Finances

Clarion Ledger - Congressional race spending mounting - Former state Sen. Charlie Ross holds the fund-raising edge. Ross has raised more than $680,000 in his race against Gregg Harper, a prosecutor in Brandon and Richland. Former Sen. Trent Lott contributed $4,000 this week to Harper's campaign. Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant also donated $1,000. Bryant defeated Ross last year in the lieutenant governor's race. Harper supplemented the contributions of the high-profile Mississippi Republicans by loaning his campaign $20,000.

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ClarionLedger.com - Jere Nash Blog - Congressional Campaign Finance Update - Republican candidates in the runoffs for the First and Third Congressional District slots have filed their pre-runoff reports with the FEC (which covered financial activity through March 12) and have since filed 48-hour reports to disclose major contributions received since March 12. If we add all of the 48-hour contributions disclosed by the candidates to the cash-on-hand balances they disclosed on their March 12 pre-primary report, we get a pretty good idea of how much money the candidates have to spend in this runoff election. Here's how the money stacks up:

Greg Davis -- $146,562.99

Glenn McCullough -- $122,434.01

Gregg Harper -- $131,861.25

Charlie Ross -- $186,612.20

By and large, the candidates are relatively evenly matched in the money game. Ross is ahead in his race because he contributed $55,000 of his own money to the cause. And the Trent Lott endorsement has apparently helped Greg Davis raise some extra money.