CNN 100: Big name endorsements seek to tip the scales in this Mississippi showdown

Editor's Note: In the final 100 days before Election Day, CNN has been profiling one race at random each day from among the nation's top 100 House races, which we've dubbed "The CNN 100." Read the full list here.

Today's featured district is:
Mississippi's 1st Congressional District-Rep. Travis Childers is seeking a second term
Primary: June 1st, 2010
Where: The First Congressional District is located in the Rolling hills of North Mississippi and includes 24 counties with a total population of 760,000.
Days Until Election Day: 7

(CNN) –Rep. Travis Childers, D-Mississippi, is locked in a dead heat with Republican opponent Alan Nunnelee in a race that has pitted a self-described incumbent with an "independent voice" against a state senator who is taking him to task for not being fiscally conservative.

Childers won a special election in May 2008 when Governor Barbour nominated Republican representative Roger Wicker to Mississippi's vacant Senate seat. Childers managed to keep his seat in the general election in a district that gave the majority of its vote to John McCain.

On his website, Rep. Childers touts his endorsements which include an "A-plus" rating from the National Rifle Association as well as the National Right to Life for his "exemplary pro-life record."

Both candidates have been joined in recent days on the campaign trail by heavy hitters from their respective parties. Bill Clinton recently stumped for Childers at Ole Miss while Alan Nunnelee was got a helping hand from House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who campaigned for him in Mississippi.