LIVE THREAD MISSISSIPPI GOV. RACE - Barbour (R) 53% Musgrove (D) 45% (85% Reporting- AP Calls It)

11-04-03 | WKB

[WKB]

Please use this thread for comments and reports on the Mississippi Governor's Race
and all other Ms races you want to talk about.

The Polls close at 7:00 PM CST

[Qwinn]

I guess I'm just not aware of what defines a conservative as "culturally paleo". Who know, maybe I am one! What's the criteria?

Qwinn

[Bogey78O]

You won't till next Saturday.

Our state went totally populist and made it so where our elections happen on Saturdays except for special or federal elections.

Jindal is leading the polls though and Blanco's negative rating is increasing.

[deport]

Friday afternoon two-time defending Japanese champion Takeru Kobayashi won his third straight title in the 88th annual Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest at Coney Island, but he did not break his record of 50 1/2 hot dogs.

[Hildy]

oops...the Saturday thing...so what's the word on it?

[Conservative til I die]

Why exactly is the defeat of the non-partisan elections ballot initiative good for us? How long can we reasonaby expect to win partisan elections in a city that is 5-1 RAT?

I live just outside of NYC, so this issue doesn't quite matter to me, but we still have partisan elections and while my city has a comparable ratio of Dems to Republicans as NYC, the GOP regularly wins races, except in a few of the downtown City Council seats. Of course, the Dems in my city, outside of the ghetto-welfare people, trend more conservative, old school ethnic blue collar Dems.

In fact, the only way a Democrat can win the mayoral race is when two popular GOP/Conservative Party candidates split the vote (usually pulling in around 65% combined).

It is possible for Republicans to win in NY as Republicans.

[MississippiMan]

Gubernatorial polls have a history of being particularly worthless here in MS. Who remembers the poll numbers the day before Fordyce was elected? They showed he would lose by something like 10 percentage points. He won. That's one HECK of a poll failure.

MM

[NYC Republican]

Some GOOD news from NYC! 53% Reporting Ballot Prop. 3: Non-Partisan Elections No: 71% Yes: 29%

I don't think this is really good. Pataki, Giuliani, and Bloomberg supported it, most of the anti-ads had anti-Bush pics, urging a vote of NO.

[jwalsh07]

It's pretty common amongst Southerners.

I knew there was a reason I liked you guys.

[Rushian]

LA has a REp. governor now.

[Hildy]

Thank you for the update!

[wylenetheconservative]

It's in north MS next to DeSoto County. I think it is majority black, but it getting whiter as people move there out of Memphis.

[jmstein7]

That's not how it would have worked. The party label (R, for example) would still be on the ballot. The difference was that ANYBODY could vote in the primary (not just voting in YOUR party's primary).

The practical effect would have been to create two general elections. Two popular dems could easily run away with the "primary", leaving the "general" as a runoff between two dems every time.

So, the "non-partisan" elections would have locked the GOP out of the process.

[finnman69]

GOP Leads Miss. Gov. Race, Wins Ky. Gov.
6 minutes ago Add Elections - AP to My Yahoo!


By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer

Republican Washington lobbyist Haley Barbour leads the Mississippi race for governor against incumbent Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove as the GOP seeks to make further inroads in the South.


With 23 percent of Mississippi precincts reporting, Barbour had 54 percent, or 106,968 votes, to 45 percent, or 88,881 votes, for Musgrove.


Meanwhile, Rep. Ernie Fletcher easily won the Kentucky governor's seat Tuesday, ousting Democrats from power after 32 years.


Fletcher, a three-term congressman, defeated state Attorney General Ben Chandler, polling 55 percent, or 593,508 votes, to the Democrat's 45 percent, or 484,938 votes, with all precincts reporting.


In Philadelphia, one of three big-city mayoral races, Democratic incumbent John Street handily defeated Republican businessman Sam Katz, 59 percent to 41 percent.


In both Kentucky and Mississippi, candidates tried out slogans and strategies that could well be used in the 2004 presidential race.


Mississippi Democrats criticized Barbour as a "Washington insider" as President Bush (news - web sites), Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) and other top GOP officials came to campaign for him.


In Kentucky, party activists argued that a vote for Chandler would tell the White House its economic policy is a failure.


