By Shelia Byrd, Associated Press
November 7, 2007

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids on Wednesday pointed to the election day defeat of three incumbent GOP state senators - Ralph Doxey of Holly Springs, Richard White of Terry and Shannon Walley of Leakesville. The group hopes the voter backlash will motivate other lawmakers to pass the tax swap legislation in 2008.

The organization said Democratic Sen. Scottie Cuevas' loss to David Baria in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary was another example of how the tax swap bill impacted a legislative election.

The three Republicans and Cuevas had voted against proposals to reduce Mississippi's 7 percent grocery tax and increase the excise tax on cigarettes. Mississippi has the highest grocery tax in the nation and the third lowest cigarette tax.

In 2006, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, who won re-election Tuesday, vetoed the tax swap bill twice. This year, the legislation never made it out of the committee of Sen. Tommy Robertson, R-Moss Point, an ally of Barbour. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids launched an ad campaign against Robertson a few weeks before he lost in his party's primary.

"We urge all members of the Mississippi Legislature to heed the voters' message and enact this legislation into law in 2008.

"By overriding the special interests of big tobacco, Mississippi's leaders can save hardworking families hundreds of dollars in grocery taxes and keep thousands of kids from smoking," Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said in a statement.

Terry Cassreino, a spokesman for the Mississippi Democratic Party, said the party supports the tax swap, which is expected to re-emerge in next year's legislative session.

"The grocery tax issue certainly played a major role in the Republican defeats," Cassreino said.

Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Jim Herring disagreed. He said each race has its own circumstances. Herring said that a low voter turnout influenced the outcome of the races. He said just over 700,000 ballots were cast in Tuesday's election.

"If we had a better turnout, those races probably would have gone our way," said Herring.

Barbour, at a news briefing Wednesday afternoon, said that the Democrats who gained seats in the Senate ran conservative campaigns.

"I trust that they will come down here and vote conservatively," Barbour said.

Barbour also said he would study the state's tax code with the aim of a tax cut. He didn't say on Wednesday how soon the study would begin.

Some advocacy groups have criticized Barbour for blocking the tax swap. They've accused him of maintaining allegiance to the tobacco companies that were his clients when he was a Washington, D.C. lobbyist.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in Mississippi. Higher cigarette taxes are an effective deterrent to smoking, especially among children, the group said in its statement.

Barbour has said he's opposed to raising taxes.

The GOP losses in the Senate give the Democrats a 28 to 24 majority. With 73 Democrats in the House, the party maintained its majority in the 122-member chamber. Two legislative races - House Districts 43 and 111 - haven't been decided because no candidate has a majority.

"I think it's fair to say we're excited," said Owen Shackelford, a political director with the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee in Washington.

Shackelford said the tax swap opposition wasn't the only thing that hurt Republicans. He said Democrats recruited strong candidates, who ran solid campaigns.

Still, only one Democrat, Attorney General Jim Hood, won a statewide race.

"I think it's a testament to what a good job is done at the legislative level," said Shackelford. "We are winning despite losses at the top of the ballot."