OurTupelo

Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees is seeking proposals from executive search firms to assist with Jackson State University’s president search. 

The state’s college governing board which oversees and selects the historically Black university’s leaders said Wednesday that the firm will help identify and recruit candidates for the search process. The news comes three weeks after officials made public plans to launch a search committee, where all 12 trustee members will serve. 

Marcus Thompson resigned as university president in May, the third person to depart from that post in seven years. The state’s college governing board did not explain why he or his two predecessors left the post nor has it shared with the public details about its next steps for picking a permanent leader for the school. 

Alumni and supporters of the historically Black university have raised questions to the board about its opaque process, calling for a fair, transparent national leadership search for the university.  

The IHL board’s formal request for proposals can be viewed on its website. The deadline for submission is Sept. 12. 

In 2023, IHL hired Academic Search, an executive headhunting firm, for $115,000 after Thomas Hudson, Thompson’s predecessor, resigned. The board also paid the firm $85,000 for the Delta State search. 

The initial contract with Academic Search for Delta State was $130,000, but it was amended after the board cut the search short and chose Daniel Ennis. The board also used the firm for University of Southern Mississippi search. 

Founded in 1877, Jackson State, Mississippi’s largest HBCU, is located in the state’s capital city. The university serves more than 6,000 students with 520 faculty and offers 90 academic programs.

NEW ALBANY — After five hours in a courtroom where attendees struggled to find standing room, the Mississippi Public Service Commission voted to petition a judge to put the Holly Springs Utility Department into a receivership.

The PSC held the hearing Thursday about a half hour drive west from Holly Springs in New Albany, known as “The Fair and Friendly City.” Throughout the proceedings, members of the PSC, its consultants and Holly Springs officials emphasized there was no precedent for what was going on.

The city of Holly Springs has provided electricity through a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority since 1935. It serves about 12,000 customers, most of whom live outside the city limits. While current and past city officials say the utility’s issues are a result of financial negligence over many years, the service failures hit a boiling point during a 2023 ice storm where customers saw outages that lasted roughly two weeks as well as power surges that broke their appliances.

Those living in the service area say those issues still occur periodically, in addition to infrequent and inaccurate billing.

“I moved to Marshall County in 2020 as a place for retirement for my husband and I, and it’s been a nightmare for five years,” customer Monica Wright told the PSC at Thursday’s hearing. “We’ve replaced every electronic device we own, every appliance, our well pump and our septic pumps. It has financially broke us.

“We’re living on prayers and promises, and we need your help today.”

Another customer, Roscoe Sitgger of Michigan City, said he recently received a series of monthly bills between $500 and $600.

Following a scathing July report by Silverpoint Consulting that found Holly Springs is “incapable” of running the utility, the three-member PSC voted unanimously on Thursday to determine the city isn’t providing “reasonably adequate service” to its customers. That language comes from a 2024 state bill that gave the commission authority to investigate the utility.

The bill gives a pathway for temporarily removing the utility’s control from the city, allowing the PSC to petition a chancery judge to place the department into the hands of a third party. The PSC voted unanimously to do just that.

Thursday’s hearing gave the commission its first chance to direct official questions at Holly Springs representatives. Newly elected Mayor Charles Terry, utility General Manager Wayne Jones and City Attorney John Keith Perry fielded an array of criticism from the PSC. In his rebuttal, Perry suggested that any solution — whether a receivership or selling the utility — would take time to implement, and requested 24 months for the city to make incremental improvements. Audience members shouted, “No!” as Perry spoke.

“We are in a crisis now,” responded Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown. “To try to turn the corner in incremental steps is going to be almost impossible.”

It’s unclear how much it would cost to fix the department’s long list of ailments. In 2023, TVPPA — a nonprofit that represents TVA’s local partners — estimated Holly Springs needs over $10 million just to restore its rights-of-way, and as much as $15 million to fix its substations. The department owes another $10 million in debt to TVA as well as its contractors, Brown said.

“The city is holding back the growth of the county,” said Republican Sen. Neil Whaley of Potts Camp, who passionately criticized the Holly Springs officials sitting a few feet away. “You’ve got to do better, you’ve got to realize you’re holding these people hostage, and it’s not right and it’s not fair… They are being represented by people who do not care about them as long as the bill is paid.”

In determining next steps, Silverpoint Principal Stephanie Vavro told the PSC it may be hard to find someone willing to serve as receiver for the utility department, make significant investments and then hand the keys back to the city. The 2024 bill, Vavro said, doesn’t limit options to a receivership, and alternatives could include condemning the utility or finding a nearby utility to buy the service area.

Answering questions from Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps, Vavro said it’s unclear how much the department is worth, adding an engineer’s study would be needed to come up with a number.

Terry, who reminded the PSC he’s only been Holly Springs’ mayor for just over 60 days, said there’s no way the city can afford the repair costs on its own. The city’s median income is about $47,000, roughly $8,000 less than the state’s as a whole.

Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.

Throughout my career in the Marine Corps, logistics has always underpinned every operation — from training exercises to overseas combat tours to planning for future conflicts. Weapons, material, fuel and other supplies that our troops rely upon are delivered across thousands of miles of ocean, principally by ship.

I can assure you, the 70-ton M1A1 tanks I commanded in Fallujah in 2007-08 did not arrive by cargo plane. These vital war supplies, along with troop transport, are delivered by the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Not to be confused with the Marine Corps of which I served, the Merchant Marine is composed of civilian mariners and both commercial and federal-owned ships. In peacetime, the Merchant Marine carries domestic and international cargo. During conflict, the mariners become a critical component of the military logistics system. Unfortunately, the Merchant Marine is facing mounting challenges that threaten its ability to fulfill this role.

Maritime commerce plays an essential role in the global economy and the economic security of the United States.

Compared to China, our principal maritime competitor, the U.S. Merchant Marine fleet is smaller and is rapidly aging beyond its service limits. Compounding this issue is a dwindling number of shipyards, a shrinking shipbuilding workforce and a significant shortfall of qualified civilian mariners. This erosion poses a direct threat to the readiness and resilience of our defense and commercial supply chains.

The University of Southern Mississippi, however, is uniquely positioned to help address this challenge. With a strong affiliation with the maritime industry, the proximity of its Gulf Coast campus to naval bases, and the state’s only ocean engineering program, USM could take a transformative step by establishing the Mississippi Maritime Academy.

