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The Justice Department is now investigating the city of Lexington and the Lexington Police Department.

“No city, no town and no law enforcement agency is too large or too small to evade our enforcement of the constitutional rights every American enjoys,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are opening this investigation to determine whether the Lexington Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing, excessive force or First Amendment violations.

“This investigation should send a clear message to small and mid-size police departments that they are not exempt from the obligation to provide fair, effective and non-discriminatory policing. We will leave no community behind, including underserved regions in the Deep South, in our quest to ensure lawful and constitutional policing in America.”

Todd W. Gee, whom the U.S. Senate recently confirmed as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, told reporters, “Police officers are trusted with the important duty to keep our communities safe. When police officers fail to respect constitutional rights, they violate that trust. Our office is committed to ensuring that everyone in Mississippi is treated fairly and lawfully by the police. Today’s announcement reflects that commitment. We will conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the Lexington Police Department, and we will take decisive action to address any unlawful conduct.”

Civil rights attorney Jill Collen Jefferson, who was arrested by Lexington police nine days after meeting with Clarke, expressed her thanks to the assistant attorney general and the Civil Rights Division “for listening to this community. This is going to reinvigorate their belief in democracy and in justice, because honestly they have lost hope due to all the fear and terror they’ve had to endure.”

Jefferson, who heads the nonprofit, JULIAN, named after her mentor, Julian Bond, remains cautiously optimistic. “This is just a first step,” she said. “I’ll be ready to celebrate the findings when they’re released.

“The people of Lexington have put their lives and their livelihoods at risk,” she said. “People have lost their jobs and people have been beaten in order to get justice. JULIAN is incredibly proud of this community.”?

Lexington, an 85% majority Black town on the edge of the Mississippi Delta, came into national focus in 2022 when the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting broke the story of a recording of then-Lexington Police Chief Sam Dobbins, who is white and can be heard on a recording filled with racist and homophobic slurs, bragging about killing 13 people in the line of duty.

In one case, he said, “I shot that n—– 119 times, OK?” In another part of the 17-minute recording, Dobbins can be heard saying, “I don’t give a f— if you have to kill a motherf—er in cold blood.”

A day later, the Lexington City Council fired Dobbins, but Jefferson and other residents said the harassment of Black residents has continued under the new chief, who is Black. 

JULIAN, who shared the recording of Dobbins with MCIR, filed a lawsuit that said more than 200 Black residents had complained about unconstitutional treatment by the Lexington Police Department, but a federal judge rejected a request for a restraining order against the department.

National scrutiny continued when MCIR exposed that Dobbins had a long and checkered past in law enforcement, which included the 2012 killing of Ralph Winston, a Black man who was battling mental illness.

On the recording, Dobbins described the shooting: “I chased this motherf—er across the field. I got him. He was DRT [dead right there] in the field. The vehicle was shot 319 times, but he was hit 119 times by me.”

An investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation found 96 bullet holes and ricochet marks were recorded on Winston’s car and a “blood pool” covering the driver door, seat, floor and steering wheel.

Clarke said the investigation will seek to determine whether there have been violations of federal law and the Constitution.

She said the probe will focus on the police department’s use of force and its stops, searches and arrests as well as whether police are arresting those whose speech and conduct is protected by the First Amendment.

Gee said those with information can contact the Justice Department by email at Community.LexingtonMS@usdoj.gov, by phone at (833) 610-1232 or through the website, www.civilrights.justice.gov. He said other civil rights violations can be reported to the U.S. Attorney’s Office at USAMSS.civilrights@usdoj.gov or (601) 973-2825.

Justice Department officials plan to hold a public community meeting today, Nov. 8, at 5 p.m. at St. Paul Church of God in Christ Fellowship Hall, 17214 Highway 17 South, in Lexington, Mississippi.

Gee said everyone in Mississippi and throughout the nation “want to feel safe in our homes and in public. But we want that safety to be obtained fairly and legally, not through illegal force or abuse of power.

