"Brookhaven and Lincoln County are very important to us," Barbour said. "I'm very cognizant of the fact you heavily supported me in the last election."

The governor stumped briefly to encourage support for Republican candidates across the board and then jumped to his message.

Democrats, he said, have been criticizing the state's tort reform efforts and claim it has been bad for business. He urged people to judge its success themselves by asking doctors how it helped them and gauging the success of economic development in the past four years.

Barbour said state Rep. Jamie Franks, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood "fought tort reform hammer and tong" and, if elected, would continue the fight in their efforts to repeal the law.