Civilian mariners are vital to the nation’s sealift capacity, which ensures the rapid transportation of military and humanitarian supplies during crises. The Merchant Marine also supports global commerce, with roughly 90% of world trade moving by sea. However, the U.S. pool of licensed mariners is aging, with many nearing retirements, and the recruitment pipeline is not keeping pace.

The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Department of Defense have repeatedly warned of this national security risk.

In response, MARAD published its “Mariner Workforce Strategic Plan” in 2023 (revised in 2025) and has designated 32 Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education to help prepare students for various roles in the maritime industry. Notably, two of the inaugural centers are Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Hinds Community College — evidence that Mississippi is already contributing to maritime workforce development.

Currently, new merchant marine officers are sourced through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, as well as six state maritime academies in Texas, California, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. These state academies receive limited federal assistance through the Navy-sponsored Strategic Sealift Midshipman Program (SSMP), as well as training vessels to support their unique licensing and curriculum requirements. Similar to the traditional Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), the SSMP is tailored to develop a cadre of officers to operate merchant ships as naval auxiliaries and are commissioned as Strategic Sealift Officers in the Navy Reserve.

Yet even these combined efforts are not enough to meet the nation’s mariner needs. This poses a risk not only to the commercial sector, but to the Merchant Marine role as a military logistics reserve in conflict.

USM’s Gulf Coast campus offers a compelling solution. Its marine and ocean engineering programs provide a technical foundation that aligns perfectly with the needs of the maritime industry. Additionally, its proximity to key Gulf Coast naval installations, such as Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport and Naval Air Station Pensacola, presents opportunities for collaboration with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.

Furthermore, the Gulf Coast region supports a robust maritime industry, including shipbuilding, port operations and offshore energy. According to the Mississippi Development Authority, the maritime industries represent 22% of the local workforce in Mississippi’s coastal counties. Collaborations with these industries could enhance practical training opportunities for midshipmen.

This proposal is not without historical precedent. During World War II, the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps trained thousands of mariners at Pass Christian, Mississippi. The Pass Christian Cadet School, home of the Gulf Coast Cadet Corps, made a pivotal contribution to the Allied forces’ sealift capacity during the war. However, it was shuttered in 1950.

Reviving that legacy at USM by designating the Gulf Coast campus as the Mississippi Maritime Academy would honor Mississippi’s past while answering a strategic need.

Establishing a state maritime academy at USM would require coordination among the university, industry partners, state legislators and MARAD.

The Maritime Academy Act of 1958 outlines federal support eligibility, including requirements like mandatory Coast Guard licensing exams before graduation and accepting at least 10% out-of-state students. The governor may also request the assignment of Navy, Coast Guard or Maritime Service personnel as instructors and request access to a training vessel.

USM has the location, expertise and industry partnerships to lead the way. By leveraging these existing strengths, it can help secure America’s maritime future, strengthen its regional economy and contribute meaningfully to national defense.

Now is the time to act.

Robert L. Burton is a future warfare strategist, retired Marine Corps officer and military fiction writer. A Mississippi native, born and raised in Newton County, he was commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy and received master’s degrees from U.S. Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army War College and the University of Mississippi.

Sept. 5, 1942

Charles Jackson French, a 22-year-old mess attendant aboard the USS Gregory, rescued 15 sailors during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Four years before the U.S. entered World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as an attendant — one of the only positions open to Black Americans. And when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he reenlisted.

Nine months later, three Japanese destroyers opened fire on the USS Gregory, killing 24 and injuring many others. When French saw injured shipmates drifting toward enemy fire, he tied a rope around his waist and dove into the dark water. He swam through the night, dragging the raft of injured shipmates through shark-infested waters. More than six hours later, a plane spotted them, and they were rescued.

French received a letter of commendation for his heroic act, but no medals.

Now his heroism is being recognized. The Naval Base in San Diego has renamed its rescue swimmer training pool after him. He has been posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and now the Navy plans to name a destroyer after him.

French’s nephew, Roscoe Harris, called the story of his uncle “an American story. … He cared about his fellow sailors. He cared about them when the Navy was segregated. He saved those white sailors because they needed saving.”

We are still in the first week of September, and Mississippi’s largest football-playing universities all face really meaningful games Saturday. 

Let’s take a look.

Ole Miss at Kentucky, 2:30 p.m.

The 2024 Ole Miss season likely always will be remembered for what might have been. And what might have been was this: The Rebels, led by first-round NFL draft pick Jaxson Dart, should have played in the first 12-team College Football Playoffs. They were talented enough with a school record eight players taken in the NFL’s seven-round draft. That was more than the likes of Notre Dame, Clemson, Penn State, SMU, Boise State and Indiana — all teams that made the playoffs. That was also more than traditional powerhouses such as Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Florida, Southern Cal and Miami.

Of course, Ole Miss did not make the playoffs, and the 2025 Rebels on Saturday will face probably the primary reason the 2024 Rebels didn’t make it: Kentucky. In retrospect, that home defeat to Kentucky, which was a 17-point underdog, ranks as one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 college football season. After somehow defeating No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 on Sept. 28, Kentucky lost its last six games against FBS teams. Most weren’t close. 

Defeating Kentucky on Saturday — and the Rebels are 9.5-point favorites to do so — won’t exorcise last year’s demon; however, it would be a first step toward making the playoffs this season. It also will provide a first SEC start, on the road, for Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons, who appears to these eyes potentially every bit as good as Dart. Yes, that is sky-high praise, but Simmons appears to have it all: the arm, the smarts, the speed. He appears to throw the football with the ease of throwing a baseball, and you can’t say that about a lot of quarterbacks. Yes, he made a couple of poor decisions in the opener against Georgia State, but he is 19 years young. Saturday should provide a big step in his maturing process.

Kentucky? Kentucky is a question mark, the case with so many college football teams in this transfer portal era. The Wildcats overhauled their squad with 24 transfers, including quarterback Zach Calzada and running back Dante Dowdell, the former Picayune superstar, who is making his third stop in three seasons of college football. Dowdell, who signed with Oregon and transferred to Nebraska as a sophomore, led Kentucky to its opening victory over Toledo with 129 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries. Dowdell, who packs 227 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame, will challenge the Rebels’ retooled defensive front.

