Posted on 02/27/2003 12:22:54 PM PST by LdSentinal
Switchers to date:
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck
Sen. Terry Burton
Sen. Tommy Dickerson
Rep. Larry Baker
Rep. Herb Frierson
Rep. Jim Barnett
Rep. Frank Hamilton
Still out there
Sen. Travis Little
Rep. David Livinston???
2/28/2003 8:48:35 AM
Daily Journal - Published Friday, Feb. 28, 2003
BY BOBBY HARRISON
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau
JACKSON - Senate President Pro Tem Travis Little, D-Corinth, considered Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck's closest adviser in the Senate, has yet to qualify to seek re-election.
The deadline to qualify for this year's statewide elections is 5 p.m. Saturday.
"I have been so doggone busy that I haven't had time to qualify,'' Little said Thursday.
While Little, who is in his third term in the Mississippi Senate, is expected to seek re-election, there is the question of whether he will remain a Democrat or follow Tuck and switch to the Republican Party.
"I will let you know something tomorrow,'' Little said Thursday morning.
Tuck, who presides over the Senate as lieutenant governor, switched parties in December during a news conference at the Mississippi Capitol attended by most of the major Republican officials in the state. Little also attended the news conference.
At the time, Little said he was at the news conference to support Tuck.
"If I had to qualify today, I would qualify as a Democrat," Little said at the Tuck news conference. But he added that "timing and events could change things."
Little also could qualify as an independent instead of running as a Republican or Democrat.
The Republicans are aggressively recruiting Democratic legislators to switch parties. Jim Herring of Canton, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, has set as a goal gaining parity with Democrats in the 52-seat Senate and obtaining about 45 seats in the 122-member House.
While Little has yet to announce his decision, another member of the Mississippi Senate, Tommy Dickerson of Waynesboro, announced Thursday he was switching from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Dickerson, who has been in the Senate since 1993, already had qualified to seek re-election as a Democrat. But he withdrew and qualified as a Republican Thursday. Another Democrat has qualified in the race.
On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Barnett of Brookhaven switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party.
With the most recent switches, there are now 30 Democrats in the Senate and 22 Republicans. In the House, there are 81 Democrats, 38 Republicans and three independents.
Thus far, no one has qualified in Little's District 4 Senate seat that consists of all of Alcorn County and portions of Tishomingo and Tippah counties.
While Little has not qualified, four other Northeast Mississippi legislators already have announced their intention to not seek re-election and step down at the end of 2003. Those who plan to step down are House Speaker Tim Ford, D-Baldwyn; Rep. Eloise Scott, D-Tupelo; Rep. Billy Bowles, D-Houston; and Sen. Bill Minor, D-Holly Springs.
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