Thompson Dominates Recent Dixie Endorsements

By Hastings Wyman
Southern Political Report

(7/2/07) In the last three months, the looming candidacy of former US Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) has taken the lion’s share -- i.e., all -- of the new Republican presidential endorsements by Southern members of Congress. Since late March, Thompson, who has not yet announced his candidacy, has been endorsed by ten Southerners in Congress. Both US Senators and all four members of the US House from Thompson’s home state of Tennessee have endorsed him, including two who had previously been in Mitt Romney’s camp (US Reps. Marsha Blackburn and John Duncan), plus others in Florida and both Carolinas.

By contrast, no other Republican contender has gained a single new congressional supporter in the South. While Romney, with 14, leads with the largest number of Dixie supporters on Capitol Hill, Thompson is already tied for second with John McCain, who got in the endorsement game early; each has ten supporters. Once Thompson announces, as he is expected to do later this month, he may gain additional Southern support.

It is notable, however, that Thompson is the only major GOP contender whose support is concentrated in the South. Thompson has been endorsed by 14 members of Congress, 10 of whom are Southerners. Romney, McCain and Giuliani all have some Southern endorsements, but the majority of their congressional backers hail from the rest of the nation. (Duncan Hunter, a California congressman, has six endorsements, four of them from the South, but so far has not gained popular support, in the South or elsewhere.)

Thompson’s significant gain in congressional endorsements mirrors his rapid rise in Southern opinion polls. Two recent polls show him in second place in Florida. The latest Quinnipiac Poll, released June 28, showed Thompson with 21% among GOP voters, trailing only Giuliani with 27%. An InsiderAdvantage poll, taken in early June, also placed Thompson second, with 21% to Giuliani’s 31%.

In South Carolina, which is vying with Florida to host the first-in-the-South presidential primary, one recent poll showed Thompson in first place. And Thompson played to a packed house and favorable reviews on a swing through the Palmetto State.

Here is a list of Southern Republican members of Congress who have endorsed a presidential candidate.

Mitt Romney: (27 nationally*; including 14 Southerners)

AL: US Reps. Bob Aderholt & Mike Rogers; FL: US Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite & Tom Feeney; GA: US Reps. Phil Gingrey, John Linder & Tom Price; KY: US Reps. Ron Lewis, Hal Rogers & Ed Whitfield; LA: US Reps. Rodney Alexander & Jim McCrery; SC: US Sen. Jim DeMint; TX: US Rep. Mike Conaway.

John McCain: (27 nationally; 10 Southerners)

AL: US Rep. Spencer Bachus; FL: US Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ric Keller & Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; MS: US Sen. Trent Lott, US Rep. Chip Pickering; NC: US Sen. Richard Burr; SC: US Sen. Lindsey Graham; VA: US Sen. John Warner.

Fred Thompson*: (14; 10 Southerners)

FL: US Reps. Jeff Miller & Adam Putnam; NC: US Rep. Sue Myrick; SC: US Rep. Gresham Barrett; TN: US Sens. Lamar Alexander & Bob Corker; US Reps. Marsha Blackburn, David Davis, John Duncan & Zack Wamp.

Rudy Giuliani: (17 nationally; 3 Southerners)

LA: US Sen. David Vitter & US Rep. Charles Boustany; TX: US Rep. Pete Sessions.

Duncan Hunter: (6 nationally; 4 Southerners)

AL: US Rep. Terry Everett; FL: US Rep. Bill Young; TX: US Reps. John Culberson & Ralph Hall.

Mike Huckabee: (2 nationally; 1 Southerner)

AR: US Rep. John Boozman.

*The national numbers are taken in part from a list maintained by The Hill newspaper, www.thehill.com.