“Make no mistake: good police work is done legally and fairly every day in many places in America and in Mississippi. The investigation we announce today will ensure that the residents of Lexington, Mississippi are receiving the same from their police force.”

UPDATE 11/8/23: The story has been updated with an additional comment.

The post Justice Department launches probe into Lexington police practices appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A pattern has developed for statewide Democratic candidates in Mississippi: They hit a ceiling of about 47% of the vote, no matter how hard they campaign or how much money they spend.

And populous DeSoto County and the Gulf Coast appear impenetrable for a Democrat. Even Northeast Mississippi, once a “yellow dog” stronghold, is becoming that way.

While election results still are trickling in, it appears that in Tuesday’s election for governor Democrat Brandon Presley performed at about the same level as Jim Hood did in 2019, despite raising and spending about at least $5 million more on his campaign.

RESULTS: Mississippi’s general election 2023

Hood, a four-term state attorney general from northeast Mississippi, lost to Gov. Tate Reeves in 2019. And Presley, a four-term public service commissioner from northeast Mississippi, lost to Reeves on Tuesday. And that aforementioned pattern is not confined to just the governor’s elections. In 2020, Democrat Mike Espy lost to Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in an outcome that was eerily similar.

Democrats in those races bumped up against the 47% mark against their Republican foes, making the election close enough to be interesting. But close losses in elections do not reap many rewards.

The trend endured by Democrats in recent elections actually began in the watershed 2003 gubernatorial election, when many observers say that Haley Barbour, a Washington lobbyist and political operative from Yazoo City, brought modern campaigning to Mississippi and upended incumbent Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

In that election, Musgrove lost 53% to 46% (there was an independent siphoning a few votes) in what is still the highest general election turnout in a state election in Mississippi history.

While Democratic presidential candidates have garnered more votes, it appears that in an election for a statewide office, Hood in 2019 is still the top vote-getter for a Democrat. He garnered 414,368 votes in 2019. In an incomplete and unofficial tally Wednesday morning, Presley was at 370,000, although thousands more votes are likely to be added over the next few days.

Republican Phil Bryant garnered the most votes for governor in the modern era with 544,851 votes against Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree in 2011.

In three races after the 2003 contest, Democrats fielded candidates with limited funding and not much statewide recognition. This dry spell culminated with Robert Gray, a truck driver who had never run a campaign and was not even in state to vote for himself in his victorious Democrat primary, being the nominee in 2015.

But in 2019, Hood, who had won four statewide campaigns for attorney general, gave Democrats hope. And Democrats went into this Tuesday’s election with optimism, hoping the charismatic and surprisingly well-funded Presley could build on Hood’s performance from 2019. After all, Presley, thanks in large part to the Democratic Governors Association, was able to outmatch Reeves’ fundraising prowess — a rare feat for a Democrat in Mississippi. And in 2019, Hood did win some majority white counties, which also provided hope for Democrats.

Hood, for instance, was the first Democrat since 1987 to win Madison County, a Jackson suburb. Hood also won Lafayette and Oktibbeha — two predominantly white counties, but homes of major universities that include a higher percentage of college-educated residents who are more likely to vote Democratic. On Tuesday, Presley lost Lafayette and Madison, albeit by narrow margins. He kept Oktibbeha in the Democratic column. He also picked up Lowndes, a county with a plurality white population that Hood did not win in 2019.

But in the end, the differences in the losses for Hood and Presley — just as the loss by Musgrove way back in 2003 — were differences without much distinction.

