By BEN PIPER

Haittesburg American

More than 60 percent of campaign donations for Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Democrat Ronnie Musgrove - both running to fill Trent Lott’s former Senate seat - are coming from Mississippians, according to campaign officials.

The weak economy is driving donations to Musgrove, a former Mississippi governor, spokesman Adam Bozzi said.

“We’ve received a lot of support from a lot of different communities, from doctors, small business owners,” he said. “There’s been a lot of support and desire for change due to the economy and gas prices.”

Ryan Addison, spokesman for Wicker, said more than 60 percent of individual donations for Wicker are in amounts of less than $1,000.

The top five contribution groups for Wicker, according to opensecrets.org, are lawyers, $210,100; health professionals, $171,875; insurance companies, $126,450; real estate companies, $119,250; and retirees, $114,105.

Opensecrets.org is a Web site funded by charitable foundations and run by a board of directors that include past federal election commissioners and counsels.

Wicker, a former congressman in northern Mississippi who was appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour to fill Lott’s seat until the election, has raised more money than Musgrove and spent less as of the last financial report on June 30.

At that point, Wicker had nearly $3 million on hand out of $3.85 million raised, while Musgrove had $1.4 million left of $2.52 million raised.

Bobby Chain, owner of Chain Electric, gave a maximum donation of $2,300 to Wicker. He said Wicker has a voting record that reflects what he believes.

“I’ve known Roger for about 40 years, and he’s done a good job in congress,” Chain said. “I liked his record, and I like Ronnie, too, but you have to decide which one you’re going to provide financial support to.”

Because the race is relatively close - an Oct. 1 Rasmussen poll showed a two-point Wicker lead - the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also is contributing to Musgrove’s campaign. In the last reporting period, it had contributed $112,169.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee had only contributed $28 to Wicker during the same period, records show.

Chain said Wicker will use contributions in the most effective manner to ensure victory.

“It’s a tight race. I think it could go either way because both are well known and both were in the Mississippi Senate as roommates,” he said. “They are friends but also politicians, so they will do what it takes to win.”

The next financial report to the Federal Election Commission is due Oct. 15.