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Republican Roger Wicker, appointed to the Senate last year when Trent Lott resigned, has opened an 11-point lead over Democratic challenger Ronnie Musgrove in Mississippi. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll of the state finds Wicker leading his opponent 54% to 43% in the state's special Senate race. At the end of September, Wicker slipped to a two-point advantage over Musgrove. The race was also tight in May and June, but Wicker had begun pulling away over the summer. In August he led 47% to 42%.

There’s little change in the race between appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) and former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D). The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Mississippi found Wicker attracts 47% of the vote, while Musgrove earns support from 42%. Last month, Wicker had a six-point edge. When “leaners” are included, Wicker’s lead expands to nine percentage points, 52% to 43%. That’s the same as last month’s total.

New Web Ad: Ronnie Musgrove Bumbling Along Ronnie Musgrove just can't get his story straight surrounding his criminal contributors:   The Facility Group's Robert Moultrie (connected to the $55 million beef plant failure): Plead guilty to "'knowingly and unlawfully rewarding an agent' of Mississippi government with a 'gratuity.'" (That public official was Ronnie Musgrove) Paul Minor: Convicted of bribery Dickie Scruggs: Sentenced to jail for conspiring to bribe a judge Help Roger Wicker Defear Bumbling Musgrovehttp://www.wickerforsenate.com/    

It's a no good, very bad, horrible, terrible day for Musgrove WASHINGTON, DC -- Ronnie Musgrove is having arguably his worst day ever. First, he was named as the public official in the Mississippi Beef Processors Plant case. Then, the most recent defendant in the Beef case pleaded guilty to giving Musgrove a $25,000 "gratuity." News articles are even reporting there may be more action in the Beef case this week. And now, the news is reporting that former trial lawyer Paul Minor -- who gave more than $171,000 to Musgrove's campaigns -- is asking to be freed from jail....

OXFORD - Beef Plant defendants Nixon Cawood and Charles Morehead, executives with The Facility Group of Georgia, are set to change their plea to guilty on a one-count information Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. So says two filings late today in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Mississippi. Cawood's hearing is set for 10 a.m. before Chief Judge Michael P. Mills. Moreheads is set for 10 a.m. Thursday. An information is a legal charge short of an indictment, which comes from a grand jury. No other details were available, but it seems possible Cawood and Morehead will follow...

“I’ll get to the worn-out old political tricks in just a moment,” the former governor said calmly as supporters of U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker interrupted Musgrove’s speech with chants of “Ro-GER! Ro-GER! Ro-GER!” Musgrove is trying to unseat Wicker in a November special election that’s attracting national attention as Democrats try to strengthen their majority in the U.S. Senate. “Almost three decades ago, Ronald Reagan spoke from this very stage,” Musgrove said. “During that campaign, Ronald Reagan asked Americans a very simple question. It’s the same question I ask today — are you better off now than you were a...

Just one week after Democrats picked up Sen. Roger Wicker's (R-Miss.) former House seat in northeast Mississippi, the party's Senate campaign committee released a new poll showing Wicker trailing former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) in November's special election Senate race. The poll shows Musgrove leading Wicker 48 to 40 percent in a head-to-head matchup. Musgrove holds a 57 percent favorability rating, while 30 percent of voters view him unfavorably. Wicker also sports high approval ratings, but is less known throughout the state - which is partially attributable for his polling deficit.

Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove announced his candidacy today for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Trent Lott. Gov. Haley Barbour has appointed former U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker to fill the Senate post until the November election. “There is a complete disconnect between what they argue about in Washington and what people worry about at home,” Musgrove, a Democrat, said in announcing his candidacy during a series of events in Tupelo, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Gulfport. Musgrove strongly condemned the fiscal and economic policies of Congress, including “the deficit spending, the pork barrel earmarks, the spending money they don’t have and...

OXFORD, Miss. -- Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday that he will run for the U.S. Senate. Musgrove plans to hold a series of news conferences Monday in Tupelo, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Gulfport. "I'll be announcing, yes," Musgrove told the AP in a telephone interview from his law office in Madison County. Musgrove, a Democrat, will run in a special election against Republican Roger Wicker, who was appointed this week to fill the job left vacant by the retirement of the GOP's Trent Lott. The date of the special election is in dispute. Republican...

