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The federal trial of former Hinds County interim sheriff and candidate Marshand Crisler began Wednesday with attorneys offering differing interpretations of whether evidence will show he sought and accepted bribes and gave ammunition to a convicted felon. 

Crisler, 54, has pleaded not guilty to two charges stemming from actions that happened between September and November 2021 when he ran for a full term as sheriff. 

“The defendant used his badge as a bargaining chip,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kirkham said in his opening statement. 

He argued that in exchange for $9,500, Crisler made promises to a man named Tonarri Moore, who Kirkham identified as the government’s informant. 

Crisler allegedly made promises to inform Moore of any criminal investigations about him, to move a member of his family to a better place in the county jail, to give Moore a job with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and to give him the ability to possess a firearm despite a  felony conviction. 

Evidence from the FBI’s investigation are recorded phone conversations and in-person meetings between Crisler and Moore. Prior to trial, the recordings and transcripts were restricted from public access and the indictment and other court filings referred to a “Confidential Human Source 1.”

The government intends to call Moore as a witness. He is currently being held at the Madison County jail on a pending manslaughter charge. The recordings were made before Moore was detained. 

Crisler’s defense attorney, John Colette, said his client did not do any of the things asked of him in exchange for money. 

He asked the jury to consider timing and how the government is “cherry picking and not telling the whole story.” 

That timing includes the indictment, which came months before the 2023 Democratic primary when Crisler ran again for sheriff. He remained in the race and lost to incumbent Tyree Jones, who he previously faced in 2021. 

In court, Colette also raised questions about Moore’s credibility, saying he started cooperating with the FBI after a search of his home by the Drug Enforcement Agency. 

Colette told the jury how Moore and Crisler knew each other: Moore worked on Crisler’s 2019 campaign, and Moore has given donations to other political candidates. 

While Crisler may have considered the money exchanged to be campaign donations, he didn’t report them as such, the government argued. 

“Even if he did use that campaign money, it’s still a bribe because the defendant accepted that money as a quid pro quo in exchange for official acts,” Kirkham said. 

Crisler is also charged with giving 14 9mm bullets to Moore., Prosecutors say who Crisler knew Moore was previously convicted and not allowed to possess ammunition or weapons because of his felony conviction. 

But Colette said his client didn’t know until later that Moore hadwas a felony convictionconvicionted felon. Additionally, he said it is not against the law in Mississippi for a formerly convicted person to possess ammunition. 

Each charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. 

The first witness called was Daniel Ratliff, a Mississippi Gaming Commission investigator who was part of the investigation of Crisler when he was a member of an FBI task force. His role was to recruit Moore as an informant and oversee meetings between Crisler and Moore, and recordings of those meetings. 

During Ratliff’s testimony, the jury heard over a dozen recordings that are portions of recordings of the meetings between Crisler and Moore. 

“The reason is I’m the sheriff,” Crisler said in one of the recordings played during the government’s opening statement and during Ratliff’s testimony.

“They’re going to let me do things they don’t let anybody else do,” he said. 

During cross examination, Colette asked a range of questions, including how reliable the recordings are and whether the FBI knew about Moore’s prior convictions before trying to recruit him.

“You wanted to get him to come snitch for you … you didn’t want him to be an agent,” Colette said to Ratliff. 

Trial is expected to last three days and is before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee. 

The post Bribery trial begins for former Hinds County interim sheriff appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who leads Mississippi’s largest and capital city, confirmed Wednesday he has been indicted by a federal grand jury in a sweeping corruption probe.

The charges come after undercover FBI agents posing as real estate investors invited the mayor to a fundraiser in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on April 3, according to public records. They said they wanted to develop property in downtown Jackson and help fund the mayor’s 2025 reelection campaign.

“My legal team has informed me that federal prosecutors have, in fact, indicted me on bribery and related charges,” Lumumba said in a video statement shared with reporters on Tuesday. “To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type. As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the citizens of Jackson.” 

The feds had enlisted the help of an unsuspecting Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who dabbles in real estate and business consulting. The agents created a company called Facility Solutions Team and got Owens to deliver campaign contributions to the mayor on their behalf, according to federal charges recently filed against Owens’ cousin and associate.

