Items by Brett

• Pelosi To Shield Vulnerable Members From Controversial Votes In 2010

  —Majority In Mississippi

  The 2009 session in the House read like a wish list of liberal priorities which included massive government spending, cap-and-trade legislation and a healthcare reform bill. While this may please the Democratic leadership and their base, it may also jeopardize the careers of moderate Democrats from traditional GOP districts. Further, many [...]
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  Posted: December 16, 2009, 12:32pm EST
  by Brett

• State Reps For Obamacare

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Three state Representatives spoke at a rally held at the Jackson Medical Mall in support of healthcare legislation currently pending in Congress. The event was organized by a new group called Mississippians for Health Care Reform. State Reps. Steve Holland (D-Plantersville), Alyce Clark (D-Jackson), and Credell Calhoun (D-Jackson) spoke during the [...]
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  Posted: December 16, 2009, 9:23am EST
  by Brett

• Barbour Not Pleased With Legislative Budget Proposal

  —Majority In Mississippi

  When the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released their FY2011 budget outline earlier today, one of Haley Barbour’s top allies in the Senate- Alan Nunnelee- praised the proposal. Barbour, however, was less than enthusiastic with what the legislature came up with: “The Joint Legislative Budget Committee recommendation regarding the Fiscal Year 2011 [...]
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  Posted: December 15, 2009, 8:39pm EST
  by Brett

• Joint Legislative Budget Committee Adopts Budget Plan

  —Majority In Mississippi

  It is just step one of a long process, but the 14 member Joint Legislative Budget Committee released a budget outline to begin with once the 2010 legislative session begins. Here is the Clarion-Ledger and Daily Journal coverage of the proposal. Here are some highlights of the bill: - Based on $4.5 billion [...]
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  Posted: December 15, 2009, 8:00pm EST
  by Brett

• Barbour: Show Me Your Plan

  —Majority In Mississippi

  The Daily Journal ran a lengthy piece on the almost insurmountable obstacles that university mergers face heading into the 2010 legislative session. House Universities and College Committee Chair Kelvin Buck (D-Holly Springs) has repeatedly said he will not bring up any legislation to consider mergers. Appointed by Speaker of the [...]
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  Posted: December 15, 2009, 10:11am EST
  by Brett

• Franks In 2007: We Brought Toyota To Northeast Mississippi

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 3
  Below is Jamie Franks’ Neshoba County Fair speech from 2007 (thanks Cotton Mouth Blog) when he was the Democrat candidate for Lt. Governor. Fast forward to about the 5-minute mark and you will begin to hear Franks speak about Toyota’s (then) recent decision to locate in Northeast Mississippi. Franks would [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2009, 8:27pm EST
  by Brett

• Childers Must Hope Populist Vote Helps

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  Last Friday, the House passed a financial overhaul bill that “creates a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), imposes new curbs on the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market and sets up a new system for dissolving failing financial firms.” Simply put, this was a huge financial overhaul that the Democratic leadership hopes will [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2009, 3:58pm EST
  by Brett

• Cochran Votes For Bill Permitting Taxpayer Funded Abortion

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 3
  Over the weekend, the Senate approved a $1.1 trillion annual pork fest known as an omnibus spending bill. The bill barley cleared the upper chamber on Saturday with the necessary 60 votes to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. However, with three Democrats breaking rank and opposing the measure, the Democrats relied on [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2009, 8:36am EST
  by Brett

• Barbour Warns About Effect Healthcare Legislation Would Have On State Budget

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Haley Barbour released this statement saying the current proposal to expand Medicaid would force Mississippi to raise sales and/ or income taxes to pay for the new enrollees: Read the letter Barbour sent to Sen. Cochran here Current Congressional healthcare proposals to expand Medicaid coverage to individuals above the federal poverty line [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2009, 9:28pm EST
  by Brett

• Dems To Attack Barbour/ Republicans On Economy

  —Majority In Mississippi

  I read one of the most detailed pressers from Mississippi Democrats today, where they stridently attack Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant for the state of the economy. They claim that the policies of Barbour are the reason for the high unemployment and budget deficits the state is facing. This is [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2009, 8:29pm EST
  by Brett

• HBCU Czar: Money Is Wrong Reason For Merger

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Well, he’s not technically one of President Obama’s czar. John Wilson, Jr., who is the executive director of Obama’s HBCU initiative, was in Jackson today and said that he opposed the merger proposals put in place by Haley Barbour. However, Wilson does not oppose mergers just because he opposes mergers in [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 6:01pm EST
  by Brett