Some additional takeaways from Tuesday’s gubernatorial election:

• Hinds County is fast becoming statewide Democrats’ last and only populous stronghold. Reeves took back Madison County on Tuesday after Hood won it in 2019. Take away Hinds County’s large Democratic vote, and a statewide Democrat stands no chance with today’s Mississippi electoral maps.
• It would appear record levels of spending by both Reeves and Presley resulted in only mediocre voter turnout. Spending totals by the campaigns will likely top $20 million, and outside interests poured in millions more. Much of this went to mudslinging ads. This did not appear to motivate voter turnout greatly on either side.
• The Trump effect is still there, but to what extent? Democratic and Republican polling leading up to the election showed the Reeves-Presley race much tighter than it played out, and Republicans were extremely worried about anemic turnout. But Reeves got a late endorsement by former President Donald Trump. Trump remains popular in Mississippi, and it’s certain this helped Reeves, but the extent will likely never be known.
• A Democratic candidate could use help from a third-party one. Given that 46%-47% ceiling, pushing to a runoff might offer a Democrat a better chance. Many politicos believed Presley’s best chance at survival Tuesday night was for little-known independent Gwendolyn Gray (who had dropped out but was still on the ballot) to siphon votes from Reeves and force a runoff between the Republican and Democrat. But that math required Gray to pull around 3% of the vote, and take it mostly from Reeves. Instead, Gray earned 1.4%, and appeared to take quite a few votes from Presley as well — perhaps in protest to negative campaigning.
• The Coast remains ruby red. Presley campaigned hard on the Coast, attempting to turn out Black voters particularly in Harrison and Jackson counties and a fairly sizable union shipyard vote. But Reeves still ran the tables there, picking up a nearly 19,000 vote margin, only slightly smaller than his Coast take in 2019.

The post Analysis: Democrats have a ceiling, Republicans keep their lock on Coast and DeSoto County appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jason Coker, president of Together for Hope, discusses race and health during the Better Health Summit event at Duling Hall in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.

Mississippi health news you can’t get anywhere else.

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The post The Pulse: Jason Coker discusses race and health appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Tenth ranked Ole Miss plays at top-ranked Georgia Saturday in the biggest game involving a Mississippi football team in years. The Cleveland boys take a look at the game from a historical standpoint and at the various matchups. When it comes right down to it, how do you pick against 42 and 1? Other topics include Southern Miss and Mississippi State football, as well as the Saints and the high school football playoffs.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: Ole Miss-Georgia, Biggest game in years. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. But in the statewide races, it (except for one race) wasn’t even close.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Victory March appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was reelected Tuesday, defeating Democratic challenger Brandon Presley in a tight race that political experts around the country had closely eyed for weeks as a potential upset.

But Reeves held Presley off, winning 52% to 46%, according to results at 11:30 p.m.. Third-party candidate Gwendolyn Gray, an independent, garnered about 2%. The governor’s margin of victory is expected to shrink slightly as tens of thousands of votes were still uncounted in Hinds County, which experienced major election problems on Tuesday.

RESULTS: Mississippi’s general election 2023

Reeves, the 49-year-old who previously served two terms as lieutenant governor and two terms as state treasurer, will serve a second and final four-year term as governor beginning in January 2024. He will be the first person in Mississippi elected to both two terms as lieutenant governor and two terms as governor.

“This victory sure is sweet,” Reeves told cheering supporters at his watch party in Flowood. “You know, we all now know what it means in a state like Mississippi when you stand up to the national liberals and you stand up to Joe Biden. They threw everything they had at Mississippi — $13 million they threw at Mississippi. But you know what? Mississippi did not bend, Mississippi did not break, Mississippi is not for sale.”

In downtown Jackson, many of Presley’s supporters left his watch party before the race was officially called. But at 10:45 p.m. Presley announced to dozens of attendees that he’d conceded the race to Reeves.

“Tonight’s a setback, but we’re not going to lose hope because this campaign elevated issues that had to be talked about in Mississippi,” Presley said. “Medicaid will be expanded at some point and you will have played a role in that.

“This campaign’s been tough … but I think we’ve seen the best of Mississippi through it. It’s been worth it to elevate these important issues.”

