Mississippi Senate race moved up ballot

The race for Sen. Roger Wicker’s (R-Miss.) seat will be at the top of the ballot, alongside other federal races, after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the law requires it. 

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said he will comply with the ruling, which caused some confusion initially because it overturned the lower court’s decision to force Barbour to change the ballot.

{mosads}The court said the special election should be at the top of the ballot, but it stopped short of requiring that it be moved up. 

Barbour would ostensibly have been able to keep the race where it was and be punished after the fact, but he said after the ruling that he would move the race up.

The ruling and Barbour’s decision are a victory for Democrats, who wanted the race moved up the ballot to help their chances in a top Senate race.

Barbour and the Republican secretary of state signed off on a ballot design that put the special election between Wicker and former Gov.  Ronnie Musgrove (D) at the end of the ballot.

A Democratic election commissioner challenged the ballot, and a lower court ordered that the race be moved up the ballot.

The Supreme Court ruling states that the lower court erred in issuing instructions about how the governor and secretary of state are to perform their jobs.

“That is not to say, however, that the acts of the governor and secretary of state are beyond review of the courts,” the ruling states. “Once an act is performed, it is then subject to judicial review and, if the act is found to have violated the law, the constitutional officer is subject to the penalties provided by law.”

Republicans and Wicker appeared to benefit from having the race at the bottom of the ballot, as certain traditionally Democratic voting groups are theorized to be less likely to fill out a complete ballot.

Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court gave the GOP a victory when it ruled that the special election could be held in November, instead of in March.

Editor’s note: This story replaced a previous version, posted Sept. 18, to reflect Barbour's decision to move the race up the ballot