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Some see the issue of cutting Mississippi’s grocery tax as a partisan divide.

After all, in three of the past four gubernatorial elections, the Democratic candidate has advocated cutting or eliminating Mississippi’s 7% sales tax on groceries while the Republican standard bearer has touted reducing the income tax.

This year Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves is again advocating for the elimination of the income tax. Brandon Presley, his Democratic opponent, wants to eliminate the sales tax on food.

But the issue of cutting Mississippi’s highest-in-the-nation, state-imposed sales tax on groceries is not always a partisan fight. And it is definitely not a partisan issue for Mississippi’s four contiguous states.

While Mississippi politicians have argued about and flirted with cutting the grocery tax only to be stymied at some point in the process, all four of Mississippi’s neighbors have reduced or eliminated the state-imposed grocery tax. All were led at least in part by Republicans. The first to act was Louisiana, where the tax was eliminated in 2003 under Republican Gov. Mike Foster.

Earlier this year, Alabama, led by an overwhelming Republican majority in its Legislature and by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, cut its 4% state grocery tax to 3% beginning in September. The tax will be reduced by another 1% in future years and a special committee will look at the complete elimination of the tax.

Republicans and Democrats in Arkansas have worked together to cut the grocery tax to a minuscule 0.125%. In Tennessee, Republican leaders have not completely eliminated the grocery tax, but last year they imposed a one month tax holiday on grocery purchases. This year, the holiday when the sales tax on grocery purchases will be eliminated will be three months, beginning on Aug. 1.

Mississippi’s partisan divide on the grocery tax goes back to at least the 1995 gubernatorial election. Democratic Secretary of State Dick Molpus proposed reducing the grocery tax while Republican incumbent Gov. Kirk Fordice advocated for a cut in the income tax.

Molpus lost the election.

In Fordice’s second term, the Legislature did provide an income tax cut for married couples by changing the tax code so that married couples filing jointly did not pay more in state taxes than did two single people living together. That bill was authored by then-Senate Finance Chair Hob Bryan, D-Amory.

While Bryan led the effort to eliminate the so-called marriage penalty on the income tax, in recent years he has advocated for cuts to the grocery tax.

According to a Siena College/Mississippi Today poll conducted earlier this year, 58% of Mississippians say they would only vote for a candidate who supports eliminating the grocery tax, while 7% say they would only vote for a candidate opposed to eliminating the tax.

On the other hand, less than a majority — 45% — say they would only vote for a candidate who supports eliminating the income tax, while 17% would only vote for a candidate opposed to the income tax elimination.

And to illustrate that it is not necessarily a partisan issue in Mississippi, bills to cut the sales tax on food have been introduced by Republican legislators in recent years, and Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has voiced support for reducing the grocery tax.

The closest Mississippi has come to eliminating the grocery tax occurred in 2006, and that effort was led by Republicans. That year Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck stunned the Capitol when her lieutenants, at her behest, introduced legislation to eliminate the grocery tax and to offset the lost revenue by increasing the cigarette tax, which at 18 cents per pack was one of the lowest rates in the nation.

Twice, Tuck got grocery tax cut proposals through the Legislature by more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a governor’s veto. But on both occasions Republican Gov. Haley Barbour changed enough votes in the Senate to uphold his vetoes.

Barbour, a former cigarette lobbyist, gave a lot of reasons for opposing the reduction in the grocery tax, including that the grocery tax was fair because everyone had to pay it.

But not all Republicans bought that argument.

The late Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, opposed for moral reasons placing a food tax on poor people.

Nunnelee, who died in 2015 while serving in the U.S. House, told The New York Times in 2007 the sales tax on groceries “is just the most cruel tax any government can impose.”

Before his term ended, Barbour eventually acquiesced to an increase in the cigarette tax, but he never yielded in his opposition to cutting the grocery tax.

Since then, there have been enough Republicans in leadership opposed to cutting the grocery tax to ensure it did not happen. But the tax cut was not opposed by all Republicans.

The post You wouldn’t know it from the governor’s race, but grocery tax cut can be bipartisan appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Delta State University President Daniel Ennis met Thursday with the school’s marching band students in the wake of revelations that the recently hired band director had mocked trans people and agreed pro-LGBTQ+ religious leaders should be stoned on his now-deleted podcast. 

During the 45-minute meeting, Ennis told students via Zoom from a conference in California that the comments in Steven Hugley’s podcast “Always Right” prompted several alumni and parents of students to reach out to him, but not any students. So he said he wanted to know what the roughly 30 students in the band who joined the call thought before taking an action that might affect them. 

Ennis invited students to share any information with him that would help him “as an outsider” better understand the situation. He started as president of the regional college in Cleveland, a small town in the Mississippi Delta, earlier this summer after spending two decades at a university in South Carolina. (In a text to a Mississippi Today reporter after the meeting, Ennis said he was “fine” letting his comments speak in the Zoom meeting for themselves.) 

“Certainly, I have to be clear, all decisions on a college campus are eventually the responsibility of the president,” Ennis said in the meeting. “It is my place to make sure that we’re doing the things we should be for our students.” 