The FBI sting involved a proposed hotel development project in downtown Jackson across from the convention center — a vacant property that has produced a nearly 20-year saga of failed bids and political consternation. In partnership with Owens, the undercover FBI agents created a proposal earlier this year to submit in response to the city’s Statement of Qualifications (SOQ), a document that spells out a city’s needs and solicits interested developers but does not guarantee a contract with the city.

For the government to establish a bribe — known as a “quid pro quo” — a public official must agree to take an official act in exchange for the benefit. Lumumba’s official act, according to federal court documents, was directing a city employee to move up a deadline on the SOQ to an earlier date.

Lumumba had already been in conversation with the city’s Planning and Development Director Jhai Keeton about when to end the bid because they originally chose to extend it by about a month and a half in late February, Keeton said. Originally, FST was the only developer to express interest in the project, Keeton said, and he had wanted to give developers more time to respond.

While Lumumba was in South Florida meeting with the undercover agents, he called Keeton and told him to move the deadline back two weeks to April 16. Keeton didn’t think too much of it, he said, because the mayor had already expressed that “we don’t want to lose anyone we’ve got hoping to get new people.”

“There were still two weeks available to create more competition.” Keeton said.

Two other companies handed in their responses on the day of the deadline. The planning department did not select a winner.

The undercover sting operation has already yielded federal charges against another local elected official. Former Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee pleaded guilty to bribery charges related to the sting in August and promptly resigned from the council.

The feds also raided the businesses of Owens in May. Owens’ cousin Sherik “Marve” Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in October, admitting that he acted as the middleman between an unindicted co-conspirator and two public officials — also unindicted co-conspirators.

Lumumba, who has for years shrugged off public accusations of corruption and has already announced his 2025 reelection bid, preempted official announcement of the federal indictment with his own statement issued to reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

“We believe this to be a political prosecution against me, primarily designed to destroy my credibility and reputation within the community,” Lumumba said in the video statement on Tuesday. “There is no coincidence in its timing being just before the upcoming mayoral race. My legal team will vigorously defend me against these charges. While I am disappointed, I am not deterred, so I ask for your patience and your prayers during this process.”

Lumumba is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Thursday. A spokesperson for the mayor said he has no plans to resign. The U.S. attorney’s office for the southern district of Mississippi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The FBI has been poking around Jackson City Hall for years.

Former council member D’Keither Stamps said federal agents interviewed him in 2014, not long after he took office, seeking information about a 2012 water billing and meter installation contract city entered with Germany-based engineering firm Siemens. The bungled contract contributed to the city losing millions in water revenue. In 2021 and 2022, infrastructure failures left residents without water for days and weeks.

A former city employee said the FBI interviewed her in 2015 about alleged bid-steering in the public works department under the city’s former administration.

Sources close to a federal investigation say the FBI has been examining a long-running dispute between the mayor and council over the city’s selection of a garbage collection vendor, which resulted in a 17-day trash pile up in the spring of 2023.

In December 2023, a former Lumumba administration appointee Keyshia Sanders was sentenced after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud charges related to her work as the city of Jackson’s constituent service manager.

‘The city is built for corruption. The system is built to be manipulated,” said Stamps, who left city council in 2021 and now serves as public service commissioner for Mississippi’s central district.

The post Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba indicted in federal corruption probe appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi posted its second consecutive record-breaking enrollment this fall, according to figures released Monday by the governing board of the state’s eight public universities. 

The state’s flagship university in Oxford now enrolls more than 27,000 students, an 11% increase over last year’s headcount. This propulsive growth is fueled by the largest-ever freshmen class in state history, high retention rates, and an increasing number of out-of-state students. 

“Our growth reflects the University of Mississippi’s position as a thriving destination of choice for higher education,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said in a press release.

Through a spokesperson, the university declined to answer questions about the more than 2,400 new students, including how many are first-time freshmen, transfer students, or from out of state.

“While overall enrollment has been announced, demographic-level data is still being reviewed by the IHL with final approval expected next month,” Jacob Batte, the director of news and media relations, wrote in an email.

Not to be outdone, Mississippi State University also celebrated an all-time-high in enrollment of more than 23,000 students. The land-grant university enrolled more minority, international and veteran students this year than last, according to a press release that also noted it is the state’s only institution of higher learning to experience enrollment growth for nine of the last 10 years. 

“We’re focused on higher education at MSU being unequivocally accessible and are dedicated to ensuring every Bulldog student is on their path to a degree, including those who start at a community college or who have been out of college for a while,” President Mark Keenum said in the release. 