Simply put, Ole Miss needs to take care of business. Stopping Dowdell and forcing Calzada to throw is the first order of that business. Calzada, making his fourth collegiate stop in his seventh year of college football, completed 10 of 23 passes for just 85 yards against Toledo.

Jackson State at Southern Miss, 4 p.m.

Southern Miss is a 7.5-point favorite, but don’t think for a second T.C. Taylor’s JSU Tigers don’t expect to win. And why wouldn’t they? The Tigers have now won 11 straight games. Meanwhile, Southern Miss has lost 11 straight. Jackson State has won those 11 straight by an average margin of 23 points. Southern Miss has lost those 11 straight by 25 points a game. At first glance, you ask yourself: How can USM be favored?

Yes, there is a difference in competition. FBS team such as Southern Miss can offer as many as 85 scholarships. JSU, which plays at the FCS level, can offer 63 scholarships, each of which can be split among multiple players. Theoretically, USM should have more depth. But then, Taylor says the Tigers are a solid two-deep at every position, and I haven’t heard Charles Huff, USM’s new head coach, say the same.

Huff has had nothing but praise this week for JSU, which defeated Huff’s alma mater, Hampton, 28-14 last Saturday. “Winning cures a lot and they have won,” Huff said. “Their players expect to win, their fan base expects to win … It’s gonna be a challenge. We need to improve quickly.”

To these eyes, Southern Miss appeared an improved team, although it was overmatched at the line of scrimmage last Saturday against Mississippi State. The biggest difference is at the quarterback position, where multi-talented Braylon Braxton should give the Golden Eagles a chance to win any game remaining on the schedule. Of course, until they prove differently, the Eagles also could lose any game remaining on the schedule, including this one. Expect a near-sellout crowd, a terrific atmosphere and a highly competitive contest. 

Arizona State at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m.

Oddsmakers make Arizona State a 6.5-point favorite in what could be a statement game for Mississippi State. The statement? “We’re back!”

We will see. But I saw enough last Saturday to believe State is much improved over last season, especially at the line of scrimmage. State is huge — and can move — on both sides of the ball. Blake Shapen, a top-shelf quarterback, is healthy after sitting out the last eight games of 2024. Do not forget that the 24-year-old Shapen four years ago quarterbacked Baylor to a Big 12 Conference championship and was the MVP of a 21-16 championship victory over Oklahoma State. Shapen completed a record 17 straight passes in that one.

Clearly, Shapen can play, and he played well early last season in a 30-23 road loss to Arizona State. Led by irrepressible running back Cam Skattebo, who rushed for 262 yards and broke seemingly that many tackles, the Sun Devils staved off a fourth quarter State rally. Arizona State went on to an 11-victory season and the NCAA playoffs. You know what happened to State.

But a Mississippi State victory Saturday night would not shock this writer for any number of reasons, including that Skattebo, who pretty much single-handedly whipped State last year, now plays for the New York Giants. Other reasons:

• Arizona State was far from impressive in its 38-19 opening week victory over Northern Arizona.
• Arizona State is 0-2 all-time playing on the road against SEC teams and 1-6 overall against the SEC.
• State has covered the spread in its last four games against ranked teams. The Bulldogs are due to win one of those.

It’s hard to overstate how important this game is for State, mostly because of how difficult the schedule becomes down the road. Beginning Sept. 27, the Bulldogs finish the season, in order, against Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Ole Miss. Good luck with that.

Reaching six victories and a bowl game would be a huge step forward for Jeff Lebby and his Bulldogs. It’ll be hard to find six without one of those coming this Saturday.

Cynthia Walker said she was 15 years old when she participated in her first ballot box review — reconciling the number of ballots with poll book entries and taking a count of everything, down to the number of rubber bands in each box.

She claimed her findings, recorded in handwritten notes on a yellow legal pad, led to a landmark election challenge for a Black supervisor 50 miles north of Jackson. The 67-year-old Yazoo City resident said she’s taken part in dozens of these examinations since then.

So when Walker saw former Hinds County Supervisor David Archie in the news in the summer of 2023, incredulous that he’d lost reelection in a smackdown by a political newcomer, she thought to herself, “I know what happened to him,” Walker told Mississippi Today. “I’m going to reach out to him.”

Two days later, Walker appeared beside Archie at a press conference outside the sheriff’s office to decry an alleged “high-tech” conspiracy involving a former election commissioner and voting machine company. She stood 5-foot, wearing a short tapered haircut, jewel dotted shades and a pastel yellow pantsuit.

“She’s a little bitty person, but she has the power of a giant coming out of her,” said Marilyn Hetrick, a 75-year-old Clinton resident, retired assistant personnel director for the city of Jackson, and one of Archie’s staunchest supporters.

Three years ago, Walker and Hetrick didn’t know each other — or the ousted supervisor, for that matter — from Adam. 

It was a curious time to become an ally of Archie, who’d become widely defined by his antics, such as a profanity-filled fit during a 2021 supervisor’s meeting. As officers removed him, he tore down the plexiglass partitions on the dias. This behavior, according to his supporters, has all been in the name of drawing attention to corruption in the county.

But the two retired women have teamed up in the last two years to fight what they call a calculated election heist. The alleged proof?

Missing voter signature books. Improperly sealed ballot boxes. Commingled election machine hard drives. A post-election Facebook message from the chair of the Democratic Executive Committee reading, “I’m f—ing David Archie on site !!!” 

This spawned a lawsuit, crafted from Hetrick’s suburban kitchen, exhibits strewn across her banquette, with Walker on speed dial from up north near the edge of the Mississippi Delta. 

“It was a radical departure from election laws. It was gross misconduct. It was illegal and immoral and disrespectful. It was voter disenfranchisement,” Walker said on the steps of the courthouse last week, Hetrick behind her.

“You just cannot ‘have it your way,’ like you’re at Burger King, when you’re processing election materials,” Walker added.

Even the harshest critics of Hinds County elections, such as former longtime Hinds County Republican Party chairman Pete Perry, say the challenge is baloney. Procedural irregularities alone do not demonstrate fraud, and they’re not likely to nullify a wide-margin outcome, experts said.

“I don’t think they ran a good election. I don’t believe they ran it legally,” Perry said. “I also don’t believe they did a damn thing that affected 1,800 votes. It’s not possible.”

