Ad Wars

WLBT - Ad Wars: Did Negative Ads Boomerang in Congressional Race? - Two candidates are headed to a runoff in the Republican race for the 3rd Congressional District. Former State Senator Charlie Ross received 33 percent of the vote. Attorney Gregg Harper drew 28 percent. That's not bad for two candidates who so far have chosen not to go negative in their advertising.

Harper says it was a decision he made from the beginning. "I know it helped. We had a number of people in that last week who said, we appreciate you didn't get in the middle of all that," he says.

Ross had run several attack ads against Phil Bryant last year in the race for Lieutenant Governor. He lost the race, so we asked him if he purposely shied away from negative campaigning this time around. He didn't answer the question directly. "The difference between me and my opponents in this race is, I have a record of performance in the legislature. That's the message I'm conveying to the public," he says.

This time, Ross was the target of a negative ad. Candidate David Landrum ran an ad which ironically points out Ross's prior negative ads didn't work. Landrum came in third in the current race.

John Rounsaville, who came in fourth, ran one of the highest profile ads, attacking Landrum's voting record. We asked Rounsaville about the effects of his ad campaign. He said "It helped Gregg Harper out a lot." We asked if he had any regrets about the ad campaign. He said he wouldn't have done anything differently. And regarding his political future, he said he's exploring his options.

And what about endorsements for the remaining candidates? Landrum says he will talk to some of his supporters, and then decide.

A spokesman for Congressman Chip Pickering, who is vacating the 3rd Congressional seat, says, "(The Congressman) has been neutral so far. We expect him to stay neutral".