Rounding out the state’s three largest universities, the University of Southern Mississippi’s enrollment held just about steady at 13,170 students, gaining half a percentage point over the previous school year. 

As higher education officials wait for the enrollment cliff, Mississippi’s three top-tier research universities are scooping up an increasing share of students who pursue higher education in the state. This means the five other, less-resourced universities are competing for a declining pool of students and tuition dollars. 

Earlier this year, lawmakers asked the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees about recommendations and strategies to help the state’s eight public universities weather the anticipated drop in enrollment. In the Southern U.S., Mississippi is expected to see the second-worse decline in high school graduates by 2027 after Virginia. 

Following the hearing, one lawmaker introduced a bill to close three universities that ultimately died in the Senate Colleges and Universities Committee. 

Overall, nearly 80,000 students are attending public universities in Mississippi, according to IHL’s figures. 

“Our universities offer a strong foundation for students from across the state and beyond, and these numbers reinforce the confidence of students and parents alike in the quality education available throughout our system,” Al Rankins, the IHL commissioner, said in a press release. “We are grateful to the Mississippi Legislature and Governor Reeves for partnering with us in keeping our universities affordable for Mississippi families.”

Most universities in the state gained enrollment. Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University saw growth this semester. 

But Mississippi University for Women, Jackson State University and Delta State University’s enrollment dropped. 

Despite a 1.5% decline to 2,193 students this semester, the W welcomed its largest freshman class in four years, which the president credited to recent efforts to grow the enrollment, including increased advertising and marketing aimed at a larger pool of prospective students, more academic scholarships paired with an affordable tuition rate, and attendance at national college fairs. 

This semester, the W had 174 new freshmen, up 15 students from last year. 

“The growth in new freshmen is a testament to recent changes we have made in the recruitment process,” Nora Miller said in a press release. “We look forward to continuing that growth, while forging more pathways for community college transfer students to complete their baccalaureate degrees at The W.” 

Still, the enrollment cliff means it’s unclear the growth in the freshmen class will translate to more overall students in the coming years. A university spokesperson noted the drop in the number of college-going high school graduates will be challenging for the W. 

“The coming change in the high school graduate population/demographics will be a challenge for every higher education institution in Mississippi, but especially for regional universities like The W,” Tyler Wheat wrote in an email. 

Wheat added the university is looking to connect with students, especially those who might transfer from a community college. 

“Our goal is an enrollment that is healthy and sustainable for our institution,” he wrote. 

At Delta State, where enrollment woes recently led to major budget cuts, the president, Daniel Ennis, anticipated a drop in the number of students after 21 programs were cut. 

IHL’s numbers show that Delta State lost 62 students for a total of 2,654 students this semester, but the university says that is mostly not related to the program cuts. 

“Based on our preliminary numbers, the majority of the fall 2024 headcount reduction is related to non-degree-seeking part-time students, such as dual-enrollment high school students, post-baccalaureate students, and other non-degree-seeking students who occasionally take a course,” Christy Riddle, a spokesperson, wrote in an email. 

The university’s first-time freshmen class increased to 210 students this semester, which is three more than last year. Excluding dual credit students, the number of students enrolled full-time at Delta State rose by nearly 5% this year, Riddle added. 

Jackson State lost 238 students, putting its fall enrollment at 6,326. 

The university did not respond to questions about what caused the decline and if it has a plan to increase enrollment.

“We’re working on an enrollment release that we intend to share with the public,” Rachel James-Terry, the director of public relations, wrote in an email.

The post Ole Miss, State post record enrollments as more students pursue college in Mississippi appeared first on Mississippi Today.

This Saturday’s Georgia-Ole Miss game will be the most important college game played on Mississippi soil since, well, at least since 2014 when Mississippi State and Ole Miss were ranked as highly as No. 1 and No. 3.

Alabama was ranked No. 3 and Ole Miss No. 11 on Oct. 4, 2014, when the Rebels won 23-17 at Oxford. Seven days later, Auburn was ranked No. 2 and State No. 3 when the two teams played on at Starkville. State won 38-23 to move to No. 1. Clearly, those games were huge.

