Who will be at the Debates?

Daily Leader - Third Congressional District debate scheduled - The nine candidates vying for Mississippi's Third Congressional District seat have signed on for a series of four debates sponsored by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and the Stennis-Montgomery Association at Mississippi State University.
James Broadwater, R-Flowood; Gregg Harper, R-Pearl; Gregory Hatcher, R-Meridian; David Landrum, R-Madison; Billy Marcy, R-Meridian; Charlie Ross, R-Brandon; John Rounsaville, R-Madison; Randy Eads, D-Starkville; and Joel Gill, D-Pickens, will engage in political speak in an effort to set themselves apart from one another.

The first debate will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Fine Arts Auditorium on the campus of Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit. All candidates except Landrum will be participating.

The second debate will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18, at George Wynne Hall on the campus of Hinds Community College in Pearl. Harper, Landrum and Eads will not be in attendance - the former pair of Republicans have prior commitments at the Madison County Republican executive dinner.

The third debate will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Khalmus Auditorium on the MSU satellite campus in Meridian at 7 p.m. Gill will be the only candidate not participating.

The fourth and final debate will be held on Monday, March 3, at Colvard Union Ballroom on the MSU Campus in Starkville at 7 p.m. Ross is the only candidate not scheduled to appear.

The debates were planned and organized in barely two weeks. Lydia Quarles, the senior policy analyst for the Stennis Institute of Government at MSU, said the idea began when candidate Rounsaville sent a letter to the institute and requested that the debates be held.

"We just kind of went from there," Quarles said. "We decided that it would be a good idea and got to work. This is the most exciting single political year that Mississippi has seen in probably 40 years," she said. "There will be a lot of interest in who is running with whom, and I think folks are very interested in taking a stand one way or the other."