Mike Lott faces Taylor in November

By Staff
from staff and wire reports
March 10, 2004
JACKSON State Rep. Mike Lott won the Republican Party nomination Tuesday for the 4th District U.S. House race setting up a showdown in November against incumbent Democrat Gene Taylor.
Lott's win came on the same day voters participated in Mississippi's presidential preference primary that saw U.S. Sen. John Kerry easily win the support of state Democrats for president.
Mississippi Republicans did not hold a presidential primary because President George W. Bush was not contested for the party's nomination.
Besides Mississippi, Kerry also captured Democratic presidential primary wins in Louisiana, Texas and Florida. Ballots in all four Southern races included names of Kerry foes who already dropped out.
Kerry campaigned in Jackson on Sunday and said he might return to Mississippi before the Nov. 2 election even though the state has not gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Tuesday's unofficial turnout of about 70,000 voters was the lowest since Mississippi started having presidential primaries in 1988. Before then, the parties had caucuses instead of primaries.
However, it is difficult to compare this election to previous ones because only the Democrats conducted a primary Tuesday and their nominee had all but been decided a week before the election.
Besides Lott's win in the 4th District GOP primary, fellow Republican Clinton B. LeSueur won in the Mississippi Delta to set up a 2nd District rematch with Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson in November.
In Lott's race, he defeated two other Republicans in the primary for the 4th District. The 4th District covers South Mississippi and stretches as far north as Clarke County and part of Jasper County.
Now, Lott will turn his attention to Taylor who's known for bucking the national Democratic Party on issues such as abortion. Lott said he will consistently support Republican positions.
One of the 4th District GOP candidates, Karl Mertz, said he had tried to talk Mike Lott out of running this year. The other 4th District candidate was Steven A. McCaleb.
In the 2nd District, LeSueur defeated Stephanie Summers-O'Neal and James Broadwater. Thompson is Mississippi's only black congressman and the 2nd District which stretches from Tunica to Jefferson counties is majority black.
LeSueur and Summers-O'Neal are black. LeSueur said he plans to work hard before the general election, raising more money and knocking on doors to ask people for their votes.
Thompson, 55, was first elected to Congress in 1993. He said he has not starting polling voters to see how he stands in the 2nd District this year.
LeSueur, 35, lives in Greenville and is a consultant for the Yazoo City Community Action Agency. He ran for the 2nd District seat in 2002, getting 44 percent against Thompson.