This one Saturday (2:30 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) is vitally important — perhaps even more important — for different reasons. A college football playoff berth is likely at stake. In the first 12-team college football rankings ever this week, 7-1 Georgia was ranked No. 3 and Ole Miss was ranked No. 16. But here’s the deal: Should Ole Miss, a 2.5-point underdog, defeat Georgia, the Rebels surely would zoom into the top 12 next week.

On the other hand, an Ole Miss defeat Saturday would be the Rebels’ third. In this new 12-team playoff scenario, three strikes and you’re out. With a loss, Georgia would remain in the playoff picture, but the Bulldogs would lose any chance for a first-round bye.

One indication of this game’s importance: All seats have long since been sold, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. Indeed, you can get two club level seats in the south end zone on Seat Geek for $2,304 each. There are cheaper seats elsewhere but none less than $219 apiece. It’s a scalper’s delight.

It is also an incredibly intriguing matchup: Offensive whiz Lane Kiffin vs. defensive mastermind Kirby Smart. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart vs. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. Ole Miss, 12-1 in its last 13 home games, faces Georgia, which has won 53 of its last 56 regular season games overall and 23 of its last 24 on the road. Incredibly, those aren’t misprints.

The two head coaches, formerly assistants together under Nick Saban at Alabama, have said nothing to reduce the magnitude of the game. Not that they could.

Said Kiffin: “Anybody who’s gonna win (the national championship) is going to have to go through Georgia. They’re the premier program in college football.”

Meanwhile, Smart talks about the Rebels as if they are the Kansas City Chiefs.

“They’re one of the top passing teams, in my mind, in the country … They’ve done it with tight ends. They’ve done it with backs. They’ve done it with wideouts. It doesn’t matter who it is with Lane. He’s going to plug somebody in there. They’re going to figure out where your weaknesses are, find matchups, and look for coverages and find ways to beat those coverages. They’ve got a guy (Dart) that can do it. This guy’s playing uncanny football when you talk about the accuracy, the completion percentage, the yards he’s throwing it for. He’s not throwing dink and dunk passes now. This guy’s throwing the ball vertical, down the field, shots. Then, when you do that, let’s say you cover all that, and you do that, he can take off and run. You watch a quarterback run reel on this guy, and you don’t have enough people in the box. So, the reason they’re successful is because of the scheme and the players that are in the scheme.”

Dart currently plays the game at an elite level rarely seen in college football. He threw for 515 yards and six touchdowns last week at Arkansas. His numbers — 21 passing touchdowns vs. just three interceptions — are far better than Beck’s (17 TDs, 11 interceptions). 

But 360 days ago, Beck threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns in Georgia’s 52-17 trouncing of Ole Miss at Athens. Meanwhile, Dart threw 112 yards and not a single score before being knocked out of the game late in the third quarter. Georgia scored touchdowns on its first four possessions. It was utter dominance.

Can Ole Miss return the favor and slay the SEC’s dragon this time around?

Absolutely, the Rebels can. At their best, the Rebs can play with Georgia, even beat Georgia. In my opinion, the game will come down to which team can a) run the ball successfully and b) protect its quarterback.

Ole Miss doesn’t have to run for 200 yards or anything like that. But the Rebels do have to run it well enough that Georgia can’t, as announcers say, pin their ears back and take dead aim at Dart.

Ole Miss has protected Dart well in every game but two. Kentucky sacked Dart four times. LSU sacked him six times. Not coincidentally, those are the only two games Ole Miss lost. Here’s why: Ole Miss ran the ball only 29 times for 92 yards against Kentucky. The Rebels ran for 180 yards against LSU but inexplicably went away from the run in the second half when the Tigers sacked Dart four times.

Anybody who has watched Georgia under Smart knows you can’t be one-dimensional against the Bulldogs. You have to slow down that pass rush and you do that best by running the football. Example: Texas, ranked No. 1 at the time, ran the ball for only 29 yards and a yard per carry against Georgia. As a result, the Bulldogs sacked Texas quarterbacks six times in a 30-15 victory at Austin.

Yes, Ole Miss can win. The Rebels could do what the Longhorns couldn’t. But Ole Miss must run the ball with some success, and, against Georgia, that’s never easy. The wild card could be Dart’s own running, but that comes with the risk of injury. Against Georgia, we’ve already seen how that works out.

The post One way or another, history will be made when Georgia visits Ole Miss this weekend appeared first on Mississippi Today.