The Zoom seems to be just one step Ennis is taking to address the situation. Earlier this week, he personally sent a reminder asking administrators to refer media inquiries to the communications department to “support the university’s ability to speak with one voice regarding personnel and legal matters.” 

The interim chair of the music department, Kent Wessinger, had spoken to Mississippi Today last week about Hugley’s hiring. 

But the university has not publicly addressed the comments Hugley made on his podcast, which include gagging at a photo of a trans woman, repeatedly misgendering notable trans people and calling for transitioning — the process of changing one’s physical appearance to align with their gender identity — to be made illegal for trans adults. In Mississippi, lawmakers earlier this year banned gender-affirming care that results in trans minors medically transitioning. 

“If you do, not only are we gonna lock you up, we’re also gonna lock up the doctor,” Hugley said in reference to parents who seek gender-affirming care for trans kids, “and then we take it the next step.” 

Many students thought the Zoom, which was billed to them as a meeting “to discuss plans for the upcoming year,” would involve Ennis announcing some form of action. It did not. He said he first wanted to hear from students and talk to faculty in the music department when he got back to Cleveland. 

Some wanted to know if the university was going to issue a comment, whether Hugley had been placed on administrative leave or what, if anything, the administration was going to do to make LGBTQ+ students feel comfortable participating in band. Others wanted to know if Ennis felt that Hugley would be able to keep his personal views out of the classroom. 

When Ennis said he would not be answering questions like those during the meeting, some students were disappointed. 

“I’ve called this session not to make any announcements,” he said. “I’ve called this session to get more information from you, so I will learn from you, your perspectives and thoughts on this, and when I get back to campus, I’ll have conversations with the leadership involved. But this will not be a session where you get news, announcements or anything like that regarding the marching band.” 

“I believe there was a miscommunication in the email then,” Matthew Brewton, a senior music education major, replied in the comments. 

Ennis also told the music students that he had not been able to watch or listen to Hugley’s podcast because the YouTube channel had been taken down. Hugley, the interim band director as of June 30, removed the videos after a Mississippi Today reporter contacted him last week.

“The item preexisted this individual’s hiring at Delta State so in other words, it was up before he was hired here, and now it’s down, so that’s different than if he put it up this week after he was appointed interim,” Ennis said. 

“I don’t know if anybody here has seen it because it was pulled down really quickly as I understand it,” he added. 

Multiple students replied in the Zoom comments that a Google Drive of the podcast’s YouTube videos had been widely circulated on campus, and Ennis responded by cautioning students who hadn’t heard the podcast not to listen if they thought it might upset them. 

“Out of concern for you, given what we’ve just heard, there may be something hurtful in that link,” he said. 

At that, one student commented it “speaks for itself” that Ennis felt the need to issue a content warning.

“I was making a cautionary comment,” Ennis said. “But anyway, I think that’s a good point. The fact that I had to think about how you would react is probably something — that’s why we’re having this conversation.” 

Some students said they wanted to give Hugley a chance. They had met him and he was nice to them. They thought it would be okay for Hugley to remain interim band director so long as he didn’t discuss his political views during practice. They noted they were more concerned about the band having a director who could revitalize its statewide reputation, which, they said, is currently poor. 

Not every student has “the same beliefs as the LGBTQ community,” said one student, who did not give their name on Zoom. They student added that “we need to be professionals, because we are going to grow up and be around other people in work business that do not agree with our lifestyles and how we live, but at the end of the day, the only thing that we can do is just move on.” 

“If we need to be professional then why is Steven Hugley an exception? I do not think that his comments were very professional,” Brewton replied in a comment. 

Ennis also suggested that he knew issues with the music department and the marching band went beyond Hugley’s hiring. 

The door for Hugley’s hiring was opened earlier this year when Wessinger, the interim chair, removed the former longtime director of the band. Wessinger came to the department after the beloved former chair, Karen Fosheim, was killed. The Bolivar County Sheriff’s department charged Fosheims’ 14-year-old stepson with the crime. 

Some students said they didn’t like how the former band director treated them, which heightened their worries about Hugley, because they had hoped the band would become more enjoyable with him. Participating in the band is required for some music majors at Delta State. 

But there was one thing on which nearly every student who spoke up agreed. When Ennis asked if they were excited for the fall semester, almost everyone said “no.”

Correction 7/28/23: A quote from Delta State President Daniel Ennis contained a typo and has been corrected.

The post Delta State president gauges band students’ response to interim director’s anti-LGBTQ+ podcast rhetoric  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — The sheer intensity of crowd interaction at the Neshoba County Fair on Thursday largely overshadowed the traditional stump speeches from the two leading candidates for governor, signaling the arrival of an intense election cycle that will grip the state for the next four months. 

Hundreds of supporters of incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and Democratic candidate Brandon Presley filled the Founder’s Square benches and fiercely interacted with the two candidates in a way that hasn’t been seen at the event in recent years.

Reeves’ supporters repeated loud “Tate!” chants during the governor’s speech, while Presley’s supporters shouted “Let’s go, Brandon!” when the Democrat delivered his 10-minute stump. And, at certain points, the two factions engaged in chant battles. 

