By Emily Wagster Pettus
Associated Press Writer
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Several prominent Mississippi politicians, including a Democrat who served in President Clinton’s Cabinet, are endorsing Republican Haley Barbour for a second term as governor.
‘‘We’ve got to do what’s best for Mississippi, and in this case, it has to be the person over the party,’’ Mike Espy, who was Clinton’s first secretary of agriculture, said Wednesday.
Espy stood by Barbour and the governor’s wife, Marsha, during a news conference at the state Capitol. About two dozen other politicians, ministers and businesspeople stood on the marble steps behind them.
Barbour’s Democratic challenger in the Nov. 6 election, attorney John Arthur Eaves Jr., called the endorsements ‘‘meaningless.’’
Barbour was Republican National Committee chairman from 1993-97 and helped engineer the GOP takeover of Congress while Clinton was president and Espy was in the Cabinet. In 2003, Barbour gathered endorsements from Democrats, including several sheriffs, as he
unseated Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.
The Democratic Party has been trying to enforce party loyalty during this election cycle. Earlier this year, for example, the party’s executive committee tried to block longtime Insurance Commissioner George Dale from seeking re-election as a Democrat. Dale eventually got his name on the ballot, but he was defeated in the party primary in August.
Dale is among those now backing Barbour.
‘‘He’s the only governor I’ve ever served with who’s been to my office three times and has sat down and talked to me in my office,’’ said Dale, who has served since January 1976.
Among the others attending the Barbour news conference were former Gov. Bill Waller Sr., who served from 1972-76; former Lt. Gov. Brad Dye, who served from 1980-92; and current Moss Point Mayor Xavier Bishop, who took office only a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina stuck his city and other parts of the coast in 2005. All three were elected as Democrats.
Barbour told the group: ‘‘For the next four years, Marsha and I will do everything we can to earn this endorsement and to respect the fact that you have shared your reputations with us.’’
A few weeks ago, Eaves touted his own endorsement from a Republican mayor. On Wednesday, he dismissed the other officials’ support for Barbour.
‘‘People down in Moss Point are trying to recall their mayor right now, and Waller hasn’t supported a Democrat since the ’80s,’’ Eaves said in a news release.
Espy represented a Mississippi Delta district in the U.S. House from 1986 to 1993, and is now in private law practice in Jackson. He said he and Barbour are both from Yazoo City and their families have known each other for years.
‘‘He’s my homeboy and we’ve worked together for generations,’’ Espy said.
Espy — who gave $500 to Eaves’ campaign earlier this year — said Barbour has provided solid leadership in the aftermath of Katrina and Mississippi has benefited from connections Barbour made as a Washington lobbyist.
‘‘He’s got a golden Rolodex,’’ Espy said. ‘‘It’s a good thing to have someone in the position as governor who has influence in Washington. That is not a bad thing, guys.’’
State Sen. Gloria Williamson of Philadelphia, a former state Democratic Party chairwoman, is backing Eaves and said she about disappointed Espy’s support for Barbour.
‘‘The rest of them, I think, were never real Democrats,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘But I think Mike Espy messed up something terrible.’’
AP-CS-10-17-07 1545EDT
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