State Sen. Jenifer Branning and incumbent Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens will compete in a runoff election on Nov. 26 after no candidate received a majority of votes in Tuesday’s election for a seat on the state’s highest court. 

The election will almost certainly inject partisan politics into what is supposed to be a nonpartisan judicial race over the next three weeks. 

Kitchens is one of two centrist members of the high court and is widely viewed as the preferred candidate of Democrats, though the Democratic Party has not endorsed his candidacy. Not only are GOP forces working to oust one of the dwindling number of centrist jurists on the high court, but they appreciate Kitchens is next in line to lead the court as chief justice should current Chief Justice Mike Randolph step down.

In incomplete and unofficial results, Branning received the largest share of the vote total at 41.8%, while Kitchens received 35.6% in the five-person race Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

The runoff will take place just two days before Thanksgiving, ensuring both campaigns will be focused on the difficult task of turning out voters for a holiday-season election, with judicial elections typically receiving less public attention than other positions. 

Kitchens, first elected to the court in 2008, is a former district attorney and private-practice lawyer. On the campaign trail, he has pointed to his experience as an attorney and judge, particularly his years prosecuting criminals and his rulings on criminal cases. 

“During the next three weeks, I’ll be working harder than ever to inform the voters why Jim Kitchens is ready, willing and able to serve them better than any other candidate,” Kitchens said. 

Kitchens has raised over $288,000 and spent around $189,000 of that money, leaving him with roughly $98,000 in cash on hand. Most of his campaign donations have come from trial attorneys around the state. 

Branning, a private-practice attorney, was first elected to the Legislature in 2015. She has led the Senate Elections and Transportation committees. During her time at the Capitol, she has been one of the more conservative members of the Senate leadership, voting against changing the state flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem, voting against expanding Medicaid to the working poor and supporting mandatory and increased minimum sentences for crime.

While campaigning for the judicial seat, she has pledged to ensure that “conservative values” are always represented in the judiciary, but she has stopped short of endorsing policy positions — which Mississippi judicial candidates are prohibited from doing. 

Branning has raised over $666,000 and spent roughly $312,000, leaving her with around $354,000 in cash on hand. Several special interest groups and trade associations have donated to her campaign, but the donations have been supercharged by a $250,000 personal loan she gave her campaign. Third-party groups have also spent money on the race.

“There’s a clear choice in this runoff because I’m the only candidate who will bring new energy and constitutional conservative leadership to the Mississippi Supreme Court,” Branning wrote on social media on Wednesday morning. 

Incumbent Justice Dawn Beam, who was up for reelection on the Court’s Southern District, also appeared to concede defeat to her challenger, David Sullivan. 

“I believe in democracy,” Beam wrote on Tuesday night. “Moreover, I know that God’s plans are perfect. It has been my joy to serve our State for 9 years on the Supreme Court, but the people have spoken.” 

With 93% of the votes counted, Sullivan led with 54.8% of the vote, while Beam trailed with 45.2%. 

Beam joined the state Supreme Court in 2016 after former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to the bench to fill the seat left vacant by former Justice Randy Pierce. Sullivan is a public defender in Harrison, Stone and Pearl River counties and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. A Gulfport resident, Sullivan comes from a family of attorneys and judges. His father, Michael D. Sullivan, also served as a Supreme Court justice. 

The three candidates competing for the open seat on the Court of Appeals were still locked in a close race that remained too close to call, with a runoff likely, with 92% of the vote total counted.  Amy St. Pé led the candidates by receiving 35.1% of the vote. The other two candidates, Jennifer Schloegel and Ian Baker, were so close in votes that the lead for second place continued switching through Wednesday as results trickled in.

Mail-in absentee ballots and affidavit ballots could impact which two candidates in the Court of Appeals race head to a runoff election. State law allows for local election workers to process mail-in absentee ballots until November 13, though the ballots must be postmarked by the date of the election. Counties must certify election results by November 15.  

The earliest day voters can cast absentee ballots for a runoff election is November 18, according to an election guide from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

The post Branning, Kitchens gear up for Mississippi Supreme Court runoff appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Former President Donald Trump won Mississippi handily, and the state’s incumbent congressional leaders facing reelection were returned to office on Tuesday night.

With 98% of the statewide vote in, Trump led Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris 61% to 38% in Mississippi on Tuesday night.

