On December 31, 2007, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour appointed Roger Wicker to the Senate seat vacated 13 days earlier by Sen. Trent Lott.

Mississippi's 1st congressional district covers the northeastern part of the state, including the cities of Columbus, Grenada, Oxford, Southaven, and Tupelo.

[5] Early speculation had Republicans Greg Davis, Glenn McCullough, and Randy Russell and Democrats Steve Holland and Jamie Franks as contenders.

Mississippi was one of the states where right wing commentators such as Rush Limbaugh suggested people cross party lines on March 11 in order to keep the competition alive between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent over $1.3 million in support of Davis' bid for the vacant seat.

[12] Negative campaign ads approved by Davis tried to link Childers with presidential candidate Barack Obama and his controversial former pastor Rev.