Anti-tobacco group becomes wedge issue

The Leader Call, 7/30/7

When Mississippi Auditor Phil Bryant joined the board of an anti-tobacco group a few years ago, he and Mike Moore hailed their cooperation a productive example of working across party lines.

Republican Haley Barbour was elected governor in 2003 and successfully sued in the past few years to stop the state payments to the Partnership. The group went out of business in May.

Now that Bryant is running for lieutenant governor, his opponent in the Aug. 7 Republican primary, state Sen. Charlie Ross, is saying Bryant chose the wrong partner in a political fight. It’s a wedge issue that Ross hopes will sway undecided Republicans seeking a lieutenant governor who will be consistently loyal to Barbour.