On the day of the deadline for Archie’s petition for judicial review of the election in September of 2023, Hetrick said her fingers were practically bleeding from all the typing. Then at about 10 a.m., Archie received a call from Supervisor Robert Graham: The county had just experienced a cyber attack. The circuit clerk’s office cleared out for the day.

“My heart just dropped,” Hetrick said. 

Archie went down to the courthouse anyway, manilla folder in hand, and recorded videos in front of the locked glass doors to the unlit, empty office, according to his recent Facebook post. 

Still, Hinds County Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace — who was initially named as a defendant in the lawsuit — testified that his office was open that day, and Archie took no additional steps to file, meaning he’d missed his deadline. The judge agreed.

Thus ensued a two-year battle over whether the office was open or closed, culminating in over a dozen subpoenas and a packed courtroom hearing on Aug. 27, featuring a who’s who of county powerbrokers.

The special judge appointed to hear the case, retired Circuit Court Judge Barry Ford, reversed his original ruling that dismissed the case, allowing Archie’s lawsuit to proceed. 

“Today’s ruling was a win for our case to restore election integrity,” Hetrick wrote on Facebook later that day. “Those who intentionally disregarded election law and protocol must be held accountable as a deterrent to others who might try this in the future.”

One morning in the fall of 2022, a recently widowed Hetrick struck up a conversation with a tall, broad fellow with a slick head while walking on the track at the Baptist Healthplex near her home in Clinton. 

He was friendly, calm and knowledgeable, she said. Hetrick asked the man what he did for a living. “I work for government,” he said. What branch? “County.” What position? “I’m a supervisor.”

Which supervisor? “I’m David Archie,” he said.

Hetrick was floored. This wasn’t the loud-mouthed politician she was used to reading about in the news, whose opponent she actively supported years earlier.

Hetrick asked him about his boardroom blow-ups, which he described as a statement, a method of getting people to care about their local government’s dysfunction. After Hetrick vetted her new friend with her former coworkers from City Hall, Archie took her on rides-along to show her the progress he’s made in the county — the things he says the media never broadcasts.

“I started to understand where he was coming from,” Hetrick said.

Hetrick lives just outside of Archie’s district, in an area that was represented by Archie’s main foe on the board, former Supervisor Credell Calhoun. The two men hadn’t always been at odds.

Calhoun, a businessman and former auditor in the governor’s office, told Mississippi Today he supported Archie’s campaign for supervisor in 2019. When Archie won narrowly and it looked like there may be a challenge to that election, Calhoun said the board of supervisors directed all of its state road funding to Archie’s district, District 2, to ingratiate voters to Archie in the event there was a rematch. 

When that didn’t happen, Calhoun said the board took half of the money back to divvy up across the county, angering Archie. “We were trying to help him so much and then he turned,” Calhoun said.

Archie refutes this, saying the board directed the funding to his district because it had been neglected for several years. Archie has repeatedly accused Calhoun of misspending public money and impeding county progress, which Calhoun denies. He calls Calhoun a “40-year con man,” and Hetrick parrots.

So when the county’s Democratic Party primary rolled around the next year, Hetrick spent most of her energy supporting the candidate Archie’s camp preferred against Calhoun, former state representative Deborah Dixon. Dixon and Calhoun had similar contention, and she ran against the incumbent after she said he backed the candidate who knocked her out of the Legislature in 2019.

Hetrick served as a poll watcher — her first time in the role — for Dixon. At the election watch party that evening, Hetrick celebrated her candidate’s victory but was stunned by her friend Archie’s loss.

Archie had lost convincingly to Anthony Smith, the owner of a computer maintenance company and a real estate firm, by nearly 2-to-1. Smith, regarded by some as “somebody nobody knew,” took home more votes in 25 out of 26 precincts in the district. The total count was 2,810 for Archie and 4,687 for Smith. 

Plenty of residents were unsurprised by Archie’s ouster after all of the bickering. After all, voters shook up more than half of the board – including voting out Calhoun and a third incumbent. But Archie and his team were taken aback.

“Something just doesn’t feel right and we’re trying to figure it out,” Archie told Hetrick when she called him later that night.

Cue Walker. 

The retired paralegal, who’s since opened her home to shelter homeless families, had run as an independent for mayor of Yazoo City in 2022 and lost, receiving just 5% of the vote. 

Walker publicly alleges her election, and others in Yazoo, were rigged, the work of a Jackson-based election consultant named Toni Johnson. 

This is where Walker claims to have found a pattern: She alleges Johnson “came into Yazoo City blazing” starting during the 2018 municipal elections. Walker paints a vague picture of Johnson being in cahoots with the election machine techs and having special access to the computers. And that the candidates Johnson works for always win.

“She went to the highest bidder,” Archie said.

This connection is a handy detail for the Archie camp because Johnson previously served as a Hinds County Election Commissioner, where she found herself in Archie’s crosshairs. She’d also run against him for the supervisor seat in 2019.

Archie accused Johnson of pocketing county money in 2021, WJTV reported, and in early 2022, the auditor’s office arrested her for allegedly defrauding the government by using pandemic relief funds to purchase a television for her home and issuing no-show contracts for services including voting machine audits.

In the 2022 Yazoo City election, Walker alleged Johnson attended the ballot examination wearing her ankle monitor. Johnson pleaded guilty to embezzlement related to the flat screens in 2023 and stepped down from the commission. 

Later that year, after forming a nonprofit called We Must Vote, Johnson consulted Smith’s campaign against Archie. 

“She was very effective in helping me and, you know, I don’t judge anybody,” Smith told Mississippi Today. “I think she’s still a beautiful person.”

Archie’s team hasn’t provided evidence, or a description of evidence, to support allegations of election machine tampering. But Walker did proclaim during the post-election press conference that Johnson’s “blueprint, her DNA, her blood is all over the stealing, the roguishness and the thieving of elections in Mississippi.”

Johnson’s attorney Lisa Ross spoke at the event: “Show us one machine Toni Johnson has touched. She has touched none,” Ross said.

Archie vowed to bring his information to the county district attorney, the attorney general, the secretary of state and the FBI. 

“It is unbelievable that she (Johnson) runs around throwing her weight around because it’s our understanding there’s a real big fish,” Archie said at the 2023 press conference, holding his hands at the distance of a walleye, “that is behind her and protecting her.”

Archie repeated the “big fish” line to Mississippi Today during the reporting of this story, but would not elaborate, saying “you’ll soon find out.”