For weeks, Republican political operatives publicly fretted over Reeves’ ability to enthuse the GOP voter base. In the closing days of the campaign, Republican elected officials swarmed the airwaves with pleas for turnout. And notably, less than a week from Tuesday, the Reeves campaign rolled out a video endorsement from former President Donald Trump that aired constantly on TV across the state.

In conservative pockets of the state on Election Day, Reeves matched or came close to matching the margins he earned four years ago against Democratic challenger Jim Hood. In Jones County, for instance, Reeves earned 66% of the vote against Presley. Four years ago, he earned 65% there.

And Presley did not make up enough of those Reeves margins with any other key demographic or locale. Presley hoped to perform better than Hood’s 2019 campaign in northeast Mississippi, but Reeves held his ground there from four years ago. 

Presley also hoped to inspire outstanding turnout from Black Mississippians. Black Mississippians did turn out in droves in some majority-minority counties, voting in higher numbers in 2023 than in 2019. But without more white voter support for Presley, his gains with Black voters were not enough to offset Reeves’ success.

Reeves, in particular, swamped Presley on the Gulf Coast — a region of the state that has long served as the governor’s political firewall. Presley did not, as he’d hoped, make gains in the three coastal counties relative to Hood four years ago.

Perhaps one of the happiest people at Reeves’ party on Tuesday night was former Gov. Haley Barbour, who was mingling among the crowd with a glass of ice-cold bourbon in his hand and a bright smile on his face.

The former two-term governor told Mississippi Today that Reeves won reelection because he’s “done a good job” leading the state through natural disasters and the COVID-19 virus while promoting his office’s work on economic development.

“I sometimes say that his wife Elee has got more of a politician’s personality than he does,” Barbour said. “But he’s got a record that is mighty good to run on.”

While Reeves avoided the upset, he underperformed relative to his seven fellow statewide Republican incumbents. All seven other GOP statewide incumbents won with at least 59% of the vote against their Democratic challengers.

And Presley, when all the votes are counted, will have gotten closer than any Democratic gubernatorial nominee since 1999 to defeating a Republican nominee.

Reeves, for his part, spent much of his victory speech on Tuesday night decrying national liberals, his in-state detractors and the press. He ended his speech with a more hopeful look toward the future.

“I know that over these 20 years, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve never stopped trying to earn your trust,” Reeves said. “I promise you going forward I’ll work hard. I commit that I’ll stand firm, and I’ll do everything in my power to rally our fellow Mississippians … I want you all to know I value your trust. I’m humbled by your support. And I’m fired up for the next four years.”

The post Gov. Tate Reeves defeats Brandon Presley to secure final term as governor appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Hinds County problems in Mississippi’s statewide general election on Tuesday caused what, in technical legal terms, is known as a mess.

Numerous precincts in Hinds County reportedly ran out of ballots, or of the proper ballots, leaving some voters waiting in line for hours and causing others to give up and go home. This prompted legal filings from multiple groups before normal poll closing time at 7 p.m., and prompted a circuit court judge to order all Hinds County polls stay open until 8 p.m. to allow more people to vote.

But another special judge, appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court, ruled that people who were in line by 7 p.m. could still vote, but otherwise polls would close at 7 p.m. This is what the law already says voting precincts are supposed to do, let people in line by the deadline vote.

So, for those who returned to or showed up at polls after 7 p.m. — who hadn’t been already standing in line — will their votes count? That answer is unclear, and would probably have to be hashed out by the courts.

READ MORE: Judge extends Hinds County precinct hours after numerous ballot problems

County leaders reported they ran out of ballots and even of printer toner to print more late Tuesday.

Secretary of State Michael Watson said counties are, by statute, supposed to have on hand at least enough ballots to cover 60% of its registered voters.

“That doesn’t mean they can’t have more, but that’s the minimum,” Watson said. “The counties then decide how they are going to disperse the ballots as needed.”

