Premium Sponsor

Featured Sponsor

Our Sponsors

Ad Networks

Buy an ad on all of the top liberal blogs with just one click.

Site Stats

MS-03: With Floodgates Open, Pickering Retires (Updated)

by: James L.

Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 6:16 PM EDT

According to Roll Call, Republican Rep. Chip Pickering, long considered a potential successor for either Senator Thad Cochran or Trent Lott, has decided to call it quits:

Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) has decided not to run for re-election in 2008, a knowledgeable source confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Pickering's office did not return requests for comment Thursday. But a second source said Thursday afternoon that Pickering was scheduled to meet with his staff in his Pearl, Miss., district office at 4 p.m. Central time, apparently to discuss his political future.
[...]
Several viable candidates are expected to seek the GOP nomination to replace Pickering, including termed-out Mississippi Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, a former Democrat who is scheduled to leave office at the end of this year.

Pickering, only 44 years old, could easily wait another four or six years for a Lott or Cochran retirement. But perhaps he's grown tired of waiting after being teased by potential Senate retirements for two cycles in a row. Or maybe he's just tired of not raking in the big bucks. In 2003, Pickering openly mused about leaving Congress in order to take a massive annual paycheck as a telecommunications lobbyist. It's possible that Pickering feels, with life in an enduring House minority and no Senate promotion in immediate sight, that now is the time to cash in.

While Democrats held this district for over 100 years before Pickering claimed this open seat in 1996, it has a solid Republican advantage with a PVI of R+14. Bush twice dominated this district by 64%-35% and 65%-34% margins in 2000 and 2004, respectively. If there is a glimmer of hope for Democrats, it is that Rep. Gene Taylor, a conservative Democrat, holds a district even redder (R+16, with a 37-point margin of victory for Bush in 2004). However, it would be a tall order for Democrats to be able to recruit someone with Taylor's political skills to contest this seat.

To sum it up, we've seen three Republican retirements in a week: Hastert, Pryce, and now Pickering. (Plus the raging rumors surrounding Dave Hobson.) I wonder how many more surprises are in store for us.

UPDATE: The Clarion-Ledger confirms. Pickering is outta here!

UPDATE 2: Will it be a retirement or a resignation? First Read is "getting conflicting signals", but suggests that "with Pickering heading to work on K Street, he might want to leave Congress before the lobbying/ethics reform legislation is signed into law".

James L. :: MS-03: With Floodgates Open, Pickering Retires (Updated)

Tags: 2008 Elections, House, MS-03, Chip Pickering, (All Tags)

Print Friendly View

Send As Email

MS-03: With Floodgates Open, Pickering Retires (Updated) | 18 comments

suprises like this one

I can live with :)

"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." -- Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove

by: walja @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 18:04:06 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Its like

Christmas and my birthday all in one!!! Keep um coming, i want to throw in the 4th of July also!

by: Venslor @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 18:34:54 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

It would be lovely if my long posts didn't disappear because the page didn't show up when I tried to post.

Grrrrr...

I posted a list of state reps in the district in my diary here.

Cross off Smith (R) and Rotenberry (R) since they're having problems with the primaries for their current jobs.

But, we have the candidates who could make this lively campaign. It's just a matter of them wanting to run.

by: RBH @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 19:22:20 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Testing it out.

From your diary:

State house members of note in the 3rd District

Democrats

St. Rep. Tracy Arinder (D-Morton, 56 years old)
St. Rep. Scott Bounds (D-Philadelphia, 45 y/o)
St. Rep Reecy Dickson (D-Macon)
St. Rep Bo Eaton (D-Taylorsville)
St. Rep Tyrone Ellis (D-Starkville)
St. Rep Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chito, 49 y/o)
St. Rep David Myers (D-McComb, 45 y/o)
St. Rep Johnny Stringer (D-Montrose, 57 y/o)
St. Rep Joe Warren (D-Mount Olive, 55 y/o)

Republicans

St. Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon, 45 y/o)
St. Rep Bill Denny (R-Jackson)
St. Rep Steve Horne (R-Meridan, 49 y/o)
St. Rep Sam Mims (R-McComb, 35 y/o)
St. Rep John Moore (R-Brandon, 53 y/o)
St. Rep Clint Rotenberry (R-Mendenhall, 54 y/o)
St. Rep Clayton Smith (R-Brandon, 48 y/o)
St. Rep Greg Snowden (R-Meridan, 53 y/o)

by: James L. @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 19:24:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Cool

I did add some more to that post.

