Ellington

On March 1, the Democratic Party announced that two more people, Catherine Starr of Hattiesburg and Bill Bowlin of Hickory Flat signed up to run for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate race this year. That means now there will be four of us running to replace TL in November. Our primary is June 6th.

The C-L is trying to make the race between myself and Jim (James) Allen O'Keefe, a 56-year-old minister/florist from Long Beach, whose father, Jerry O'Keefe, is a wealthy funeral director (I actually worked for his dad's insurance company in the early 90's) and former mayor of Biloxi. Starr ran for Governor against Musgrove in 2003 and received 26,821 votes, equal to 5.2 percent of the vote. Bowlin ran against the late Rep. Jamie Whitten in 1990 as a Republican.

My challenge will be to beat these guys on June 6th and avoid a run-off. Our first potential square-off will be Monday, as we have been all invited to speak at the Oktibbeha County Democratic Executive Committee's Beans and Greens Dinner. Then next chance will be here in Jackson, April 1 at Millsaps College during the Young Democrats of Mississippi Convention. Looks like I am going to have a busy year, but the old saying goes, "Nothing in life worth while comes easy."