State Republican Chairwoman Ellen Williams said Bush helped swing the race in western Kentucky, a conservative Democratic area which both campaigns said was crucial. Bush "lit that district on fire," she said. "The people in that part of the state are in line with Bush's conservative values."


Democrats in Mississippi complained Tuesday of intimidation at black voting precincts, echoing an earlier clash over race in Kentucky's final days. In both states, Democrats claimed that GOP poll observers sought to suppress the black vote, though Kentucky activists said they saw few problems on Election Day.


Spending records fell in Mississippi's race, where Musgrove, seeking a second term, was outspent by Barbour, a top Washington lobbyist and former head of the Republican National Committee (news - web sites).


The race could be decided in the Democrat-controlled state House, if neither candidate gets over 50 percent of the popular vote or fails to win a majority of the 122 House districts.


In New Jersey, where a top GOP state Senate leader went down to defeat, legislative elections could break the Senate's 20-20 tie. The Democrats narrowly hold control of the Assembly. Voters also chose legislatures in Mississippi and Virginia.


Elsewhere, Maine voters rejected a $650 million gambling resort that opponents said would tarnish the state's outdoorsy image. In Denver, a "peace initiative" to reduce stress lost by a more than 2-1 margin.


Democrats hold the governor's office in Kentucky and Mississippi, though voters in both states supported Bush in 2002.


Each race turned on state issues, but as the highest-level elections before the 2004 White House contest, they drew close scrutiny from political strategists.


Recent polls showed the Democrats vulnerable. In Kentucky, term-limited Gov. Paul Patton is leaving after an infidelity scandal that soured voters. Fletcher campaigned on a promise to "clean up the mess in Frankfort."





Chandler's campaign tried to rally voters with criticism of Bush. "It sends a message to the rest of the country: We're tired of the biggest budget deficit in history," said former Democratic governor and Sen. Wendell Ford, stumping for the Democrat.

In Mississippi, state officials said they were investigating dozens of reports of irregularities, including allegations that observers followed voters into ballot booths or videotaped voters and their completed ballots.

"The Republican Party has run this election with a fist full of dollars in one hand and a Confederate flag in the other," said state Democratic Party chairman Rickey L. Cole.

Earlier, Barbour had revisited another issue that divided the races — the Confederate flag. Recent ads reminded voters that Musgrove had supported an unsuccessful 2001 referendum that sought to remove the Rebel X.

Musgrove won his seat four years ago in Mississippi's closest governor's race ever. Unlike his opponent, Musgrove has distanced himself from national party figures.

The race broke state records, with Barbour raising at least $10.6 million and Musgrove at least $8.5 million.

A third Southern governor's race goes before the voters in Louisiana on Nov. 15. That race will decide who replaces term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Foster.

In mayors' races:

_ Philadelphia's Street defeated Katz in a rematch of their 1999 contest. Street got a bounce in the polls after it was learned that the FBI (news - web sites) bugged his City Hall office; Street and his supporters have portrayed the investigation as an attempt by the Bush administration to bring down a black politician. Federal prosecutors have denied that.

_ Houston businessman Bill White led a field of nine going into the election. Mayor Lee Brown, the city's first black mayor, cannot seek a fourth term.

_ San Francisco was picking a new mayor; Willie Brown is barred from seeking a third term. Wealthy entrepreneur Gavin Newsom, who sought to get panhandlers off city streets, was considered the front-runner. A runoff was expected.

[Consort]

We're boxing in Iran.

[WVNan]

I have never liked the place (Boone). I'm like you in wanting to jump out and slap a few idiots around. My own kids encluded, and they are old enough to get over it already. Someone said you get around some. I've been everywhere too. That's my themesong.

[Kuksool]

Marshall County is next to De Soto County, a GOP friendly place. Both counties are in the MS-01, the bellwhether of MS politics.

[britishtim]

How many state house and state senate seats are up for grabs tonight in Mississippi? Anybody know what the current breakdown is?

[gocats]

Marshall county is south of Desoto its in the northern part of the state. Very poor and heavily dem.

[bourbon]

I voted for Julio!

[Qwinn]

Ahhh okay... so that means it's 29-21 now, and if Jindal wins it'll stay that way?

Qwinn