From The Blogs

RightOfMississippi - Charlie Ross is the best candidate to represent the Third District - This blog has been reletively silent about the third district congressional race but now that the runoff is upon us we have a pretty obvious choice here between a tested and competent State Senator in Charlie Ross and a relatively unexperienced former county GOP chairman in Gregg Harper. While we don’t have a problem with Harper personally we find that he is most likely only in this situation not on his own merit but because of the implosion of the David Landrum Campaign. Ross has been through 2 tough primary battles in the last year, he is a known quantity and while not flashy he will be a solid and reliable replacement for outgoing Rep. Chip Pickering and a steady advocate for Mississippi in the complicated and intricate world of Washington D.C. politics. This blog wholeheartedly endorses Senator Charlie Ross in the April 1st runoff election. All the best Charlie, -ROM

TheStarBlog - Vote for anybody you want - Someone asked me today, "If you voted for someone in the primary, doesn't that mean you have to vote for them in November, too?" I want to let as many people as I possibly can know that the answer to that question is a big fat NO. Nope, not even, no, no, no. You are fully entitled to change your mind about a candidate between the primary and the general election, and in a general election you are also fully entitled to vote for candidates in as many different parties as you want. However, you cannot vote in the April 1st run-off between Charlie Ross and Gregg Harper if you voted on a Democratic ballot in the March 11th primary. This is because the run-off, which is between two Republicans, is an actually an extension of the primary. If you didn't vote at all on March 11th, you can still vote on April 1st. If you live in Lauderdale County and have questions about your eligibility to vote, call the circuit clerk's office at 601-482-9731. If you would like to learn more about the candidates, you can find info on all of them at www.votesmart.org. Check tomorrow's Star for a detailed story on who can and can't vote on April Fool's day. - Jennifer Jacob, Staff Writer jjacob@themeridianstar.com (UPDATE: Meridian Star - Voter Info: Who can vote April 1)