Rep. Travis Childers beat opponent Greg Davis for the second time this year for a seat in the Mississippi 1st Congressional District.
“We’re really happy about it, we feel that it shows that the people of Mississippi know that Travis Childers will stand up for hard-working families and that he is the right person to represent the first district during these difficult times,” said Dana Edelstein.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Childers had 176,506 votes, or 54 percent, and Davis accumulated 144,070 votes, or 44 percent.
After votes were counted, the Democrats owned at least 273 seats in the House of Representatives and the Republicans had 142. As of press time Wednesday morning, there was still 23 toss-up congressional elections.
Travis Childers won the seat over his Republican opponent, Greg Davis, in an election this past May to fill the remaining few months of a term left vacant upon Roger Wicker’s appointment to a seat left vacant after Trent Lott’s resignation from the Senate.
Both candidates were heavily criticized for negativity surrounding the special election race.
Davis based his campaign against now incumbent Childers on his experience in leadership as mayor of Southaven, one of Mississippi’s fastest growing cities, and his commitment to job creation statewide.
Childers’ campaign also focused on job creation as well as the economy. According to his official campaign Web site, Childers feels Mississippi needs to focus on education and economic development in rural areas and small towns, instead of just focusing on big cities.
Both candidates met Oct. 15 to debate on the University of Mississippi campus and mainly discussed issues regarding the economy, health care, education and pork barrel spending.
During his campaign, Childers raised over $1.7 million in campaign contributions, just over the $1.5 million raised by Davis.