• DeLano Wins Special Election For House Seat

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Scott DeLano, a real estate developer, defeated Patrick Collins in a special election for state House District 117 which includes West Biloxi and East Gulfport. DeLano will replace former State Rep. Michael Janus who resigned his seat earlier in the year to become D’Iberville city manager. As with all special elections [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 10:37am EST
  by Brett

• Wicker: Will Use Every Tool Available to Stop Abortion Funding In Healthcare Bill

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Sen. Roger Wicker released one of the strongest statements I have seen him make during his time in the upper chamber where he issued this stark warning to Democrats who try to place taxpayer funding for abortion in their healthcare legislation: “I have consistently fought to protect the lives of unborn [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 10:47am EST
  by Brett

• State Budget: Now It’s The Legislature’s Turn

  —Majority In Mississippi

  From the Mississippi Press: Elected officials never enjoy cutting spending. Its thankless work, but they must do it because state constitutions generally require balanced budgets. Gov. Barbour is making the best of a bad situation, shielding some agencies and critical programs while showing the political discipline to make potentially unpopular reductions [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 10:20am EST
  by Brett

• Barbour’s Appointment Opens Up Senate Seat

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Today, Haley Barbour appointed state Sen. Vincent Davis (D-Fayette) to fill a chancery judge post that was opened after the death of Judge Kennie Middleton in September. Davis is a first-term Democrat and a special election will need to be held to fill the remainder of his term. While the election [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 1:23pm EST
  by Brett

• Local Government Consolidation?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  We have talked a lot about education consolidation- both K-12 and higher education- on this blog, but the issue of local government consolidation has not been an issue- until now. Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus has proposed a plan that would consolidate the city of Natchez and Adams County. Under Lazarus’ [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 10:37am EST
  by Brett

• Chip Pickering’s Fall From Grace Continues

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  The former Congressman gets into a scuffle with his son’s soccer coach forcing the two men to sign simple assault complaints yesterday. Update: Apparently the man involved is the coach for the team that Pickering’s son played against- not who he plays for. That is all…I am done with this stupid [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 10:10am EST
  by Brett

• Billy McCoy: 100% Against Mergers

  —Majority In Mississippi

  From the Speaker of the House: “I’m against it. I don’t have time or energy to beat around the bush. I’m against this…one hundred percent against this. And if you had never walked in this door, I would have been against it.” McCoy said this during a meeting with representatives from Alcorn, [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 9:10pm EST
  by Brett

• Franks: I Can’t Wait For Barbour’s Last Two Years To End

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  Newt Gingrich was in Jackson yesterday as part of his “real jobs summit” tour. This is what state Democrat Party Chairman Jamie Franks had to say about Gingrich and his proposals: “It’s strange that the Republicans have to reach back to the 1990s to pick out their plan for improving our [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 11:15am EST
  by Brett

• Latest Comments From Doug Davis on Merger

  —Majority In Mississippi

  State Sen. Doug Davis (R-Hernando) is Chairman of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee and will be a player in any merger discussions that take place in the Senate. He has been pretty non-committal so far, and continued to be so offering these comments: “Everything is still on the table right [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 9:31am EST
  by Brett

• Reducing The Size of The State Legislature

  —Majority In Mississippi

  State Sen. Walter Michel (R-Jackson) has introduced legislation which aims to reduce the number of members of the state legislature by 25 percent. Michel said it makes sense to look at this now because of the cost-saving aspect as well as the fact that legislative districts will be redrawn after [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 3:03pm EST
  by Brett

• Mergers Aren’t Being Mentioned Just For Fun

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  Challenging the idea that university merger opponents lack political will, Rep. John Mayo came up with the idea of merging all public universities into just two schools- one called North Mississippi, one called South Mississippi. And anybody that did not support his fictitious idea did not have political will. He got [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:21am EST
  by Brett

• More Budget Cuts Coming Soon

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  According to a couple members of the state legislature. For November, revenue was down about $25 million from initial projections. For the first five months of the fiscal year, the state is down more than $136 million. Posted in Mississippi Politics Tagged: budget [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 9:53am EST
  by Brett

• Initial Thoughts on Phil Bryant’s Commission Report

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Phil Bryant and his Commission for a New Mississippi released a very detailed report on what they see as a broken government system, and how to fix it. Click here to view the 56 page report A couple points about this: - The overlying themes to me seem to be accountability [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 9:07am EST
  by Brett

