Ledger: Barbour attacks Landrum

Clarion Ledger - Neutral no more: GOP attacks one of its own - Landrum trying to divert attention, RNC rep says of voting flap - On Friday, Mississippi's representative to the Republican National Committee, Henry Barbour — who had been neutral in the race - opened fire on fundraising frontrunner David Landrum after Landrum suggested a long-time GOP worker may have stolen Landrum's affidavit ballot in the 2003 Republican primary in Hinds County.

In an e-mail to Republicans, Barbour accused Landrum of "attacking the 'foot soldiers' of the party in an effort to move the focus off of him. ... If he makes the runoff, I would not be surprised to see him effectively try to purchase our nomination. I hope y'all will join me in working to make sure that does not happen."

Landrum - who has raised nearly $1 million, much of it his own money - responded Friday: "I grew up in Jones County, where I learned to stand up for myself. And that is what I'm going to do. I am not a politician, but I understand that Republicans are going to support different candidates in this race, but I believe this has gone to a new low."

The brouhaha began a few weeks back when fellow candidate John Rounsaville said Landrum hadn't voted in seven years. Landrum responded he and his wife, Jill, had voted for Gov. Haley Barbour in every election they could since 2003 and pointed to signatures in the Hinds County voters register as proof. But The Clarion-Ledger discovered two signatures he said were his wife's actually belonged to other people.

Two days later, Landrum's campaign said none of the signatures belonged to the couple and that the news release was sent out "without David's knowledge and approval. It never occurred to either David or Jill to verify the signatures. David accepts responsibility for an honest mistake."

Landrum and his wife have said they voted by affidavit ballot in 2003 in Hinds County in both the Republican primary and general election. Some of the affidavit ballots are missing from the August 2003 primary for Precinct 78, and Landrum insists the couple's votes are among those missing. But Hinds County election officials say anyone who votes must sign the voter register. And no signatures appear to match Landrum's or his wife's.

Landrum's campaign raised questions about the possibility of tampering by releasing an affidavit from Pat Wilson, a machine specialist working with the Hinds County Election Commission. Wilson said Pete Perry, treasurer for the congressional campaign for John Rounsaville, was in the room by himself for more than an hour with 2003 Republican primary election records. After Perry left, Wilson said he noticed three boxes containing the records "were not located where they had been neatly stacked, and they could not be easily located because they were mixed in with many other boxes in the room containing other election records." Perry said Friday he was alone with the records for maybe 10 minutes and was joined by David Ross, son of candidate Charlie Ross, in examining 2003 election records. They found no evidence the couple had voted, Perry said. He acknowledged he didn't restack the boxes as they were before because "they didn't seem to be in any particular order" but denied taking any documents. The handful of affidavit ballots missing now were missing then, he said.

What happened in Madison County to Landrum and his wife could soon be part of the Justice Department investigation. An election commissioner moved more than 10,000 names from the voting rolls from active to inactive, including those of Landrum and his wife.

Jim Herring, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, said his role is to not get involved in the primary: "I always take serious Reagan's 11th commandment: Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican." As for the purging, Herring said, "We're not going to know all the answers before the March 11 primary, but sooner or later the facts will come out as to who did what." He called the race so far "a black eye for the party." Instead of focusing on real issues, the campaign has deteriorated, he said. "I think it's a legitimate issue whether a person voted in the past. The whole thing has become an unfortunate episode that damages the party. Our goal is to elect somebody who will win the war, restore the economy for the benefit of our people and preserve the values that Republicans stand for."