Mississippi’s two contested elections for the state Supreme Court and the open seat on the Court of Appeals remained too close to call on Tuesday night. 

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi’s senior U.S. senator, said at a victory party in downtown Jackson that voters throughout the country were clearly showing they believed “our nation is in crisis” and were ready to turn the page to a new chapter of American politics.

With 90% of votes processed for the Central District seat on the state Supreme Court, none of the five candidates running had an outright majority of the votes cast. Republican state Sen. Jenifer Branning, at 41.8% of the vote, and incumbent Justice Jim Kitchens, at 35.6% of the vote, remained the leading candidates. 

If no candidate receives an outright majority of the vote, or more than 50%, the two candidates who received the most votes will compete in a runoff election on November 26. 

For the Court’s Southern District seat, challenger David Sullivan, at 54.7% of the vote, was leading incumbent Justice Dawn Beam, who had 45.3% of the vote, though the Associated Press had yet to call the race with 93% of the vote counted. 

The three candidates competing for the open seat on the Court of Appeals were still locked in a close race that remained too close to call, with a runoff likely, with 92% of the vote total counted.  Amy St. Pé led the candidates by receiving 35.1% of the vote, with Jennifer Schloegel getting the second largest vote share at 32.6%. Ian Baker followed with 32.3%. 

Wicker, the incumbent Republican U.S. senator, defeated Democratic challenger Ty Pinkins in unofficial results Tuesday night.

“We need to deter our adversaries abroad,” Wicker said on Tuesday night. “We need to secure the border. I look forward to serving you in the United States Senate for another term.”

Wicker resides in Tupelo and has served in the U.S. Senate since late 2007 after first being appointed to fill a vacancy by then-Gov. Haley Barbour. He was elected to the post in 2008. He previously served in the U.S. House and as a state senator. 

If the Republican Party takes control of the Senate, Wicker will likely lead the Committee on Armed Services, the committee with jurisdiction over the nation’s military. He would be the first senator from Mississippi to lead the committee since John C. Stennis. 

In a speech last week to the state’s business leaders, Wicker encouraged them to vote for Republican candidates on Election Day so that political leaders in Washington can pass new laws to reduce federal taxes, strengthen the nation’s military and reduce the number of undocumented immigrants entering the country. 

Wicker defeated Pinkins, a civil rights attorney and a Rolling Fork resident who unsuccessfully ran for Mississippi secretary of state last year. 

All four of Mississippi’s incumbent U.S. House members were reelected to another term. 

In the 1st Congressional District that comprises most of northeast Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican, defeated Democratic opponent Dianne Black. 

In the 2nd Congressional District that makes up most of the Delta and west Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s only Democrat in Washington, defeated Republican challenger Ron Eller. 

In the 3rd Congressional District that contains most of central Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Michael Guest was reelected without opposition. 

In the 4th Congressional District located in south Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell defeated Democratic opponent Craig Raybon. 

The post Mississippi votes: Trump sweeps state, congressional incumbents reelected, judicial runoffs likely appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 for the 2024 Mississippi election.

The state’s voters make their picks for presidential, congressional, state judicial and some local races. Live results will automatically update below after polls close at 7 p.m.

U.S. President

Mississippi Supreme Court

U.S. Senate

U.S. House

Mississippi Court of Appeals

The post Mississippi election results: U.S. president, state Supreme Court races appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Polls in Mississippi will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today as voters make their picks for presidential, congressional, state judicial and some local races.

READ MORE: View Mississippi sample ballot

Voters are reminded to bring a photo identification. This can include a valid Mississippi driver’s license, an identification or employee identification card issued by any government entity of the U.S. or state of Mississippi, a U.S. passport, a military photo ID card, a current student ID card issued by an accredited college or university or a Mississippi voter ID card. For more information on voter ID rules, check here.

READ MORE: Vote Tuesday: Candidates battle for seats on state’s highest courts

Those who do not have a valid ID can vote affidavit, but must return and present a photo ID within five days for their ballot to count. Voters waiting in line as polls close at 7 p.m. will still be allowed to vote. If you vote absentee or affidavit, you can track the status of your ballot here.

POLLING PLACE LOCATOR: Use the secretary of state’s online locator to find where you vote

Stay tuned to Mississippi Today for live results, starting after polls close.

