The Candidates

WLBT - Crowded 3rd Congressional District Race - Nine men are running for the 3rd District Congressional seat left vacant by Chip Pickering. Seven Republicans and two Democrats are vying for your vote to fill Mississippi's 3rd District Congressional seat. We will start with the Democrats, Randy Eads and Joel Gill.

Eads lives in Starkville and owns a real estate investment company. To promote low unemployment rates and business growth, he would lower taxes for the middle class and introduce legislation requiring a minimum wage increase every two years.

Gill is a Pickens alderman and also works as a cattle broker. He believes illegal immigration is the greatest threat to our country. Gill wants employers who hire undocumented workes should face sizable penalties.

As for the Republicans, James Broadwater stands out from his opponents as the only candidate who wants to do away with the IRS and the income tax. Broadwater lives in Flowood and is a state government employee.

Rankin county attorney Gregg Harper lives in Pearl. He calls illegal immigration the "red meat" issue he will focus on. Harper also pledges to help children with special needs. Gregory Hatcher is a Meridian native. In office he pledges to focus on increased research and development for alternative energy sources.

Hatcher wants to create jobs and build wealth for people in the district. Bill Marcy served as a military police platoon sergeant with the national guard. The Madison resident says national security is his number one priority.

David Landrum has been in the news lately defending his voting record. One of his opponents John Rounsaville accuses landrum of not voting in the last seven years. Landrum says he has voted in the 2003 and 2007 statewide elections. The Air Force and US Army veteran, supports improving pay and benefits for the men and women in the armed forces.

Rounsaville is a Mississippi state graduate and served as Deputy Chief of staff for Congressman Chip Pickering. He then served as a policy advisor for Governor Haley Barbour. Rounsaville believes we need to win the war on terror by supporting our military in Iraq.

Charlie Ross recently ran for the Leuitenant Governor seat. Now the former State Senator from district 20 hopes to make a difference in Congress. The gulf war veteran wants to protect mississippi's military bases and opposes tax increases.

---

Meridian Star - Candidates face off - James Broadwater: He took the restaurant campaign route Monday, visiting eateries in the Jackson Metro Area such as the Golden Corral in Flowood and AJ's Seafood Grill in Ridgeland. He plans to stay home and await results today.

Randy Eads: On Monday, Eads attended a Barack Obama rally in Columbus and had plans to speak at a Hillary Clinton event in Natchez. Today, he said he will continue to travel the district, campaigning at polling places, and will await election results at his home in Starkville.

Joel Gill: He said he will spend today the same way he spent Monday — traveling the district and dropping in on municipal officials and past supporters, and trying to get his message out to anyone he happens to encounter. On Monday, he also attended a Barack Obama rally in Columbus.

Gregg Harper: He spent the last week on a bus tour of the Third District, visiting almost every county in which he is on the ballot. Today, he plans to campaign by making phone calls, especially in the Rankin County area. He will await election results at the Hilton Hotel on County Line Road in Jackson — a gathering that is open to the public.

Greg Hatcher: He campaigned by making phone calls Monday, and has the same plans for today.

David Landrum: He campaigned around the district Monday, talking to everyone from radio stations to random restaurant patrons to try to drum up more support in the last hours of his campaign. Today, he had plans for an early morning speech to exercising voters at a health club, and will hold public a gathering at the Agriculture Museum on Lakeland Drive in Jackson at 8 p.m. to await election results.

Bill Marcy: He spent Monday trying to talk to as many people as possible by going door-to-door, and put flyers in windshields while he was at it. He plans to do the same thing today, and said he will campaign until the polls close tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Charlie Ross: He campaigned in Meridian Monday, visiting Naval Air Station Meridian and the National Guard Base. Today he will be out and about in the Jackson Metro area, meeting people, visiting restaurants, and his volunteers will be holding up campaign signs. He will await election results from a public gathering at the Sports Hall of Fame on Lakeland Drive in Jackson.

John Rounsaville: He has been traveling the district politicking at restaurants, and plans to go to polling places district-wide today to try and get more votes just moments before voters make up their minds.