• Will Budget Struggles Be A Blessing For ‘Outsider’ Candidates?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  After a week off, I’m not going to delve into what happened over the past week. But the issue of the day continues to be Haley Barbour’s proposed budget- specifically the mergers. While we have heard a lot of talking, mostly demagoguery from opponents, the legislature will soon have to [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 10:24am EST
  by Brett

• Yes, Colleges in Mississippi Have Merged/ Closed In The Past

  —Majority In Mississippi

  I thought this list was pretty interesting. It notes closings and mergers of Mississippi colleges and universities through the years. I guess what separates most of these schools with those being proposed for mergers today is that they were private schools- relying on tuition and donations to operate. Posted in Mississippi [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 2:51pm EST
  by Brett

• Jackson N.O.W.: Merger Proposals Racist, Sexist

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 3
  Did you expect anything less? “University consolidation should instead be handled in a manner that respects the history and contributions of women and all people of color,” says Jackson Area NOW President Stacey Aldridge. “Acknowledging the identity and distinctiveness of every institution in our state on equal terms.” The organization says [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:43pm EST
  by Brett

• Did You Know The Movie ‘The Blind Side’ Was Racist?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 7
  A wealthy family from the Memphis suburbs takes in a kid with no education who they find wandering the streets and eventually become his family. Great story right? Well, if that happens to be a white, Christian family who takes in a young black man then you have the makings [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:52am EST
  by Brett

• Stop Quoting Bill Jones Like He Is Some Independent Source

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Various news sources have quoted Bill Jones, the Chairman of the State Board of Education, as he attempts to fire up opposition to school mergers. After all it would make sense to quote someone in that position, right? Well, I guess so. Here is what he told WDAM out of [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:42am EST
  by Brett

• The Interesting Lack of Response From Democrats

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 2
  Most of the Clarion-Ledger’s stories regarding Haley Barbour FY 2011 budget outline have focused on reactions from people who stand to have an alma mater affected by mergers, and there reactions are predictable (and understandable). Most Americans suffer from NIMBY disease. Yes, they want the budget balanced and cuts made [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:39am EST
  by Brett

• From The Man Who Thinks There Is A 48th Congressional District in Mississippi…

  —Majority In Mississippi

  We bring you President Obama’s holiday plans: It is being reported that Barack Obama plans to spend his holidays in Texas to watch the Bluebonnet Bowl. He said this year’s matchup of Philips College from the Southwest Conference and Sewanee (also known as The University of the South) from the Southeastern [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:16pm EST
  by Brett

• Recovery.org: The Stimulus Created or “Saved” 30 Jobs In MS-05

  —Majority In Mississippi

  And by MS-05 I mean Mississippi’s Fifth Congressional District, the district that disappeared almost a decade ago. Miraculously, the $787 billion stimulus has created or “saved” 30 jobs in that extinct district at the cost of more than $984,000 (which is relatively cheap at about $32,000 a job). This information [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 9:06am EST
  by Brett

• Here’s The Consolidation Plans

  —Majority In Mississippi

  …As outlined in Haley Barbour’s 2011 budget recommendations. At the college level, Barbour made the expected announcement which proposes consolidating Mississippi University for Women with Mississippi State. MSU and MUW are separated by about 20 miles. MSU has the largest enrollment in the state while MUW has the lowest. Earlier [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  by Brett

• Childers Did Receive Some Protests Friday

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 4
  Last week, a group of local Democrats in the First District indicated that they were not happy with Travis Childers’ vote against healthcare legislation written by Nancy Pelosi, and were going to let their voices be heard outside a Friday night fundraiser in Oxford. Well, a group of about 20 held [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:47am EST
  by Brett

• MUW Alums Promise to Fight Merger Talks

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  You had to be expecting this. And the truth is I see where there coming from. If a school I loved deeply and had supported over the years was on the chopping block, I wouldn’t be too happy. At the same time, the legislature needs to realize you can’t make everyone [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:54am EST
  by Brett

• Local Democrats Plan To Protest Childers’ Healthcare Vote

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Travis Childers will be in Oxford tomorrow night for a fundraiser. However, some local Democrats are planning on showing up to voice their displeasure with the First District Congressman. Merrill Nordstrom, vice-chair of the local Democratic committee, said: “I’m disappointed in his vote. I hope he can redeem himself when [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 3:11pm EST
  by Brett

• What Kind of Numbers Will We See in the GOP Primaries in 2011?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  In many counties throughout the state, if you want a say in local politics you need to vote in the Democrat primary. Without Republican challengers, the race is often decided in August. I talked about the possibility of that trend changing- starting with Simpson County- when we saw a number [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 9:06am EST
  by Brett

