Wicker raised more $ than he can use

Here are some excerpts from a Daily Journal article today explaining Wicker's campaign fund overages.

New interim U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo is such a good fundraiser, he's collected more money than he can use as he campaigns to succeed Trent Lott in the U.S. Capitol.

Republican Wicker reports raising more than $3 million in the first three months of 2008 in his race against Democrat former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.But some of that money must be returned because it's over campaign limits.

Musgrove's campaign manager terms it "illegal." The Federal Elections Commission sees it as "overage" collected for an election that won't happen.

In Wicker's situation, he raised $211,000 from 62 individuals and 20 political action committees that he cannot use this year because there's only one election to raise money for - the Nov. 4 general election.

How did this happen? After Wicker was appointed senator by Gov. Haley Barbour and was tapped the GOP candidate for the race, Democrats Musgrove and former U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows said they were in, too. Ultimately, Shows bowed out, which meant a November runoff wasn't in the cards.

But Wicker had raised some money for the runoff. Now that there won't be one, his campaign has put the funds into a special account, said its treasurer, Paul Breazeale of Jackson. The FEC says it must be returned. For example, the maximum a political action committee can contribute "per election" is $5,000. Tupelo's BancorpSouth PAC gave Wicker's campaign two gifts of $5,000 in February before Shows announced he was pulling out. Now, BancorpSouth is due a $5,000 refund.

Some $545,000 of Wicker's total is from his House campaign fund, Friends of Roger Wicker.

Wicker has capitalized on his Washington experience and contacts,
raising $742,250 from 296 political action committees.

Otherwise, he reports some 1,886 PAC/individual donations and $80,667 from "unitemized" contributions, which are less than $200 each.

By comparison, when Mississippi senior Sen. Thad Cochran ran for re-election in 2002, he raised $1.7 million - $868,560 from PACs and $721,236 from individuals.