Republicans desperate to notch a win in their belt are calling in all available hands in their battle over a Mississippi House seat that will be awarded in a special election tomorrow. The party, wounded by two special election losses in Illinois and Louisiana, can ill afford another defeat in their own backyard; the Tupelo-based district, which extends west to the Memphis suburbs on the state's northern border, gave President Bush a 25-point margin in 2004.

As a measure of how conservative the seat truly is, Vice President Cheney will hold a rally on behalf of Southaven Mayor Greg Davis tonight. Other top Mississippi Republicans, including Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (whose old House seat is the one being filled) and Governor Haley Barbour have stumped with Davis for the past several weeks. Cheney gave an interview to a Memphis radio station late last week talking up Davis.

But the party remains concerned that they could lose. Some Republican congressional staffers are heading to the National Republican Congressional Committee offices to make phone calls into the district today, while others have made their way to Mississippi to knock on doors. The NRCC's offices are across the street from the House office buildings. Republican money is flowing into the district as well; recently filed FEC reports show ten state parties, from Washington State to Florida, have contributed the maximum $5,000 to Davis, and dozens of Republican incumbents are also handing over checks.

One big problem Republicans face is that there will be no party designation on the ballot. Casual voters intending to vote Republican will have to know Davis' name instead of being able to simply vote for the Republican candidate. It also works to the advantage of Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers, the Democratic candidate who has gone to extraordinary lengths to portray himself as a conservative.

Davis pulled in 46% of the vote in the April 22 first round, while Childers won 49% of the vote, falling just a few hundred votes short of the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff.