Shows' wife hits local campaign trail

By By William F. West / community editor
Sept. 5, 2002
The sidewalks of downtown Meridian were Johnnie Ruth Shows' political platform on Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows' wife and her team of four women, all clad in campaign knit shirts, khaki pants and sneakers, hit the streets to hand out campaign cards.
That's the way Johnnie Ruth Shows, 61, and her loyal band of pavement pounders have been campaigning since Ronnie Shows began his career in politics from his days as a Jefferson Davis County circuit clerk to the state Senate to state Transportation commissioner and now Congress.
Ronnie Shows, 55, a Democrat who represents the 4th Congressional District, faces U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, 39, a Republican who represents the 3rd Congressional District, in the Nov. 5 election.
The two junior Mississippi congressmen were pitted against each other in a redrawn 3rd District after Mississippi lost one of its five U.S. House seats.
Meridian is in Pickering's old district, so Johnnie Ruth Shows and her team were in new campaign territory on Wednesday.
Ronnie Shows, in a recent stop in Meridian, spoke at length about his wife's ability as a campaigner.
Also on the campaign trail were Johnnie Ruth Shows' sister-in-law, Nell McNease, and lifelong friend, Duthel Broome.