Mississippi (Special) Senate Election

Republican incumbent: Roger Wicker

Democratic candidate: Ronnie Musgrove

Wicker, 57, was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Haley Barbour on December 31, 2007, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Trent Lott. He had represented Mississippi's first congressional district from 1995 to 2007. From 1988 to 1994, he was a state senator.

Musgrove, 52, served as lieutenant governor from 1996 to 2000, and as governor from 2000 to 2004. He also had served in the state Senate.

Mississippi is in the unusual situation of holding two Senate elections in the same year. The winner of this special election will serve the remainder of the term to which Lott was reelected in 2006, i.e., until the 2012 election. The other, Class II, seat is up for reelection this year in the normal cycle.

Mississippi special election laws provide that this is officially a non-partisan election. No party primaries will be held, and the candidates will not be identified by party on the ballot. There will be a runoff, if no candidate exceeds 50% of the vote.

Polls reported by Real Clear Politics tell a mixed story. However, Wicker leads the most recent of those polls by a nine-point margin.

Mississippi has been among the most strongly Republican of the southern states that have turned to the GOP in recent decades. It has not been represented by a Democrat in the Senate since John Stennis retired in 1989.

In presidential elections, Democrat Jimmy Carter carried Mississippi by a narrow margin in 1976. Otherwise, it has not voted Democratic since 1956.

This race is not the most likely target for a Democratic gain this year. But a Musgrove victory is a definite possibility, and would be a significant reverse for southern Republicans.