JACKSON, Miss.—Ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, eight candidates running for local and state positions answered questions from voters during a forum in Jackson.
Hinds County District 3 Election Commissioner candidate Jermany Gray, who previously explained that he was inspired to run after last year’s ballot shortage debacle, hosted the conversation on Sept. 12 at the Jackson Medical Mall.
During the forum, Gray said that one of his priorities if elected would be live-streaming the commission’s monthly meetings to make its work more accessible to voters. “A lot of people can’t come to a meeting in person, especially in Jackson. We represent the whole county, so these meetings need to be livestreamed and I want people to know exactly when they’re held,” he said.
Incumbent District 3 Election Commissioner Jermal Clark was not in attendance for the forum.
Pickens Talks Reproductive Freedom, Economic Investment
U.S. Senate candidate Ty Pinkins said during the forum that one of his primary reasons for running for office is to fight for abortion rights.
“I fundamentally disagree that women should not make their own healthcare decisions,” Pinkins said. “Recently we saw the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We saw men in suits and men in robes sitting behind a bench telling women that they know more about their bodies than they do. That’s the main reason I’m running.”
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who was not in attendance for the forum, has long opposed abortion and championed national abortion restrictions.
“I hope that Mississippi’s strong laws defending the unborn can serve as a model for my colleagues and help them make a difference in their respective states,” Wicker told Mississippi Today in 2022 regarding a proposed nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks. “We cannot allow partisan spin to undermine our determination to fight for the rights of the unborn, including at the federal level.”
Pinkins said he also wants to see more economic development aimed at bringing jobs to the capital city and throughout the Delta.
“If we want our state to move from last in job creation and economic development, we have to focus west of I-55,” Pinkins said during the forum. “We can’t keep looking at places like Madison County. … We have to make sure that we focus on other counties as well: Sharkey County (and) Hinds County, which has so much promise. Jackson, Miss., could be an economic powerhouse if it was adequately invested in.”
Eller Challenges Thompson To Debate
Republican Ron Eller, the man challenging U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson for Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district seat, criticized Thompson for his initial opposition to the Yazoo Pumps project, saying the project—which conservationists have opposed since its inception—could be an economic engine for the state.
Thompson was not in attendance at the forum.
“My opponent went to the EPA and got that project shut down,” Eller said. “That project would have increased the crop yield within the second congressional district. It would have stopped flooding within people’s homes. Mississippi depends on agriculture; it’s the number one industry in the state.”
After a 2019 flood in the area, proponents and detractors of the project again voiced support and concern. By this time, Thompson had sought capital from Congress to fund the pumping plants.
“This project is of critical importance for the second congressional district of Mississippi,” Thompson said in a Feb. 7, 2020, press release. “These issues of flooding have persisted over the years and have worsened, as evidenced by the aftermath of a severe tornado storm last year. There continues to be flooding along the lower Mississippi River and the backwater area spanning over the last 10 years.”
In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency overturned previous approval of the project, a decision made before former President Donald Trump left office that January.
Conservation groups have long challenged how much the project would actually quell flooding in the area and voiced concern over how the project would impact the ecosystem and wildlife.
“The (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) revealed that 83% of the backwater area that was flooded during the 2019 flood would still continue to be underwater, even with the pumps,” Jill Mastrototaro, policy director for Audubon Mississippi, said in November 2021. “The pumps are not a solution to flooding in the backwater. It’s a cruel hoax that we think is perpetrated on the backwater community.”
The Corps continues to consider how to best stop the flooding in the region and up until Aug. 27, 2024, was accepting comments from the public about the environmental impact of the pumps.
The Corps won’t move on the project until January 2025, after reviews of public comments and other studies are conducted, Deputy Erin Hern, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Vicksburg District’s chief of public affairs told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 17.
Supreme Court Candidates Discuss Crime, New Jail
Former Mississippi Appeals Court Judge Ceola James and Byron Carter, a longtime attorney, are two of the candidates vying for a spot on the Mississippi Supreme Court in District 1.
Incumbent Supreme Court Justice James “Jim” W. Kitchens did not attend the forum, nor did candidates Abby Gale Robinson or Jenifer B. Branning.
Both candidates answered questions about their qualifications. Though they are not vying for a legislative position, James and Carter both shared their perspectives on how to address crime and mental illness across the state.
“The problem we have now is that some of the facilities that were in Jackson have been closed, like the St. Dominic’s facility,” James said. “That’s a legislative area that we need to get funding for: proper places for the mentally ill.”
Carter said he believes the new Hinds County jail “certainly will help.”
“We hear constantly about how bad crime is in the city of Jackson,” Carter said. “I don’t think Jackson’s any different from any of the other cities in Mississippi. It’s just that we have news (outlets) here that report it. So we hear about all that. There are shootings going on in Houston, Miss., where I grew up. There are shootings going on in Hazelhurst and Brookhaven.”
Hinds County Judge Spars With Challengers Over Qualifications
Bridgette Morgan and Yemi Kings, both attorneys, are two of the candidates hoping to unseat incumbent Hinds County Court Judge Pieter Teeuwissen. Gov. Tate Reeves appointed him to the seat last year after Judge LaRita Cooper-Stokes died on May 8, 2023.
The three discussed their judicial experience and answered questions related to eminent domain law and their experiences with law enforcement’s “blue wall of silence.”
“Your officers now have body cameras because I wrote that policy and the Department of Justice approved that policy,” Morgan said, referring to her time working as a civil attorney for JPD.
Kings, who has worked as both a public defender and a prosecutor, said the interactions that he has with police officers are starkly different depending on which role he’s playing.
Although the election forum stayed mostly civil, the conversation became tense during their closing statements after Teeuwissen appeared to criticize Morgan, who previously mentioned that one of her priorities if elected would be advocating for closed-court hearings for youth offenders.
“There’s three divisions of the court. Judge Hicks is the youth court judge. I suggest you run against her on youth court issues,” he said, gesturing toward Morgan.
He continued, saying, “I am the only candidate who has all the experience necessary and has already demonstrated for nine months that I can deliver justice for people. It’s about experience that gets results, treats everybody fairly and opens the courthouse doors.”
Before leaving, Morgan spoke about the importance of a judge maintaining a stoic temperament when handling cases. Following the forum, Teeuwissen extended a hand towards Morgan for a departing handshake; she refused to acknowledge him.
The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Read more coverage of this year’s elections cycle at our Election Zone 2024 page.
