Union Bosses and a Debate

Bobby Harrison - State elections more competitive than usual for Democrats - The Web site lists the race between 1st District U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, a Democrat, and Republican Southaven Mayor Greg Davis as competitive, but leaning toward the incumbent.

DeSoto Times - Childers courts union workers - Although Mississippi’s First Congressional District is not a heavily-unionized region like its neighbor to the north, U.S. Rep. Travis Childers is courting union workers who live in DeSoto County but work in Memphis. Clay Davis of Hernando, a retired electrical worker and a member of Local No. 474 in Memphis, said his electrical workers union is staunchly behind Childers. Davis, no relation to Childers’ Republican opponent Greg Davis, is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “I just got a letter from 474 plugging for Travis and Ronnie (Musgrove),” Clay Davis, a Childers supporter, said Monday. “Travis Childers is strictly for organized labor.” His big support comes from trial lawyers and unions,” Greg Davis said. “Our campaign would never court people that we don’t philosophically agree with.”

Commercial Appeal - House candidates Childers, Davis set to debate today - Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss., and Republican opponent Greg Davis, the Southaven mayor, meet in Oxford this afternoon for a debate that both candidates say will focus on the issues and not personal attacks. But in saying they intend to stick to the high road, each candidate blamed the other for starting negative campaigning.