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Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) won’t have to defend his brand-new Senate seat until November, thanks to a ruling that the state Supreme Court handed down Wednesday.
Mississippi’s high court affirmed Gov. Haley Barbour’s (R) decision to set the state’s special Senate election for Election Day in November, thwarting Democrats’ attempt to force him to set it for earlier this year.
The ruling means Wicker will not have to defend his seat in a special election separate from the general election. It also gives him more time to solidify his incumbency in the seat, which he has occupied for less than a month.
Democratic state Attorney General Jim Hood successfully appealed Barbour’s decision initially, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision and proclaimed Barbour’s date valid.
At issue was Mississippi election law, which states that a special election must be held within 100 days unless the vacancy occurs in a general election year. In the latter case, the special election can be held the same day as the general election.
Sen. Trent Lott (R) left his seat in December 2007, which was a general election year in the state. But the vacancy occurred after the general election took place, so Barbour scheduled it for the next general election instead.
Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and former Rep. Ronnie Shows are both running on the Democratic side.
The special election would likely have been held in March had the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hood.
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