Posted on 11/22/2006 1:27:04 PM PST by LdSentinal
Lydia Graves Chassaniol, a Winona restaurant owner, credited her varied professional experience and the hard work of volunteers for her victory over Hiram Eastland III, a Greenwood attorney, in Tuesday's runoff in Senate District 14.
According to complete but unofficial totals, Chassaniol won by 5,154 to 3,766 votes, or 58 percent to 42 percent. She won five of the six counties in District 14 with only Tallahatchie County going to Eastland.
"We've had a lot of good people, young people, working in the race," Chassaniol said.
She said she visited civic groups throughout the district, explaining her positions on issues and taking questions. And often, she would go door to door with college students, she said.
"I just think we were able to get our message out," she said.
Chassaniol had finished first in the Nov. 7 balloting, garnering 37 percent of the vote, with Eastland coming in second in the earlier six-person field with almost 20 percent.
Eastland congratulated the newly elected state senator and thanked his supporters Tuesday night.
"I want to thank everyone who believed in me and what we stood for," he said. "We had a lot of support, and that was really important to me."
Chassaniol, 55, has served previously in state government as a member of the Parole Board. A Republican, she was appointed to the post by former Gov. Kirk Fordice. She also is a former chairman of the Mississippi Arts Council.
"Arts in education is very important to me," she said Tuesday night.
As a new state senator, Chassaniol said she would focus on education, public safety and economic development, as well as the arts.
Chassaniol said one of her first orders of business will be to try and bring jobs to the area. Among others, she cited the scheduled closing of the KI plant in Winona later this year, with a loss of 80 jobs, saying something has to be done.
"I think that is an immediate focus I will take," Chassaniol said. "We have to get more jobs here. In Montgomery County we've lost over 200 jobs in the past two years and I'm very concerned about the impact that will have on our economy. It's imperative we start making moves to help the situation."
With the election now behind him, Eastland, 28, said he would get some rest and concentrate on his law practice. During the election, he cited his experience as a liaison between the Attorney General's Office and the Mississippi Legislature.
Chassaniol will complete the term ending in January 2008. The vacancy was created earlier this year when Republican Sen. Bunky Huggins died of cancer.
Chassaniol is the first state senator from Winona or Montgomery County in more than two decades.
Senate District 14 includes all of Carroll County and parts of Leflore, Grenada, Montgomery, Tallahatchie and Attala counties.
Chassaniol graduated from Winona High School and the University of Mississippi. She is connected to Greenwood through her husband, Emmett, a cotton factor.
Steven G. Watson of The Winona Times contributed to this report.
The other race . . .
Senate District 41
Fillingane (R) - 6691 (69%)
Delgado (D) - 3019 (31%)
Why can't that race be called?
It was called. 50 out of 50 precincts reporting.
Is the Eastland mentioned here related to the late James Eastland?
Cousin.
I was referring to the District 41 race.
That's what I was referring to as well.
Missippy elections ping, yall.
How badly, conversely, did we do over in Arkansas with the legislative seats ? I never did see any mention of the numbers.
Because the R won!
Was District 41 an R pickup?
D: 74
R: 23
Others: 3
Simply ghastly, we're nearly back to the pre-Huckabee bad old days (we ought to have been breaking 40 seats in the House !). Arkansas goes the wrong way while all its neighbor states are moving towards or have GOP majorities. I'm surprised so many Independents won at once. Do you know anything about them ? Are they GOP-leaning, or are they just rodent kooks ?
AR is too rural, too many elder folks addicted to Yellow dog RATism. Plus, it helps the RATS that many state reps are somewhat conservative.
Republicans, everywhere, were hit hard on Nov. 7th. At least in TN, Junior is learning about private sector and the state senate in still in GOP hands.
Of course, go to some of those rural areas in N.E. Arkansas, and you have so many rodents, but cross over into the MO side and they're GOP, even if just as rural. It's still a failure of GOP leadership (under Huckabee) in the state, and don't forget, there ought to be more rapid transition because of term limits, and it's still not happening. I have no idea what kind of an impact Gov-elect Beebe will have, as I know very little about the man (just a one-term AG), then of course, so were Mark Pryor and Clintoon.
As for TN, our election was status quo almost to the last. We lost 1 State Senate seat (a party switcher) and no House seats, despite Bredesen's obscenely undeserving landslide victory (State Sen. Bryson failed to carry a single county, and I sincerely hope will remain in perpetual retirement, it was beyond inexcusable and embarrassing). Unfortunately, our "majority" remains only on paper in the Senate, unless a RINO apostate decides to vote for our GOP leader, Ron Ramsey, over the fossilized John Wilder for Lt Governor, otherwise the 'Rats organize the body again, as it has since Reconstruction unabated.
"At least in TN, Junior is learning about private sector"
What would he know about the private sector? As far as I can tell, all he's ever done is government jobs and elective office.
The AR GOP will be weaker going into 2007 than it was in 1967. Talk about lack of progress. I think the Arkansas people are "homesick" for their "bill" and are poised to bring him back in the form of Hillary in 2008. One thing for sure: AR Republicans must go beyond the Hutchinson brothers.
Thank you!
Well, in 1967 in AR, the GOP had the Governorship and Lt Governorship with Winthrop Rockefeller and Footsie Britt, and one Congressman, J.P. Hammerschmidt, but conversely, I don't know if the GOP had any members of the state legislature (in the early '70s, they only had 1 in each body). Whether they are ready to turn to the Clintons is something else entirely. I think there is a reason why Hillary did not consider a return there to run -- because I don't think she could've won.
As it stands now, Congressman John Boozman becomes the de facto head of the party, as his earlier predecessor Hammerschmidt was after Rockefeller's death, with Huckabee's departure.
If he ran, Congressman John Boozman would have a decent chance of unseating Mark Pryor, but I don't see it happening.
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