One problem Hinds ran into, Watson said, was that it has many new precinct lines and split precincts from 2020 redistricting, which required many precincts to have different ballots for people voting in the same precincts.

“They might have 10 people at the precinct who get one ballot style, and then 50 who get another ballot,” Watson said. “I think in some cases, this got flipped, and they ended up with 10 of one type when they needed 50. We were getting calls throughout the day about problems in Hinds, and we then learned there were several lawsuits being prepared.”

The Mississippi Democratic Party asked the Hinds County Chancery Court for an emergency order, which was granted by Chancellor Dewayne Thomas, extending voting for one hour, until 8 p.m., in all county precincts.

But in a separate case filed by Mississippi Votes, a Jackson nonprofit, in Hinds Circuit Court, the state Supreme Court appointed a special judge, former Supreme Court Judge Jess Dickinson, to hear the matter. Dickinson issued an order repeating existing state law: that people who were in line when the polls closed at 7 p.m. could vote if they remained in line.

State statute appears to give the state’s high court the task of appointing judges to hear election-day disputes. It says, “The Supreme Court shall shall make judges available to hear disputes in the county in which the disputes occur, but not judge shall hear disputes in the district, subdistrict or county in which he was elected nor shall any judge hear any dispute in which any potential conflict may arise. Each judge shall be fair and impartial and shall be assigned on that basis.”

Watson said counties run their own elections.

“We have the authority to advise them what the law is, but not to tell them what to do,” Watson said.

The post Hinds County ballot shortages causes legal mess on Election Day appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi’s seven statewide offices down-ticket from governor were contested Tuesday night, but all seven incumbent Republicans easily won reelection.

Republicans also easily held legislative supermajorities in the House and Senate. Although they challenged for numerous seats, even if Democrats had run the tables with all their legislative candidates Tuesday, the GOP would still have held majorities. Democrats did not field enough candidates to overtake the Republicans’ large majorities in either chamber.

Late Tuesday in unofficial and incomplete results, Sen. Kevin Butler, an independent from McComb, appeared to be the only incumbent lawmaker poised to lose reelection, with challenger Gary Broomfield leading him by a wide margin.

LIVE RESULTS: Mississippi’s general election 2023

The Associated Press called the races for all statewide offices except governor early Tuesday night.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, seeking a second and final term, easily defeated challenger D. Ryan Grover. With partial results in Tuesday night, Hosemann had won with 66% of the vote to Grover’s 34%. Hosemann had a difficult primary this summer, fending off a challenge by Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel, but little-known Grover was not considered a serious challenger in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Lynn Fitch defeated Democratic challenger Greta Kemp Martin with 64% of the vote to 36% in incomplete results. Fitch previously served two terms as state treasurer. Martin had made access to reproductive rights a main plank of her campaign platform, after Fitch’s office helped overturn Roe v. Wade abortion rights with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Mississippi lawsuit.

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson defeated Democratic challenger Ty Pinkins with 65% of the vote to 35% in incomplete results.

Incumbent Republican State Auditor Shad White defeated Democratic challenger Larry Bradford with 64% of the vote to 36% with incomplete totals. White was first appointed to the auditor’s post in 2018 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant to fill the unexpired term of Stacey Pickering. White was reelected to his first full term with no opposition in 2019.

Incumbent Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney was reelected to a fifth term Tuesday nigh, defeating Democratic challenger Bruce Burton with 65% of the vote to 35% with incomplete results.

Incumbent Republican Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson defeated Democratic challenger Robert Bradford with 63% of the vote to 37% in incomplete results. Gipson was appointed to the post in 2018 by Bryant to fill out the unexpired term of now U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, then Gipson won election to a full term that began in 2020.

Incumbent Republican Treasurer David McRae defeated Democratic challenger Addie Lee Green with 64% of the vote to 36% in incomplete results. McRae had defeated Green in 2019 to win his first term as treasurer.

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