I think a bunch of the Republicans were unopposed and 3 of the Democrats were unopposed too.

Going through all those profiles really hammers home the point that a ton of people in the late 20s and 30s became Mississippi State legislators in the 1980s.

Warren is 55 with 27 years in the Mississippi House, for example. Moak is 49 with 23 years of experience (and Moak is apparently the good twin of Lou Dobbs, based on appearance)

That's also a problem, because these guys are in leadership spots in the House. So they might prefer being a leader at home than a freshman in DC.

There might be a Democratic Senator willing to run in the 3rd if we somehow fail to win the Senate in November.

by: RBH @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 19:34:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

State Senators in the third

First off, at least the Mississippi state government lists the congressional district for their state house members, because the state house map looks like abstract art (If Pablo Picasso were to be elected to office in Mississippi, he would be a natural for the redistricting committee)

I think House District 97 is a sea dragon. District 84 is a capital G. And so on.

As for the Senate... I still can't decipher it. Due to the senatorial districts being in multiple congressional districts and such.

by: RBH @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 19:46:25 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Does MS have a resign-to-run law?

State senators are up in 2007.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith from Brookshaven represents SD39 in that district. She's a Cattle Farmer and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Don't know anything about her, but perhaps...

by: micha.1976 @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 06:26:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

I don't think they have such a law

since Fleming ran for the Senate in 2006 without giving up his state house seat.

by: RBH @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 12:10:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Nope.

People run for multiple offices almost every year. It is especially common among candidates for judicial positions.

by: deepsouthdem @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 14:17:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Ronnie Shows...

Former Democratic Cong. Ronnie Shows was defeated by Pickering when Mississippi lost a seat in Congress. He would be a potential prospect. Current Democratic nominee for Governor John Arthur Eaves, Jr. also ran against Pickering in the past.

BlueSunbelt.Com Netroots for the Sunbelt states robwire.com My personal blog

by: rob @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 22:05:16 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Granted

Eaves lost by 25 points (as Clinton lost by 22 points in the district), and I think Shows lost by 29 points.

So I think it's worth considering someone new and generally fresh, over two people who are coming off of losses.

I doubt Eaves will be a candidate, unless he comes really close to defeating Barbour. I don't see the reason for running Eaves if he loses by over 10 points, for example.

by: RBH @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 22:24:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Very tough district

If the district did not have the uber Republican Rankin county in it, we would have a good chance of picking it up.

The district was actually made more Democratic in the 2001 redistricting(about two points) because it picked up a good chunk of Ronnie Shows' old Democratic trending district that was abolished in redistricting. The Democratic legislature should have been smart enough to put Rankin county into the already heavily Democratic MS-02 and Copiah and part of Hinds county in MS-03 making it winnable for a Democratic.

by: Sean @ Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 23:51:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Actually

I think that the redder of the two possible "Tornado districts" was the map signed, due to Amy Tuck.

The district that was signed into law went for Bush by 30 points in 2000 and 2004.

Plus, there's various precautions for redistricting due to the voting rights act.

by: RBH @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 02:49:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Eaves is 40 I believe so he's pretty "fresh."

He could bring new ideas and enthusiasm into such a race.

So I think it's worth considering someone new and generally fresh, over two people who are coming off of losses.

I think it's worth remembering how many of our new congressmen were once "losers" or how George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both lost early races for Congress.

by: deepsouthdem @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 14:19:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

But they actually won something after losing a congressional bid

If Eaves loses big in November (10+ point loss), that loss, and his 25 point loss in 1996 (while Clinton lost MS-3 by 22), are not going to really make him a good candidate for this seat.

by: RBH @ Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 15:01:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]