Childers victory gives Dems a third straight takeover

Democrat Travis Childers won Tuesday’s Mississippi special election runoff for Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R) former House seat, handing Democrats the biggest of their three special election takeovers this cycle and sending a listless GOP further into a state of disarray.

Childers led GOP candidate Greg Davis 53-47 with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting. Turnout increased substantially over the 67,000 voters who cast ballots in the April 22 open special election, with more than 100,000 voting in the runoff.

{mosads}Childers, who beat Davis 49-46 three weeks ago but came up just shy of a race-ending majority, joins new Democratic Reps. Bill Foster (Ill.) and Don Cazayoux (La.) to give Democrats a trifecta of upsets in conservative House districts over the last two months.

The loss could send shockwaves through the Republican Party, where murmurs about a leadership shakeup have become more and more audible.

Democrats are backing up the assertion that they remain on the offensive in the cycle following a 30-seat gain, which has historically not been the case after a “wave” election.

Wicker’s former district voted 62 percent for President Bush in 2004 and, by that measure, is one of the most conservative seats Democrats have taken from the GOP over the last 18 months, including the 2006 election.

“After three consecutive special election defeats in districts President Bush twice won easily, it is abundantly clear the American people have turned their back and shut the door on the special interest-driven agenda of the Republican Party,” said the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “There is no district that is safe for Republican candidates because President Bush’s failed policies have hurt every community in America.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), issued a somber and self-reflective statement following the loss, saying Republicans were “disappointed” and that they need to prepare to run against Democrats campaigning as conservatives.

“Though the Democrats’ task will be more difficult in a November election, the fact is they have pulled off two special election victories with this strategy” in Louisiana and Mississippi “and it should be a concern to all Republicans,” Cole said.

Cole added that “the political environment is such that voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general. Therefore, Republicans must undertake bold efforts to define a forward-looking agenda that offers the kind of positive change voters are looking for. This is something we can do in cooperation with our presidential nominee, but time is short.”{mospagebreak}

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the result should serve as a “wake-up call” to Republican candidates around the country.

Childers, the longtime Prentiss County Chancery Clerk, campaigned as a conservative Democrat and overcame GOP efforts to tie him to more liberal elements of the Democratic Party, including presidential frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.).

{mosads}Republicans brought out the big guns toward the end of the race, including a visit from Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday in Davis’s home county of Desoto, where the GOP candidate serves as mayor of the Memphis suburb Southaven.

Despite Cheney’s visit, Childers actually made headway in Davis’s home county, more than doubling his vote from three weeks ago and partially thwarting a sizeable rise in turnout there. About 7,500 more voters cast ballots, according to unofficial results, with Childers drawing about 3,000 of them.

Childers drew about 2,000 of the 12,500 votes in Desoto in April.

Davis and Childers will square off again in November, as they have already been elected their parties’ general election nominees.

Republicans cried foul Tuesday after the DCCC circulated a flier stating Davis wanted a statue of Ku Klux Klan organizer Nathan Bedford Forrest moved to his home city.

Davis’s campaign disputed this and pointed to a 2005 Memphis Commercial Appeal article that states he was willing to accept a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, while another mayor would accept the Forrest statue. A later New York Times article stated Davis had welcomed the Forrest statue.

Both national party House committees plugged more than $1 million into the race, and spending by the candidates and outside groups like GOP-backing Freedom’s Watch pushed the race over $5 million total.

The NRCC’s investment was particularly painful given its stark cash disadvantage with less than six months to go until the November election.

The NRCC had just $7.2 million in the bank as of March 31. It spent $1.3 million in Mississippi.

The Democratic majority in the House has now expanded to 236-199.