Governor's race ready to roll
By By Terry R. Cassreino / assistant managing editor
March 2, 2003
The race is set: The November general election likely will find Republican Haley Barbour and incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove running for governor of Mississippi.
Well, maybe.
While Barbour appears to have a lock on the GOP gubernatorial nomination, Musgrove isn't necessarily a sure bet to survive what could be a competitive Democratic Party primary in August.
Musgrove will face trial lawyer John Arthur Eaves Jr. of Madison who already has been running campaign-style television ads attacking the governor for signing new civil justice laws last fall.
Eaves isn't new to politics.
Eaves Sr. last ran for governor in 1987, mounting a populist campaign in which he promised voters he'd give them $10 car tags if he won the state's top job. He lost to Ray Mabus in the Democratic primary.
Eaves Jr. himself made a run for office in 1996, an ill-fated stab at the 3rd Congressional District U.S. House seat. Eaves lost that race to Republican Chip Pickering.
Eaves' campaign
Since then, Eaves has sat quietly in the background until he decided this year to enter the governor's race against his one-time political ally hoping to pull support from trial lawyers.
Just how deep has Eaves' rift become with Musgrove?
Consider the fact that Eaves' campaign manager in 1996 was Donna Simmons, the same person who ran Musgrove's successful 1995 race for lieutenant governor and 1999 race for governor.
Besides a competitive Democratic primary, Musgrove also faces other political obstacles that could keep the Batesville native out of the November general election.
For starters, Musgrove is lucky to be governor at all. He received just 49.6 percent of the popular vote in the 1999 election one of the closest in years forcing the state House to pick a winner.
And that wasn't a pretty sight. Musgrove and Republican Mike Parker, who came in second with 48.5 percent of the vote, spent weeks lobbying House members behind-the-scenes for their support.
If that's not enough, Musgrove found himself dogged last week by speculation he might skip the governor's race and instead try for the job of president of Delta State University.
Musgrove late last week confirmed he had talked with some College Board members the panel that oversees the state's eight public universities about the Delta State job.
Musgrove's decision
Musgrove ultimately decided to seek a second term as governor.
But the point remains he considered ditching the governor's office and going for Delta State, a fact that could make voters wonder just how committed he is to the state's highest elected office.
Hey, history shows that voters in Mississippi have long memories and see things in black-and-white rather than shades of gray. One bad opinion, and they are likely to turn on an elected official.
Eaves already has seized on the Delta State issue themselves, calling Musgrove wishy-washy. While Barbour declined to comment, the state GOP said Delta State was saved from financial ruin.
Nevertheless, don't eliminate the Delta State presidency from the equation. Musgrove says he isn't interested now, but that could change if he sees his re-election chances quickly dwindle.
So while the slate appears set for this fall, nothing is certain in a year that's already posted several surprises. Right now, it looks like Barbour will meet Musgrove in November.
But it could just as easily be Barbour and Eaves.
