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Mississippi lieutenant governor joins GOPState Democratic chairman: 'Good riddance'
JACKSON, Mississippi (CNN) -- Mississippi Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck bolted the Democratic Party Monday and joined the GOP, saying she feels "more at home" with Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott than with former Vice President Al Gore. Tuck, 40, is a longtime thorn in the side of the state Democratic Party. She was the only prominent Democrat in Mississippi who refused to endorse Gore in 2000, and last year she blocked a congressional redistricting plan that Democrats had hoped would protect the seat of Rep. Ronnie Shows, a Democrat. Tuck also sided squarely with the business community on a tort reform plan strongly opposed by Democrats in Jackson. "I have always fought for conservative principles. Clearly, it is the Republican Party that champions these ideals," she said during a news conference at the state Capitol. "I have increasingly found myself on the opposite side of certain issues with the leadership of the Democrat Party and at home with Republicans like Sen. (Thad) Cochran and Sen. Lott," the state's two Republican senators. Lott, the Senate Republican leader, and former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, another Mississippi native, attended Tuck's press conference. Barbour, a lobbyist in Washington, is a potential 2003 challenger to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat who won the governor's race by just 8,343 votes out of 750,000 cast. Tuck is likely to run for re-election as Barbour's running mate. Tuck's move comes one month after midterm elections in which Republicans solidified their hold on several Southern states and in Congress. Republicans beat Democratic governors in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. With Tuck's switch, the field is clear for a new set of Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor. One Democrat who would relish the chance to run against Tuck is Shows, who was trounced by GOP Rep. Chip Pickering in a redrawn House district. A spokeswoman said the outgoing congressman will seriously consider a run for the state's No. 2 job. Tuck's move also comes less than one week before a Senate runoff in adjacent Louisiana, where Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, faces a tough race against Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell. President Bush is scheduled to campaign for Terrell Tuesday in Louisiana. Senator-elect Elizabeth Dole, R-North Carolina, stumped for Terrell Monday. In addition to Lott and Barbour, Tuck was joined Monday in Jackson by members of the Mississippi congressional delegation, a large number of GOP leaders and Republicans in the Legislature. Mississippi Rep. Roger Wicker said Tuck is "the next in a long line of public officials to conclude that it is just too hard to be a conservative and a Democrat at the same time." Tuck was elected lieutenant governor in 1999 with key support from rural white voters after she served in the state Senate from 1990 to 1995. After an unsuccessful Democratic bid for secretary of state in 1995, Tuck was named secretary of the state Senate in 1996. She becomes the second Republican lieutenant governor in Mississippi's modern history -- Eddie Briggs served from 1991 through 1995 -- and the highest-ranking Republican woman in the state's history. In Washington, RNC Chairman Marc Racicot called Tuck a "strong and thoughtful leader for the people of Mississippi" and said in a statement that her decision is "more good news for the GOP." Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole offered up this response: "Good riddance." -- From John Mercurio, CNN Washington Bureau
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