JACKSON - Potential voters responding to a statewide poll not only give Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck the edge over Democratic challenger, Barbara Blackmon, but also see the incumbent in a more favorable light.
In the poll of 623 likely voters, commissioned by The Associated Press and The Clarion-Ledger, 54 percent said they would vote for Tuck and 40 percent said they would vote for Blackmon. That includes people who say they're solidly for a candidate and those who say they're leaning toward one.
Of the respondents to the poll, 58 percent gave Tuck a favorable rating, compared with 41 percent for Blackmon. Forty-three percent found Blackmon unfavorable compared with 32 percent for Tuck.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Joseph Parker, a political science professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, said there are two reasons for Tuck's high favorability. One is that she has a lot of money to spend on her campaign. The other is that she's not held accountable for the state's problems, he said.
"The lieutenant governor is extremely powerful in state politics, but does not necessarily get as much blame for things like budget shortfalls as the governor does," he said.
Responses to other poll questions could explain the disparity in the results.
For instance, 69 percent of the voters said business interests had too much influence in state government, but 77 percent said the same thing about trial lawyers. Blackmon, who is trying to become the first black elected to statewide office in Mississippi since Reconstruction, and her husband own a successful law firm in Canton.
"We ought to have a law that says a lawyer can't be a representative. We got too many lawyers that have made a career out of being politicians," said Aubrey Hayes, 67 of Flowood, a poll respondent.
Parker said the public's perception of trial lawyer influence in government has hurt Blackmon. He said the mail outs and television ads criticizing Blackmon have "established that she is at the core of the trial lawyer profession."
The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, choosing who leads what committees and directing the path of legislation.
Tuck has won endorsements from the business community, largely behind her pro-tort reform stance. She says large jury awards in recent civil justice lawsuits have scared businesses away from Mississippi.
Blackmon introduced a plan that she says will help revitalize the business industry. It included tax incentives and other proposals.
Hayes says he "ain't happy with either" of the lieutenant governor candidates, but is willing to give Tuck another chance.
"I think Amy Tuck has done a fairly good job. Maybe she needs four more years with somebody that she can work with, like Haley Barbour," Hayes said of the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
Another poll respondent, Laura, an 80-year-old librarian from Wiggins who asked that her last name not be made public, said one reason she's voting against Tuck is because the incumbent switched parties.
Tuck was elected a Democrat in 1999 and became a Republican last year.
Laura said that she doesn't like the fact that the governor has so little power.
"The lieutenant governor has a lot of power and if we send a black woman up there … the Legislature would soon get around to stripping a lot of the power from the lieutenant governor," she said.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
