Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican Sen. Thad Cochran and his Democratic challenger Travis Childers are traveling the state, making their last-minute appeals to voters.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Several Republican elected officials joined Cochran as he campaigned Monday at a restaurant in Madison. The six-term incumbent says he likes his chances of regaining the Appropriations Committee chairmanship if Republicans take control of the Senate.

Childers is a former congressman from north Mississippi, and he says he wants to work across party lines in the Senate. He says he believes he can defeat Cochran, despite being outspent.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is not predicting how many people will vote. His spokeswoman says about 29,500 absentee ballots were requested. That's up from about 18,000 before the June 3 primaries.