About a week after the press conference, the resolution board was still working to canvas the absentee ballots to determine which were legally cast and should be accepted. Democratic primary elections, which often determine the winner in Hinds County, are overseen by the Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee.

Jacquie Amos, then-chair of the committee, explained to Mississippi Today that some voters fill out absentee votes on ballots printed on regular paper, which cannot be fed through the machine. Resolution board members, trained by the committee, must transfer the votes to scannable ballots.

So if someone walked into the courthouse basement that day, one week after the election, this is what they’d see: Tables of people bubbling in hundreds of fresh ballots. 

Archie, joined by supporters, did just that, and things got heated. 

“You don’t really know what they’re doing, marking one ballot to another,” said Dixon, who was there to follow her own race.

Amos said she went down to the basement to try to explain the procedure to onlookers, since “no one knows the process, they always think something is wrong,” she said.

Perry was there, too, and said workers should have been looking over the board’s shoulder but weren’t — an account Amos rejects. Local activist Addie Lee Green, who was attempting to observe workers behind the counter in the clerk’s office, said the election officials attempted to call the sheriff to escort her out.

In addition to Dixon, Archie had backed Malcolm Johnson, former county special projects manager and talk show host, in another supervisors race. 

“He said, ‘Jacquie, we’re not going to let you steal this election from Deb or Malcolm,’” Amos said. “I turned around and said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

Someone had to hold Amos back from a physical altercation. She said she was fuming when she left the courthouse to cool off and received a Facebook message, “Hey, don’t let them cheat Debroha (sic) Dixon out of her election. She won fair and square.”

“She won,” Amos responded. “But I’m f—ing David Archie on site !!!”

Amos said she’d already been on the outs with the supervisor. She said she’d incensed Archie when she refused — in response to many pleas — to run against Calhoun. Archie said that’s not true.

Soon, her profane Facebook message — which became exhibit E in Archie’s lawsuit — would appear in news outlets across the metro, though she said Mississippi Today was the first to call her for her side. 

Amos said she was disappointed Archie would use the message, composed in a heated moment, to paint her as corrupt, especially because she grew up with him as a kid. 

Amos’ father, a basketball and baseball coach at the now-defunct Hinds County Agricultural High School in Utica, had been Archie’s mentor before he passed. Her father campaigned door-to-door for Archie and was “crazy about him,” Amos said.

“‘If Daddy were here, David would not be acting that way.’ Mama says that all the time,” Amos said.

All of the drama is hurtful in more ways than one.

“What it does, in my opinion, is make voters stay away from the process,” Amos said. “People won’t vote. They say, ‘There’s corruption.’”

After the dust up in the basement, and the committee officially certified the election, Archie asked Cynthia and Hetrick to help with his ballot box review — the process a candidate must undergo in order to challenge the results.

Hetrick accepted the offer, thinking it probably wouldn’t bear fruit, but at least she could help her friend accept his loss. Until she saw inside the boxes.

In the election commission’s fluorescently lit office in late August of 2023, two white top folding tables sat end to end. Wallace, the circuit clerk, brought the election contents, the soft blue boxes carrying ballots and precinct materials, into the room so Archie’s camp could conduct its examination.

Walker was the leader, joined by Hetrick, advertising specialist Taylor Turcotte, Turcotte’s friend and Green, a former Bolton alderwoman and a frequent unsuccessful statewide candidate.

What happened in that room is a matter of perspective. Smith, who brought a campaign supporter known only to him by his alias “Eyes”, sat across the table from the women, filming videos of them on his phone. 

Walker described a tense scene, a gaggle of “grown rusty men that were on the attack, that ran interference, that cussed and screamed and threatened to fight.”

Turcotte’s friend was so uncomfortable that she didn’t come back after the first day. “They didn’t grow up in the hood like me,” Walker said. 

Smith rejected this telling, insisting all he did was “watch them very closely.” But Turcotte said Smith’s unblinking, “cold, dead stare” actually made her fear for Archie’s safety. At one point, a scrap nearly broke out, three of the women said.

“That’s how they pick fights with David is they get up in his face and they insult him, and then he gets loud to overwhelm them. And then David looks like the ass,” Turcotte said.

Hetrick, a devout Catholic, began arriving at the commission with her rosary wrapped around her wrist. Walker, who carried pepper spray, made a joke that Hetrick should bring holy water.

The next day, Hetrick said she brought her tiny white plastic bottle, embellished with a gold cross, and sprinkled the chairs around the table before Smith arrived that morning. The tiffs subsided after that, Hetrick said.

What disturbed the women more than the intimidating environment was what they said they found — or didn’t find — inside the boxes.

Each of the precinct boxes contained paper ballots, the petition states.

But the team alleges they found no machine tapes, the print-outs containing the number of votes scanned. They allegedly determined that all of the precinct media sticks, the hard drives that contain the digital record of the vote, were commingled in a bag with no seal, stashed in a commissioner’s desk in an open cubicle.

They alleged that out of 26 precincts, the boxes contained only eight receipt books, where voters record their signature when they sign in to vote, five ballot accounting forms, which show the number of ballots used and left over, and one machine key. 

This was after seven days of review.

“Everything was stored in all kinds of different places illegally but nobody cared,” said Turcotte, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican against U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson in 2024 and for an open seat on the Jackson City Council in 2025.

The team alleges there’s no way to determine how many people actually voted in the election due to the illegal maintenance of the records. 

“If Mr. Smith won, why will they not allow us to validate his win?” Walker said.

Amos said she didn’t know of any documents that were missing, and if the materials weren’t in their designated precinct boxes, it would have been because the commissioners had already started cleaning the boxes out to prepare for a runoff. The records should be stored together in the commission’s office, Amos said.

“I am not Olivia Pope and this is not Defiance,” Amos said.

The committee voted Amos out in 2024, replacing her with Clinton alderman James Lott, a director at Hinds Community College. She left the committee altogether and now serves as the chair of the committee for the 2nd Congressional District. Lott told Mississippi Today his goal is to advance integrity in Hinds County elections through proper pollworker training and giving equal treatment to any complaints.

“Everything deserves to be heard and investigated,” Lott said.

Through an attorney, the Hinds County Election Commission did not respond to Archie’s allegations or answer questions about the current status or whereabouts of the materials. 

