Democrat Nabs Unlikely Miss. House Seat

Upset victory in deep red district sends panic through GOP
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 14, 2008 7:36 AM CDT
Democrat Nabs Unlikely Miss. House Seat
Flanked by family and friends, Travis Childers delivers his victory speech in Booneville, Miss., Tuesday night May 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michael H. Miller)

Democrats scored a shocking upset last night, nabbing a House seat in a deeply conservative Mississippi district. Democrat Travis Childers prevailed 54% to 46% in the special election, Politico reports, soundly overcoming a nearly $2 million GOP campaign. Coming from a county that threw Bush 62% of its support in 2004, the results are panic-inducing for the GOP.

“This loss is going to prompt serious introspection by our conference to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it,” said one high-ranking party aide. “The next couple of days are not going to be pretty.” Republicans tried to nationalize the race, linking Childers to Barack Obama, and bringing in heavy-hitters like John McCain and President Bush to help. (More Mississippi stories.)

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