the House again. This is the issue either Rep. Steven Palazzo, a State Representative, or Joe Tegerdine, a lawyer, is hoping will propel them into an upset win over Rep. Taylor.
Rep. Palazzo and Tegerdine are both vying for the Republican nomination on June 1st, and it has been an interesting race. Rep. Palazzo is a veteran and businessman, while Tegerdine is a newcomer to Mississippi only moving here because this is where his company chose to move him. I personally am a little weary of Tegerdine because it seems to me he is just looking for a promotion or a way out of his current job. I do not believe he knows the district well enough to effectively serve it but is a good enough campaigner to convince a block of voters that he does. I believe Rep. Palazzo has the knowledge of the district and would serve the good people of the 4th district well.
CD-4 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY PREDICTION: Rep. Palazzo, BUT not by much!!
CD-1 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY PREDICTION: Sen. Alan Nunnelee wins outright without a runoff.
Friendly Fire Blog
5/19/10
Magnolia Tribune