Because the commissioners will make up the tribunal that offers recommendations to the judge deciding Archie’s case, commission attorney Ray Chambers said they have a responsibility not to respond to press inquiries prior to trial. The only filings from defendants in the lawsuit so far argue Archie submitted past the deadline and avoid any explanation or alternative to the claims Archie laid out.

Perry said his experience is that the laws around election procedure — such as chain of custody, storage of materials and ensuring they are sealed — are frequently disregarded in Hinds County. But it’s inconceivable to him that 18 signature books have vanished.

“I’ll bet my ranch on the fact that the sign-in books exist,” he said.

Mississippi Today requested to inspect the books, but Chambers said state law requires that when a challenge arises, the materials are kept under seal until the court hearing.

Perry, who has conducted dozens of ballot box examinations and testified as an expert in election challenges, was present at the commission’s office for some of Archie’s review. He said he observed the team talking back and forth; it didn’t look to him like they knew what they were doing.

“There wasn’t anything to be gained by where they were spending their time,” he said. “All they did was make a scene to say, ‘We spent a week down there.’”

Archie’s lawsuit itself does not allege that the paper ballots he reviewed were forged. It doesn’t utter ballot stuffing or vote buying.

“As a kid in the 60s, I saw it done,” Perry said. “That’s where everybody was marking paper ballots and putting it in a box. And at the end of the day, they’re sitting there, late at night underneath a light hanging from a single cord above a table in an old closed grocery store.”

But that’s not how it works anymore. Today, votes are counted by a scanner instead of by hand. When ballots are printed, there’s a record attached to verify how many are used and left over. The receipt books record how many people entered the polls through their signature. In the poll books, election workers mark on a roster of registered voters, recording who voted. Both of these may be matched to the number on the machine or the number of paper ballots. 

Mistakes do happen, particularly with affidavit and absentee votes, and can make a difference in a slim margin race when challenged.

But fabricating ballots in the hundreds, let alone thousands, in theory would require a multi-person conspiracy and a kind of sophistication that all evidence shows Hinds County officials do not possess, Perry said.

“You can’t manufacture that kind of vote. The system has too many checks and balances in it to do it,” Perry said.

That doesn’t mean Hinds County elections don’t have problems. 

Bridgette Morgan, a candidate in the 2024 election for Hinds County Court Judge, brought a challenge after losing in a runoff last November. In the first race of three candidates, she received nearly enough votes, shy just 9, to win outright.

Morgan alleged that irregularities were to blame for her not being declared the winner. She was unsuccessful in getting a jury to agree with her in July, and she told Mississippi Today she plans to appeal. (Morgan’s challenge was for a general election, so a regular panel of jurors was responsible for deciding the case).

Perry said he’s repeatedly told Hinds County officials that if they don’t start following the laws around securing and storing ballots and maintaining proper accounting, a close election will soon enough result in a new election, costing the county an extra $100,000.

“Because in a close election, the way that they’re ignoring the law, refusing to even pretend to follow the law, it’s going to get overturned,” Perry said. “Now, David Archie’s is not a close election.”

Both Hetrick and Walker refute Perry’s analysis. Hetrick said he lacks imagination; Walker said if he knows of repeating violations, he should have done something about it by now.

In the case of suspected outright election or voter fraud, a local district attorney, the attorney general’s office or the U.S. Attorney’s Office may step in.

But most of the election laws Archie’s lawsuit alleged were broken — those related to controlling the contents of precinct boxes, sealings, receipt book storing, the process for examining affidavits — do not come with criminal penalties for violations, leaving few avenues for prosecutors.

Reached about Archie’s claims, a secretary of state’s office spokesperson said simply that the state office has no involvement in the matter. The attorney general’s office confirmed to Mississippi Today it had an active investigation into Morgan’s case, but not Archie’s.

So what’s the recourse? In Mississippi, virtually the only way to address a complaint over the handling of an election is for a failed candidate to file a challenge with the qualifying body in the race — in Archie’s case, the Democratic Executive Committee. If that doesn’t work, a candidate can petition the court for judicial review. 

The losing candidate must have the money to hire a lawyer. In these cases, the proper defendant is the winning candidate, not the officials who were responsible for running a fair election. 

In the course of one of these lawsuits, a judge could order an election official be jailed for breaking the law, but Perry said he’s only seen that happen once.

Candidates have a difficult time prevailing in election challenges. They must show how irregularities could have made a difference in the outcome of the race. The courts are reluctant to order a new election without clear evidence that the will of the people could not be determined.

Take the challenge of Eugene Fouche, a Black candidate for supervisor in Yazoo County, in 1979. This is the election challenge and ballot review Walker referenced – she was actually 21 at the time.

Walker called it a precedent-setting case that resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Fouche’s favor, finding that he should have been declared the winner over the white incumbent. 

That never happened, according to the lawyer who brought the case in circuit court, Ed Blackmon. The local judge dismissed the case and Fouche lost on appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, records show. 

“I’ve never cited it,” said Blackmon, who has brought several election challenges since.

Still, anyone interested in politics in Yazoo County in the 1970s and 80s would have been enthralled by the case, which came as Black Mississippians were increasingly engaging in politics following historic enfranchisement progress made during the Civil Rights Movement.

“I could think of someone who was living in that community at that time, that would be a seminal moment in their lives,” Blackmon said.

Where Archie has had slim success in his political career — winning just one of at least nine campaigns for office and serving one term as supervisor — he’s excelled at recruiting a loyal audience.

On his podcast, a recording by an R&B singer introduces the host, “David Archie, yeah, he’s a man that will take a stand,” before shifting into an Alvin Garrett tune belting, “If you won’t fight with me, if you don’t believe in me, I’m going to walk on by myself.”

Archie has been stirring up news long before the blockbuster supervisor’s meeting: getting arrested at a protest against racial profiling, holding a demonstration against a civil rights figure or alleging excessive force against Jackson airport officials after a bloody altercation during his 20s, when he worked as a fraud prevention officer with the state’s welfare department, according to the Clarion Ledger. 

“I know some of y’all are afraid to shake the system, to challenge government, to challenge status quo,” Archie told listeners on one of his most recent broadcasts. “And then you get mad at me because I’m fighting to make it better for you.”

Earlier this year, Archie ran for mayor of Jackson, then took a job in constituent services at City Hall at the tail end of then-Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s term before getting canned by incoming Mayor John Horhn.

