Rand Lewis has dropped out of the 1st district Democratic primary and is backing attorney Larry Grant’s second bid to beat freshman Rep. Bill Sali (R).

Grant lost to Sali by 5 points in the previous cycle in the solidly Republican 1st district. But he performed much better than some political analysts anticipated in that race.

Sali closed 2007 with a little more than $100,000 on hand and nearly $168,000 in campaign debt, putting him in a slightly better position than Grant, who banked almost $41,000 as of Dec. 31 while finishing the fundraising period with $67,500 in debt.
— David M. Drucker