Travis W. Childers

Travis Wayne Childers (born March 29, 1958) is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for Mississippi’s 1st congressional district from 2008 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented a largely conservative, northern Mississippi district that included New Albany, Columbus, Oxford, Southaven, and Tupelo. His tenure in the House of Representatives spanned a significant period in American history, during which he participated in the legislative process over two terms in office and represented the interests of his constituents in Congress.

Childers was born in Booneville, Prentiss County, Mississippi, on March 29, 1958, the son of John Wayne and Betty (Stokes) Childers. His father, a native of Glen, Mississippi, died when Travis was 16 years old, leaving his mother to raise Travis and his sister, Tammy. During his youth, Childers worked nights and weekends at a convenience store in Booneville to help support his family, an experience that shaped his views on work, responsibility, and economic opportunity in rural Mississippi.

After graduating from high school, Childers attended Northeast Mississippi Junior College (now Northeast Mississippi Community College). He later enrolled at the University of Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1980. While still a student at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), he became licensed as a real estate salesperson by the Mississippi Real Estate Commission and began working as a realtor. Following his graduation, he joined Robert Davis’ real estate business in Booneville and remained active in real estate throughout the 1980s. He subsequently obtained his license as a real estate broker and went on to own and operate Travis Childers Realty & Associates, later known as Childers Realty and Associates, a northeast Mississippi real estate firm.

In addition to his real estate career, Childers developed business interests in the health care sector. He became the owner of a personal care home, the Landmark Community, and the Landmark Nursing Center, an 80-bed skilled care facility and Alzheimer’s unit in northeast Mississippi. His experience as a small businessman and health care provider informed many of his later policy positions on economic development, elder care, and health services in rural communities.

Childers entered public office in 1991, when he was elected Prentiss County Chancery Clerk. He assumed that position in 1992 and was subsequently re-elected five times, winning 75 percent of the vote in his final countywide election. As chancery clerk, he managed records and administrative functions for the county’s chancery court and related offices. His peers in local government selected him to serve as president of the Mississippi Chancery Clerks Association for the 2001–2002 term, reflecting his prominence among county officials statewide. He continued to serve as chancery clerk until his election to Congress in 2008.

Childers’s congressional career began with a special election in Mississippi’s 1st congressional district, triggered when twelve-year Republican incumbent Roger Wicker was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to the United States Senate seat vacated by Senator Trent Lott. In the initial special election held on April 22, 2008, several candidates qualified, and Childers, running as a Democrat, received 49.4 percent of the vote, falling just about 400 votes short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Endorsed by several prominent regional newspapers, including the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, the Commercial Dispatch, and the Commercial Appeal, he advanced to a May 13 runoff against Republican candidate Greg Davis, who had received 46.3 percent in the first round. Childers won the runoff, returning the district to Democratic control for the first time since the retirement of longtime Representative Jamie Whitten in 1995. His victory was considered a major upset in a district with a strong Republican and conservative voting history; George W. Bush had carried the district with 62 percent of the vote in 2004, and Wicker had first won the seat with 63 percent and had faced little serious opposition thereafter.

In the November 4, 2008 general election, Childers again faced Greg Davis and secured a full term in the 111th Congress, defeating him by a margin of 54 percent to 44 percent. During his time in the House of Representatives, Childers served on the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Financial Services. Within the Agriculture Committee, he sat on the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry and the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, where he worked on issues affecting farmers, nutrition programs, and agricultural policy. On the Financial Services Committee, he served on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, engaging in oversight and legislation related to financial markets, banking, and consumer credit during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

In the 111th Congress, Childers’s voting record reflected his identification as a moderate and often conservative-leaning Democrat, frequently described as a Blue Dog Democrat. He voted in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, supporting federal efforts to stimulate the economy during the Great Recession, and he supported the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). He opposed the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act, reflecting concerns common in energy-intensive and rural districts. Childers voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), stating that while he supported health care reform in principle, he believed the bill required changes. Nonetheless, he opposed full repeal of the law and, during his later 2014 Senate campaign, stated that the ACA was the law of the land and that he supported it.

Childers ran for re-election to the House on November 2, 2010. He faced a crowded field that included Republican State Senator Alan Nunnelee—who held the state senate seat Wicker had occupied before his election to Congress—as well as Constitutionalist Gail Giaramita, Libertarian Harold Taylor, Reform Party candidate Barbara Dale Washer, and Independent Wally Pang. In the general election, Nunnelee defeated Childers by a margin of 55 percent to 41 percent. The result underscored the district’s strong Republican orientation; since Whitten’s retirement, Childers has been the only Democratic candidate in the district to win as much as 40 percent of the vote.

After leaving Congress, Childers remained active in public affairs and Democratic politics in Mississippi. On March 1, 2014, he announced his candidacy for the United States Senate, seeking the seat held by longtime Republican incumbent Thad Cochran. Childers won the Democratic nomination in the June 3, 2014 primary and campaigned as a moderate Democrat focused on economic issues, Social Security, and health care. He was endorsed by the Alliance for Retired Americans during his Senate bid. In the general election held on November 4, 2014, Childers was defeated by Cochran, who retained the seat.

In his public life and campaigns, Childers has consistently identified himself as a moderate Democrat. He has supported increased funding for public education and has been a strong advocate for public schools in Mississippi. He favored a swift withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and opposed the privatization of Social Security and raising the retirement age. Describing himself as pro-life and pro-gun, he received endorsements from the National Right to Life Committee and the NRA Political Victory Fund in his 2010 re-election campaign. Childers has supported job creation initiatives, tax breaks for small businesses that create jobs domestically, and ending tax incentives for companies that outsource employment to countries such as India and China. He has also supported equal pay for women, increasing the minimum wage to a livable level, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to address the national debt.

Childers has continued to be recognized for his contributions to his community and region. In September 2016, he received the Prentiss County Development Association’s “Doug Mansell Award,” an annual honor given to an individual who has significantly contributed to the progress, betterment, and development of Prentiss County and northeast Mississippi. The following month, in October 2016, he was inducted into the Northeast Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame, reflecting both his professional achievements and his longstanding ties to the institution he attended early in his academic career.

Travis Childers and his wife, Tami, reside in Booneville, Mississippi. They have two children: their son, Dustin, a graduate of Mississippi College School of Law, practices law in the family’s hometown; their daughter, Lauren, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, is employed by the University of Mississippi and was selected as “Miss Ole Miss” in 2010. Tami Childers manages the family’s health care businesses, including their personal care and nursing facilities. The family are members of Booneville First United Methodist Church, and Childers continues to be involved in business and civic life in northeast Mississippi.