LISTEN: Podcast: Mississippi’s top election official discusses Tuesday’s election

The Mississippi secretary of state’s office offers an online resource, My Election Day, where voters can locate or confirm their polling place, view sample ballots and view current office holders. Those with doubts or questions about their precinct locations are urged to contact their local election officials. Contact info for local election officials is also provided on the My Election Day site.

READ MORE: Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

The secretary of state’s office, U.S. attorney’s office and the state Democratic and Republican parties will have observers across the state monitoring elections and responding to complaints.

The secretary of state’s elections division can be contacted at 1-800-829-6786 or ElectionsAnswers@sos.ms.gov.

The U.S. attorney’s office investigates election fraud, intimidation or voting rights issues and can be contacted at 601-973-2826 or 601-973-2855, or complaints can be filed directly with the Department of Justice Civil Rights division at civilrights.justice.gov. Local law enforcement holds primary jurisdiction and serves as a first responder for alleged crimes or emergencies at voting precincts.

The secretary of state’s office also provides some Election Day law reminders:

• It is unlawful to campaign for any candidate within 150 feet from any entrance to a polling place, unless on private property.

• The polling places should be clear of people for 30 feet from every entrance except for election officials, voters waiting to vote or authorized poll watchers.

• Voters are prohibited from taking photos of their marked ballots.

The post Vote today: Mississippi voters head to the polls. Here’s what you need to know appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A group of state senators on Monday grappled with how much to slash state taxes or if they should cut them at all, portending a major policy debate at the Capitol for next year’s legislative session. 

The Senate Fiscal Policy Study Group solicited testimony from the state government’s leading experts on budget, economic and tax policies to prepare for an almost certain intense debate in January over how much they should trim state taxes while balancing the need to fund government services. 

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, told Mississippi Today that he wanted senators to have basic facts in front of them before they help decide next year if Mississippi should cut taxes.

“We’re getting a tax cut the next two years whether we do anything or not,” Harkins said. “I just want to make sure we have all the facts in front of people to understand we have a clear picture of how much revenue we’re bringing in.”  

Mississippi is already phasing in a major tax cut. After a raucous debate in 2022, lawmakers agreed to phase in an income tax cut. In two years it will leave Mississippi with a flat 4% tax on income over $10,000, one of the lowest rates in the nation.

However, the top two legislative leaders, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who oversees the Senate and House Speaker Jason White, have both recently said they want legislators to consider new tax cut policies.  

Hosemann, the Republican leader of the Senate, has publicly said he would like to see the state’s grocery tax, the highest of its kind in the nation, reduced, though he hasn’t specified how much of a reduction or how long it would take for the cut to be implemented. 

White, a Republican from West, said last week that he would like to see the state’s 4% income tax phased out and have the state’s 7% grocery tax cut in half over time. 

“We are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state, but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,” White said last week. 

But it’s difficult to collect accurate data on the state’s grocery tax, and state lawmakers must grapple with a laundry list of spending needs and obligations based on testimony from state agency leaders on Monday. 

Mississippi currently has a 7% sales tax, which is applied to groceries. The state collects the tax but remits 18.5% back to cities. For many municipalities, the sales tax is a significant source of revenue. 

If state lawmakers want to reduce the grocery tax without impacting cities, they could pass a new law to change the diversion amounts or appropriate enough money to make the municipalities whole.  

State Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham said the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the agency in charge of collecting state taxes, does not have a mechanism in place for accurately capturing how much money cities collect in grocery taxes. This is because the tax on groceries is the same as non-grocery items. 

However, Graham estimates that the state collects roughly $540 million in taxes from grocery items.

The other problem lawmakers would have in implementing significant tax cuts is a growing list of spending needs in Mississippi, a state with abject poverty, water and sewer and other infrastructure woes and some of the worst health metrics in the nation. 

Representatives from the Legislative Budget Office, the group that advises lawmakers on tax and spending policy, told senators that lawmakers will also be faced with rising costs in the public employee retirement system, the Medicaid budget, public education, state employee health insurance, and state infrastructure projects. 

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

State agencies, including the employee retirement system, also requested $751 million more for the coming budget year.

“That’s the billion dollar question, I guess,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said. “How we’re able to fund basic government services?” 

Harkins and Hopson said the committee would likely meet again before the Legislature convenes for its 2025 session on January 7.

A House committee on tax cuts has also been holding hearings, and White in September held a summit on tax policy.

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