He’s nothing if not persistent — a quality Hetrick and Walker say they can get behind.

Walker said in the majority of her election reviews, when she has recommended candidates challenge their election, they say they don’t have the money or energy. “No one thought David would go this distance,” Walker said.

Hetrick, who left her job under former Mayor Harvey Johnson in 2001 after a local newspaper printed her address, rattling the mother of a then-middle schooler, feels similarly ready to fight now.

Smith’s attorney in the election challenge, Warren Martin, offered another perspective: “He’s convinced people to follow him no matter what, follow him through the desert to water. But it’s a mirage. They’re drinking sand.”

Hetrick said the detractors are missing the point: The case isn’t just about Archie’s supervisor’s seat. It’s about shining a light on the brazen mishandling of elections at large. She doesn’t wish for the spectacle to discourage voters from participating in elections, but to ignite them to demand better.

“Even if we lose the trial, we’re not through,” Hetrick said.

By now, Smith has served nearly half of his four-year term. Judge Ford asked lawyers in the case to agree on a hearing date in the coming days, but it’s possible another appeal could delay it further. By the time Archie’s team exposes the evidence it says it has, the next election could be underway.

So will Archie run again? 

“I hope to be in the position before then,” he said. “And I absolutely, 100%, unless I’m sick or fall off the face of the earth, will run in 2027.”

Mississippi’s three largest economic development projects are data centers. 

Data centers promise tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue, new jobs and investment in energy infrastructure. A planned Brandon data center alone is expected to bring in over $20 million a year in taxes.

But not everyone is thrilled. 

In my latest story on the Brandon data center, I talked with Brandon residents and Rankin’s economic development association about the development. Residents raised concerns about electricity and water usage, air pollution from electricity demands, potential noise pollution and environmental impacts.

In other communities across the nation and globe where data centers are being built, residents are raising similar concerns. They want to know what these projects mean for their health, the environment and their pocketbooks. But artificial intelligence continues to grow. The investment bank UBS projects that AI spending will reach $500 billion in 2026. 

Professor Ahmed Saeed of Georgia Tech says data centers are not going away. He thinks the way forward is to ensure they’re properly regulated and investing in the community.

“ Having clarity on the impact of data centers within the community where they’re building is important,” said Saeed. “The other side of this is also making sure that there is investment into the community.”

We received a lot of emails in response about Brandon’s new data center. We’re reprinting one of the comments we received, with permission from the author:

“I am deeply concerned about the new data center projected for construction in Brandon, Mississippi. I believe this is a terrible idea and should be reconsidered by our state leaders. Mississippi prides itself on outdoor recreation and agriculture, yet this very decision will impact the land and natural resources in such a harmful way. Our water and energy will surely suffer through egregious water and electricity consumption. We need businesses to move into cities who will contribute to the local community and local economy, not filter resources away from people in that community,” wrote Miranda Loper, MLIS.

You can reach me at marketplace@mississippitoday.org to share your thoughts.

Economic recovery 20 years after Katrina

The 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina last week brought some reports on economic recovery and development since the deadly and destructive storm, including:

• A Pass Christian businessman recounted building a business after Katrina.
• Amtrak reopened service along the Gulf Coast after 20 years. Mississippi Public Broadcasting wrote about three towns along the track and how they’ve rebuilt.  
• Jamie Miller, president and CEO of the Gulf Coast Business Council gave an update on the Coast’s recovery.

Bluesky goes black in MS, the economic potential of tourism and other news:

• The social media platform, Bluesky, blocked access for Mississippi users. The company cited Mississippi’s age verification law.
• Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia announced a joint economic development initiative to bolster advanced auto manufacturing. It will bring together industry, academia and government to grow innovation and investment. 
• “If we are serious about tackling brain drain, we must stop seeing tourism as ‘just’ a leisure industry, but rather a strategic tool for workforce retention, talent attraction and community revitalization,” wrote Danielle Morgan, executive director of the Mississippi Tourism Association. In the latest installment of our series on brain drain, Morgan looks at how tourism is an important part of the state’s economic growth. 
• Hood Industries announced it is investing $245 million in its Wayne County sawmill.

Leonardo Bevilacqua, a former Mississippi Today fellow and Delta public school teacher, is joining the newsroom in a full-time role as Delta/Education Reporter.

Leo, a New York native with family ties to Mississippi, just completed a 12-week fellowship at Mississippi Today, where he deeply covered criminal justice, education and culture. He holds degrees from Columbia University in American Studies and Investigative Journalism, and his work appears in the Christian Science Monitor and at Byline.

Before becoming a journalist, he taught high school English in Indianola, Leland, and Jackson, and worked in nonprofit after-school enrichment programs in Clarksdale and Cleveland. He also directed community theater with the Delta Arts Alliance.

“The phrase ‘hit the ground running’ is trite but seems no better description for Leo,” said Debbie Skipper, Mississippi Today’s Justice Editor. “From the moment he joined our investigative team as a summer fellow from Columbia University, he has kept a pace that is truly remarkable, gleaning insights from Mississippians across the state dealing with real issues like childcare access and affordability, crime victim compensation, undocumented workers, teacher pay and local school control. He never just speaks to officials. As he takes on his new role, Mississippi couldn’t ask for a better journalist to report the stories that touch the lives of everyday Mississippians.”

Leo will serve on Mississippi Today’s newly formed Education Team, which is dedicated to covering all aspects of the state’s education system with a special focus on the challenges and solutions in Mississippi schools that can engage youth and strengthen communities.

The reporting on areas of educational pathways, funding and postsecondary opportunities will be produced in Mississippi Today’s signature style — in-depth, with attention to background and context. This will include a mix of daily news and longer-form pieces involving investigation and data analysis, with a special focus on schools and families in the Mississippi Delta.

That Delta focus makes Leo uniquely qualified for this job.

“I’m humbled to be reporting on a region where I began my professional career as a teacher,”  Bevilacqua said. “The Delta deserves high-impact, accountability journalism. I look forward to  joining a team of journalists I’ve long revered.”

Some Mississippi universities have stopped giving money to student organizations for club activities due to uncertainty over a state law — on hold by a federal judge — that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools. 

It’s one of the first widespread, tangible consequences of a law that attorneys say will have sweeping ramifications across the state’s education system. 

