As Sen. Roger Wicker (R) continues to air a series of campaign ads in central and Gulf Coast Mississippi this month, Roll Call has learned that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is going up on television in the Magnolia State beginning Tuesday.

The DSCC television purchases in Mississippi means that the party will be on the air in the Magnolia State ahead of the party’s Senate nominee, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D), who has yet to buy television ads in this Senate special election.

Since Sen. Trent Lott (R) retired last year, national Democrats have been optimistic about their chances to steal this seat from the GOP. One of Musgrove’s key advantages early in this campaign is that he is expected to have higher name recognition around the state than Wicker, who spent seven terms as the Congressman from the northern 1st district.

In the few polls that have been released on the contest so far, Wicker has been down or statistically tied with Musgrove. However, Republican insiders say Wicker is due for a bounce this summer, especially after his ongoing series of large ad buys and an expected second straight quarter of strong fundraising.

Wicker began running a new TV ad Monday on his lifetime of public service that featured his wife, Gayle. The ad is running in the Jackson and Hattiesburg media markets.