Mississippi: Nunnelee’s Fundraising May Keep Primary at Bay

State Sen. Alan Nunnelee, who is hoping to keep the 1st district GOP primary field to himself, should get a boost in that effort with a third-quarter fundraising report that will show $220,000 raised in just two months.

Nunnelee has become the choice of state and national Republicans to take back the highly conservative 1st district seat from Rep. Travis Childers (D). He said in an interview last week that his third-quarter report will show contributions from a few notable Mississippi politicians, including Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R).

Nunnelee said he spent most of his time this past quarter establishing himself in the district, and he has plans to expand his fundraising in Washington, D.C., during the fourth quarter.

“I think we’ve taken the first steps toward laying a good foundation within the district, so now I’ll be reaching out to the D.C. community.”

Nunnelee added that he’s focusing his campaign on the general election, “but if we have a primary then we’ll deal with that.”

Last cycle, Childers won a stunning special election victory over Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R), in part because wounds never healed after a divisive GOP primary. Childers went on to beat Davis in a November rematch. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won the district by 24 points in last year’s presidential race.
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