A federal judge has blocked House Bill 1193 for the foreseeable future because he believes it may violate the First Amendment rights of students and teachers. The law will remain blocked until he issues a final ruling after a bench trial, something that will take months to complete. 

The law — which prohibits any programming and curriculum related to diversity, equity and inclusion — includes an exemption for registered student organizations. However, it does not exempt money collected from student activity fees from the prohibition.

The Institutions of Higher Learning, the board that governs the state’s public universities, said that student activity fees, despite being paid by students through their tuition, are considered state money. 

According to respective student newspapers, Mississippi State students pay a flat $25 student activity fee, while University of Mississippi students contribute $2 for every credit hour in which they’re enrolled each semester.

“Universities are following state and federal law, including the First Amendment’s requirement that student activity fees be used in a viewpoint and content neutral manner,” John Sewell, director of communications for IHL, said in an emailed statement to Mississippi Today. 

The First Amendment to the Constitution protects freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceful assembly and petitioning the government.

University of Mississippi leadership announced the decision to stop distributing funds to campus organizations in an email sent on Aug. 29 from Provost Noel Wilkin, in the name of “predictability,” no matter the outcome of the lawsuit. 

Instead of disbursing “Student Activity Fee” money to campus groups, departments such as the Office of Student Affairs and the Department of Campus Recreation will organize activities using those funds. Previously, there was a uniform process for student groups to apply for the funding. That process has been suspended. 

“The University is committed to providing a robust slate of student activities this school year with the use of the student activity fees that you pay, and those student activity fees will only be used to support and host student programming,” Wilkin wrote. “In our view, the student activity fee is your money that the university holds in trust for you to be used only for programing for students.”

Associated Student Body president Jack Jones expressed his disappointment in a statement shared to social media. He said the decision would have “serious implications” for campus organizations because they rely almost exclusively on the funds. 

“The [Student Activity Fee] was created by students, is managed by students, and is allocated to students — all to support activities for students,” he wrote. “Over the coming weeks, I will be meeting with student leaders from other Mississippi institutions as we work to ensure the SAF process is returned to the hands of students — where it belongs.”

Senior Calvin Wood, who serves in leadership roles for several University of Mississippi organizations, said the decision will devastate campus organizations. 

“It’s kind of the lifeblood of our student activities system,” he said. “A lot of us are pretty upset about this.”

Wood is afraid that without the funding, the University of Mississippi College Democrats will have a hard time putting on programming and getting people to attend events. 

“Last year, we had a catered Black History Month panel,” he said, as vice president of the organization. “A lot more people showed up because there was food. Now, things like that will be limited — food, guest speakers, swag. We’ll have basically no budget this year.”

Mississippi State University students were notified about a similar decision regarding their student organization funding last week. 

The Reflector, the campus newspaper, reported that the university’s Student Association told campus groups on Aug. 27 that it could no longer distribute funds due to the state law. That money will not be touched, student leadership said. 

In the meantime, student leaders are seeking solutions to finance campus organizations, such as contacting local businesses for fundraising nights and helping campus organizations set up budgets and bank accounts.

The Student Association allocated nearly $47,000 among 87 student organizations last semester. 

Attorneys argued in hearings over the summer that the law was already creating a “chilling effect” across the state’s public schools and institutions. In April, the University of Mississippi pulled its support for the annual Oxford Pride Parade, citing prohibitions in the new state law.

Mississippi Today reporter Taylor Vance contributed to this article.

Senators pressed Mississippi’s two nominees for federal judgeships on Wednesday about their judicial philosophy, qualifications and how they feel about the U.S. Supreme Court recognizing gay marriage. 

Robert Chamberlin and James Maxwell, two current Mississippi Supreme Court justices, testified at the Senate confirmation hearing about their nominations by President Donald Trump to lifetime judicial slots in northern Mississippi. 

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s chairman, said the slate of nominees that appeared before the committee was full of “highly qualified men and women who understand the importance of judicial independence in our constitutional design.” 

But senators from both parties still questioned the two men about their judicial records and how they would approach the job of ruling in civil disputes and overseeing criminal trials.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, asked Maxwell to justify the majority opinion he wrote in Nash v. State of Mississippi. In this case, the state Supreme Court upheld a lower-court judge’s sentencing of a man to serve 12 years in jail for possessing a cell phone in a correctional facility. 

Maxwell responded that the lengthy sentence may have been harsh, but his role wasn’t to impose a personal sentence on the defendant. 

“Our role as the Mississippi Supreme Court is to determine if that was a lawful sentence as set by the parameters of our state Legislature,” Maxwell responded. 

The nominees also stated at the hearing that they believed Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled separate but equal segregation unconstitutional, and Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared state bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional, were correct decisions. 

However, Chamberlin and Maxwell did not answer a similar question from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut about whether he thought the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges recognizing a right for same sex couples to marry was a correct ruling.

“It is the better practice not to comment on the wisdom of these decisions,” Chamberlin said. 

Both of Mississippi’s Republican senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, spoke in support of the two nominees at the hearing. Wicker said that Chamberlin was “a rock-solid choice,” while Hyde-Smith stated she had complete confidence in Maxwell’s “qualifications, character and commitment to justice.”

Maxwell earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Former Gov. Haley Barbour in February of 2009 appointed Maxwell to the state Court of Appeals. 

Maxwell was elected to the post in 2010 and reelected in 2014. 

Former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him to the state Supreme Court in January 2016. He was later elected to an eight-year term in November of 2016 and reelected in 2024.

Maxwell said his prior experience as a federal prosecutor and growing up with an attorney for a father helped make him qualified to become a federal judge. 

Chamberlin earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. He first served as a state circuit court judge for 12 years in the 17th Circuit District. In 2016, he was elected to an open seat on the state Supreme Court and reelected in 2024. 

Before becoming a judge, Chamberlin was a member of the state Senate for five years, representing DeSoto County. 

Chamberlin, at the hearing, said his role as a state circuit court judge has prepared him to preside over a federal courtroom because he’s previously had to “run a docket” in a state court. 

Chamberlin and Maxwell will replace U.S. District Judges Michael Mills and Sharion Aycock, both of whom decided to take senior status in recent years. 

It’s unclear when the committee will vote on the two nominees, but Republican U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said at the hearing that members of the Judicial Committee can submit written questions to the nominees until Sept. 10.