For those interested in the impact of tort reform on this year’s election cycle, it might be wise to take a look at the upcoming race for House District 3, where incumbent Rep. Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, is facing a challenge from Republican physician George Waddell.

Many in the business community see this as one of the two most important races in the state. The other race is that for lieutenant governor, which will decide who controls committee chair assignments for the Senate and thus whether or not tort reform will get a fair shake during the regular legislative session.

McCoy’s race is viewed as equally important by some because McCoy is the frontrunner for the Speaker slot left open by retiring House Speaker Tim Ford.

McCoy’s &8220;camp&8221; has been canvassing House members for votes, making promises of committee appointments and doing all the normal networking and politicking that you have to do to secure the most prized spot in the state House of Representatives.

And, his politicking, along with his stern leadership style and 23 years of service, seem to have paid off in many people’s minds. The growing &8220;buzz&8221; is that McCoy has the votes he needs to move forward.

Whether that is reality or not, more than a few in the business community have taken notice. The reason they are worried is that McCoy is perceived as an enemy of tort reform. Judging by his strong resistance to most measures taken up during the special session on tort reform, that assumption could be judged as fairly correct.

Still, a few conservative lawmakers who back tort reform have said privately that they think McCoy could be fair to the subject and give it its due because of heavy public sentiment.

Other conservative lawmakers scoff at such a notion. Two leading conservative representatives have both told this writer that the day McCoy assumes the speakership is the day tort reform dies again.

&8220;We were able to outmaneuver tort reform opponents in the special session because we had the rules (of the Legislature) on our side,&8221; one representative said on the condition of anonymity. &8220;In the regular session, the speaker and the committee chairs can outweigh us. They can kill things with deadlines. The only deadline in a special session is a motion to adjourn that passes.&8221;

What this lawmaker refers to are the deadlines by which bills must be passed from committee &045; both bills that originate in the same house and those that come from the other house of the Legislature.

Therefore, the thinking of the business community seems to be to block McCoy from ever becoming the speaker, something that is far easier said than done.

Their first shot at stopping McCoy’s ascension is his re-election bid. According to Waddell’s campaign finance reports, the Mississippi Medical PAC has given $10,596 to Waddell since the start of the year. The Mississippi Justice PAC has donated $1,200. Stuart Irby, the top donor to Haley Barbour’s campaign for governor, donated $500 to Waddell. Individual physicians have given roughly $2,000 to Waddell’s campaign.

McCoy thus far has been running on his own funds and a $10,000 bank loan. Look for that to change as trial lawyers and their special interest groups become more active.

While McCoy’s re-election is considered imminent by many, other races around the state should be considered. Popular incumbents in Grenada, Natchez and other areas were ousted because of anti-tort reform stances.

If McCoy does win re-election then some special interest groups are considering a phone campaign that will encourage tort reform supporters to bombard their representatives with phone calls against McCoy and/or in favor of another representative.

Whatever happens, bet on the second most important vote taken to happen in January among elected officials in our state House as they elect a new leader.

Sam R. Hall

can be reached by e-mail to

shall@sctonline.net

.