Southaven Mayor Greg Davis held a 14-point lead over his closest Republican opponent in the race to fill the 1st district House seat of recently appointed Sen. Roger Wicker (R), according to a recent survey conducted for Davis’ campaign by the polling firm Public Opinion Strategies.

The poll of 300 likely Republican primary voters taken Jan. 16 and 17 gave Davis 36 percent, former Tupelo Mayor Glenn McCullough 22 percent and ophthalmologist Randy Russell just 1 percent.

The survey was conducted two weeks after Wicker was tapped to fill the vacant Senate seat of retired Sen. Trent Lott (R), and it found that Davis’ early lead over McCullough and Russell was in large part due to his 72 percent favorable rating in his largely Republican base of DeSoto County.

The poll showed that 73 percent of DeSoto County Republicans would vote for Davis while just 55 percent of Republicans in McCullough’s base of Lee County would vote for McCollough, the former mayor.

The date for the open special election for Wicker’s vacant seat has not yet been set by Gov. Haley Barbour (R), but it is widely expected to take place after the March 11 primary for this year’s general election.
— John McArdle