It’s not science, but a recent poll of 600 Mississippi voters shows U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker of Tupelo might do pretty well in a head-to-head Senate race against former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Conducted Dec. 10-12 by Research 2000 of Olney, Md., the telephone poll was conducted before former Attorney General Mike Moore took his name out of contention, but its results show Wicker would beat the charismatic Moore and Musgrove, if they were pitted for the Senate race. The margin of error is 4 percentage points, and black voters may have been under-surveyed. They make up 34 percent of the...

<p>Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove will teach history and political science classes to undergraduate students at the University of Mississippi starting this semester, he told The Associated Press Tuesday.</p> <p>Minutes after watching his successor take the oath of office, the Democrat said he looks forward to working at his alma mater.</p>

<p>Republican Haley Barbour pledged to have a colorblind administration while campaigning for governor. However, of 10 key agency heads he has appointed in preparation for taking office, all but one is a white male, including an appointment announced Monday.</p> <p>Barbour introduced Wallace Conerly, retired vice chancellor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, as interim chief of the Division of Medicaid.</p>

<p>HATTIESBURG — A Perry County couple want Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to consider clemency for their grandson as the departing chief executive reviews hundreds of requests from families of state inmates.</p> <p>James and Betty Brady want freedom for Robert Perry, whom they raised and who is serving a life sentence for the 1992 shotgun slaying of his best friend. If history is any indication, he has a slim chance of getting the pardon.</p>

<p>Gov.-elect Haley Barbour doesn't take office until Jan. 13, but he is already trying to make good on a campaign promise.</p> <p>Barbour on Wednesday announced details of a job creation summit in Jackson Dec. 15-16.</p> <p>White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Federal Express CEO Fred Smith, a Marks native, are the keynote speakers for the summit, which will bring together business, higher education and political leaders to develop plans to spark Mississippi's economy.</p>

The importance of beating Haley Robert Novak (archive) October 30, 2003 JACKSON, Miss. -- Rudy Giuliani was here earlier. Dick Cheney campaigned in the state Monday. George W. Bush on Saturday will make two stops in Mississippi. And to cap it off, auto driver Darrell Waltrip arrives before Tuesday's election. All are trying their best to elect as governor Haley Barbour, a major player in national Republican politics for a generation. No prominent national Democrat dares set foot in the state to help re-elect Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. He would meet Bill Clinton or Al Gore at the state line to...

Musgrove delivers radio address as Bush campaigns for Barbour By MATT VOLZ Associated Press Writer November 1, 2003 JACKSON, Miss. - As President Bush headed to Mississippi to campaign for Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's opponent, Musgrove used the Democrats' weekly radio address Saturday to boast that he has created jobs and improved education despite tough economic times. Musgrove faces Republican challenger Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, in next Tuesday's election. He told his audience that Mississippi is a different state than some may think. "Some people think of Mississippi as a state with cotton fields, racial...

Bush stumps for GOP gubernatorial candidates in Mississippi, Kentucky By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer November 1, 2003 CRAWFORD, Texas - In a test of his popularity a year before his own race for re-election, President Bush is standing with Republican gubernatorial candidates trying to replace Democrats in Mississippi and Kentucky. Bush's agenda included campaign stops Saturday in Mississippi for former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, who is trying to unseat Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. The president planned to visit Southaven and Gulfport, two GOP strongholds at opposite ends of the state. In Kentucky, the president was to visit...

<p>Republican Haley Barbour has made frequent appeals to black Mississippians this election year, holding meetings in their communities and asking for votes that traditionally go to Democrats.</p> <p>Barbour, who is trying to unseat Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, often says he hopes to garner more votes in the African-American community than any other Republican candidate in Mississippi, and some black voters are taking notice.</p>

Life long National Rifle Association member Governor Ronnie Musgrove receives an endorsement for re-election by the organization. This is the fifth time in Musgrove’s political career the NRA has endorsed the candidate. Musgrove scored an "A" rating on the organization's candidate questionnaire. NRA officials say the governor's record shows a commitment to the right's of Mississippi's law abiding gun owners. Musgrove says he'll fight any laws restricting second amendment rights.

Third-party candidates could deny majority vote By GEOFF PENDER THE SUN HERALD Election Day is Nov. 4, but a perfect storm may be brewing that could delay the selection of a governor for days, weeks or even months. Third-party candidates threaten to siphon enough votes to deny either the incumbent, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, or Republican challenger Haley Barbour the majority vote required by Mississippi law. The two have been tracking even for most of the campaign season, each polling in the mid-40 percent range, and with Election Day two weeks away, the possibility grows that neither would receive a majority...