Rep. Charles "Chip" Pickering was born in 1963 in Laurel, Mississippi, a small town in the Southeastern region of the state known as "The Pinebelt." Pickering grew up working on his family's farm and attending public school.

Charles Pickering Sr., was a state senator and Republican party leader who now serves as a federal judge. In March, U.S. Senate Democrats voted down Judge Pickering's appointment by President Bush to serve on the 5th Federal Court of Appeals after a brutal nomination fight. Congress watchers said the defeat was a political slap at both the president and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a close friend of the family.

Chip Pickering Jr. earned a BA in business from Ole Miss and an MBA from Baylor University. After college, he served for 17 months as a Baptist missionary in Hungary. Later, he took a job at the Agriculture department during the first Bush administration and then served on Sen. Lott's staff, where he focused on telecommunications issues.

When conservative Democratic Rep. Sonny Montgomery retired from Congress in 1995, Pickering decided to run for his 3rd District seat, ending up in a primary runoff after winning 27 percent of the vote. His closest opponent, former state legislator Bill Crawford, won 24 percent. In the runoff, Pickering repeatedly questioned Crawford for his support for a Democratic candidate for a governor. With the party credentials of Crawford in question, Pickering was able to win the second contest 56 to 44 percent. In the general election he faced a strongly backed and well-financed adversary, Democrat John Eaves Jr. Nonetheless, Pickering outspent Eaves and won the largely Republican district 61 percent to 36 percent.

Since his election in 1996, "Pickering has never had a tough general election in this conservative Republican stronghold," analyst Charles Cook wrote in the Almanac of American Politics.

This year appears to be more of a contest. Pickering has been forced by redistricting into a real campaign against another incumbent, Democratic Rep. Ronnie Shows - formerly of the 4th district. The state lost a seat as the result of the 2000 census, causing Shows' and Pickering's districts to be combined.

In the House, Pickering has amassed a conservative voting record. He helped pass a bill that forces schools to filter the Internet content children are allowed to see. He has actively sought to limit regulation of the telecommunications industry and has worked to keep that industry's concerns before Congress. He supports NAFTA and voted for permanent favorable trade relations status with China. His efforts on behalf of large corporations could play a part in his current campaign.

Shows has argued that Pickering is too close to the failed communications giant WorldCom, pointing to $84,000 in campaign donations from WorldCom. Shows says he will give the $6,000 he collected from faltering telecom giant to its laid off workers. Pickering has countered by promising to donate money that he might have received from any indicted WorldCom executives while arguing rank and file employees have a right to contribute.

Pickering has also sought to cast doubt on Shows' claim by pointing to a $25,000 fine the Democrat had to pay as the result of campaign finance violations in 1998.

"Shows has pitched himself as the worker's candidate and portrayed Pickering as the protector of big money and the corporate elite. Shows opposes free trade and attacks Republicans for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement," Julie Goodman of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger wrote in September.

How much the WorldCom ties will hurt him as the campaign wears on is yet to be seen though. The race is shaping up to be one of the closest of this election. In the Almanac of American Politics, Michael Barone reports that Pickering is headed for a long political career and is a shoo-in for a seat in the Senate "if he survives redistricting."

--By Jason Manning, Online NewsHour