• About 55,000

  —Majority In Mississippi

  That is the number of people that have signed the voter ID initiative according to Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. Supporters will need about 90,000 signatures to have the issue put on the ballot for voters to decide on. Hosemann did not know if the collected signatures have been divided [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 8:34am EST
  by Brett

• Barbour To Recommend MSU-MUW Merger

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  The Columbus Disptach (and others) are reporting that Haley Barbour is expected to recommend the merger of Mississippi University for Women with another school- most likely Mississippi State- as part of his 2011 budget outline. The formal proposal has not been released so this is all speculation at this point, and [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 1:57pm EST
  by Brett

• Honoring Our Veterans

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Trace Adkins pays tribute to our veterans in this video ‘Arlington.’ To those who have served or are currently serving: Thank You. Posted in Random/ Just for Fun Tagged: Veterans Day [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 5:30am EST
  by Brett

• Will We Begin Seeing These Bumper Stickers in Oxford?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Not really a political story, but there is a lot of politics at play: Chancellor asks band to stop playing ‘From Dixie with Love’ Posted in Random/ Just for Fun Tagged: Dixie, Ole Miss [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 8:12pm EST
  by Brett

• Childers Helped Himself Greatly with Healthcare Vote

  —Majority In Mississippi

  The Desoto Times Tribune has an editorial saying that Childers’ vote against the Democrats healthcare reform bill just made the race to topple him a little more difficult. I agree. At this time, there is no reason to think that Childers is not the front-runner. If I was one of [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 8:50am EST
  by Brett

• Interesting: Gene Taylor One of Only Four Dems to Vote Against Stimulus, Cap and Trade, and Healthcare

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Per Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic. For those wondering, the other three include Walt Minnick (ID-01), Bobby Bright (AL-2), and Parker Griffith (AL-5). And it’s fair to say that those three all face much more difficult re-election races than Taylor. Honestly, I’m surprised it is only four Dems who opposed these [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 3:20pm EST
  by Brett

• Can The GOP Make Inroads Into Local Politics?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 3
  As I hinted at last week, we recently saw several Simpson County officials switch party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. The Clarion-Ledger has a good article on this story as Simpson County becomes one of the first rural counties in the state to be run by Republicans. To an outsider who [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:07pm EST
  by Brett

• MS-01: Huckabee Endorses Nunnelee

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 2
  Mike Huckabee press release: Huck PAC and Governor Mike Huckabee are proud to endorse Senator Alan Nunnelee for Mississippi Congress (CD-1). Senator Nunnelee has been strong voice for republicans for over a decade in the Mississippi Senate. A true pro-life champion, Sen. Nunnelee agrees that every single life has value, and should [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:17pm EST
  by Brett

• Childers Confirms Opposition To Latest Healthcare Bill

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 3
  Rep. Travis Childers released this statement on H.R. 3962 yesterday: “Today, millions of hard-working Americans are suffering from soaring premiums that are increasing seven times faster than wages. Our country needs health care reform, and there is no one who wants to see the implementation of successful reform and lower premiums [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:13am EST
  by Brett

• Ross Still Interested In MS-01

  —Majority In Mississippi

  I have mentioned Henry Ross a few times in the past (here and here) because of his interest in running for the First District seat held by Travis Childers. The former Eupora mayor told CQ Politics that he intends to make a decision after the first of the year. Ross [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 8:54am EST
  by Brett

• Any Impact on MS-01?

  —Majority In Mississippi

  I spent considerable amount of time thinking about what last night’s election may mean for 2010- specifically the race in Mississippi’s First District. While it is difficult to make any comparisons between states, Southwestern Virginia is home to many largely white, rural districts similar to MS-01. Here is a map [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 11:09am EST
  by Brett

• Ready for 2010

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  Last night was the best election night for Republicans as a whole since 2004. The year 2007 was nice, especially here in Mississippi, but the GOP and Democrats swapped contests in Louisiana and Kentucky essentially resulting in a draw for the evening. There is no other way to spin it: [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 10:04am EST
  by Brett

• Barbour Statement on GOP Victories in Virginia and New Jersey

  —Majority In Mississippi

  Number of comments: 1
  Haley Barbour released this statement on behalf of the Republican Governors Association following gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey: The RGA helped two great candidates secure historic victories for the GOP tonight. By wisely investing more than $13 million in television and radio ads, mail pieces and direct contributions, the [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 10:05pm EST
  by Brett