GOP Loses Another Congressional Seat in Special Election; Had Held Mississippi's 1st Congressional District for 15 Years

Democrat Travis Childers Beats Republican Greg Davis in Contest Considered a Bellwether for November

The Republican Party lost its second Congressional seat in the Deep South as Democrat Travis Childers handily beat Southhaven, Mississippi Mayor Greg Davis, a Republican, by a comfortable eight points, 54% to 46%. The victory came in a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Roger Wicker, who was appointed to fill the Senate seat recently vacated by Trent Lott, who retired from Congress at the end of 2007 to become a lobbyist. Childers, the Chancery Clerk of Prentiss County, beat Wicker despite running in a heavily Republican district. Wicker faced Republican charges that he was aligned with Democratic Presidential nominee-presumptive Barack Obama, an African American, and Nancy Pelosi, the liberal Democrat from San Francisco, California who is the Speaker of the House.

The victory by the Democrat stunned the national Republican Party, as it had poured a great deal of resources into the race. The Congressional district had been won by President George W. Bush by 25 points in the 2004 election. Greg Davis failed to prevail despite support on the hustings from Lott, Governor Haley Barbour, and U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. Newly appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, who had held the seat in Mississippi's First Congressional District for 15 years, also campaigned for Davis.

Showing how seriously the national Republican Party took the race, Vice President Dick Cheney made a campaign appearance for Davis, as he did earlier for Republican candidate Woody Jenkins, a former long-time state legislator who lost a special election in Louisiana's 6^th District, to Democrat Don Cazayoux ten days ago. That seat had been held by a Republican since 1975 and was won by President Bush in 2004 by 19 points.