A bitter fight for the GOP nomination in the 8th Congressional District has turned cordial. The three leading candidates are on a kind of Republican unity tour.

Despite the highest spending in the nation, the primary race wasn’t that close. Frog Jump farmer Stephen Fincher easily won, and now his GOP opponents are making sure voters know they’re all friends. All three lodged personal attacks in television ads. Candidate Ron Kirkland was accused of supporting liberal Democrats and approving of abortion. But that’s water under the bridge, Kirkland says. He’s backing the winner.

“The importance of George Flinn and me supporting Stephen will wane rather quickly. This campaign will get down to Stephen Fincher vs Roy Herron, what they stand for and what the issues are.”

Kirkland and Flinn both say they will support Fincher with their time and money. The Democrat in the race, state Senator Roy Herron, cruised through the primary and still has more than a million dollars to spend. Democrat John Tanner is retiring from the 8th District seat and political observers say the race to replace him could go either way.