When Presley asked the crowd who they trusted to stand up for working Mississippians, Reeves’ faction shouted “Tate” to dump cold water on the Democrat’s speech. 

And when Reeves concluded his speech, Presley supporters shouted, “Lock him up,” an apparent extension of their attempt to tie the governor to the welfare scandal, though prosecutors have not charged the governor with any crime connected to the issue. 

The first-term governor, at one point during his speech, even used his allotted time to engage in a back-and-forth with a Presley supporter who was standing near the stage. 

“To support him, you’ve got to believe we are on the wrong track,” Reeves said to the supporter. “You’ve got to believe that our culture is wrong and that our values are bad. You want to say yes to that, sir, because you believe it? You believe it, don’t you?”

While neither candidate delivered any new policy pitches, their messaging and starkly differing views of Mississippi’s present and future became crystal clear under the blistering July heat at one of the state’s longest-running political traditions.

Reeves staunchly defended his record as a conservative leader and attacked Democratic Party values while Presley attempted to cast the governor as a derelict politician who is numb to the difficulties average Mississippians deal with.

Reeves, running for a second term, rattled off accomplishments over the last four years, including recruiting new jobs to the state and improving education test scores.

“To hear Brandon’s fiction, Mississippi is just not doing well,” Reeves said. “It’s all my fault. … He said, and I quote, ‘Under Tate Reeves’ leadership, we are moving in the wrong direction.’ That’s what Brandon Presley says. The math says that’s pure fiction.”

Presley, the current utility regulator for north Mississippi, panned the governor for not doing enough to keep health care infrastructure in the state from deteriorating and again reiterated to reporters his support for expanding Medicaid coverage to the working poor. 

“Much like Nero of old, he’s fiddling while our hospitals are burning to the ground, and he doesn’t care,” Presley said of Reeves. 

Reeves called Presley’s Medicaid expansion push a “welfare check” to poor Mississippians and later told reporters he believed the better approach was for more Mississippians to obtain private insurance coverage that tied to their careers. 

The governor also tied Presley, a moderate Democrat, with other liberal candidates across the nation, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, common rhetoric Reeves has used during the campaign. 

Presley rejected that notion and said the governor was using that tactic as a smokescreen to keep from discussing real campaign issues. 

Typical publicity stunts also made their way to the fairgrounds, with two Presley supporters donning orange jumpsuit costumes mimicking prison inmates to symbolize two of the governor’s donors who have pleaded guilty to crimes connected to the state’s welfare scandal. 

The Wednesday speeches marked a rare instance in which all three GOP candidates for governor appeared in the same location. 

Reeves is expected to capture the Republican nomination in the Aug. 8 primary election, though his two GOP opponents, David Hardigree and John Witcher, also delivered stump speeches on Wednesday. 

Hardigree, a retired military member, advocated for new efforts to crack down on crime throughout the state, and Witcher, a doctor, said he would work to enact conservative social policies such as putting Bibles in public school classrooms. 

The winner of the primary will compete against Presley, the only Democratic candidate, in the general election on Nov. 6. 

The post Rowdy Neshoba County Fair attendees show that bitter race for governor is officially in full swing appeared first on Mississippi Today.

After pandemic-driven declines on the kindergarten readiness exam last year, more students are meeting benchmarks in kindergarten and some pre-K programs, while other pre-K programs did not see any change. 

The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment tests public pre-K and kindergarten students to measure early literacy skills. It is used as an instructional baseline for teachers, and students who meet their benchmark score have been shown to become proficient in reading by the end of third grade. 

Students took the test last year for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and fewer students met literacy benchmarks in all pre-K programs and kindergarten. Education officials attributed this decline to the impact of the pandemic, as students were less likely to have been in day care and therefore less likely to have a history of formal classroom experiences.

Head Start programs also performed worse than their peers in the pre-K programs last year, a gap that officials attributed to more time spent in virtual learning and said they expected to close.

Early learning collaboratives (ELC) are one form of public pre-K, made up of partnerships among school districts, Head Start agencies, childcare centers, and nonprofit groups. This year, slightly fewer ELC students met the end-of-year benchmark than last year, which had already seen post-pandemic declines. 

Tenette Smith, director of elementary education and reading at the Mississippi Department of Education, attributed this to the rapid growth of the ELC program, with the number of collaboratives doubling in the last year. She also pointed out that these new ELCs were in various stages of implementation. 

Micayla Tatum, director of early childhood policy at Mississippi First, said she was pleased with the results for the ELCs. Mississippi First, an education policy organization, was a leader in the push to establish early learning collaboratives in 2013.

“I was very happy with the results for the collaboratives,” said Tatum. “Typically when you scale a program you can expect that there’s going to be some type of implementation effect and you will lose impact, and we’re not seeing that.” 

The report also covers other public pre-K programs, which refer to special pre-K programs for students with disabilities and those funded by federal money to support high-poverty schools. More students in these programs met the benchmark than last year, but still fell short of the 2019 level. 

Students also take this test at the end of kindergarten to track their progress over the year and to help teachers identify areas for additional instruction. More kindergarteners across the state met their benchmarks over last year, but they also were still shy of pre-pandemic levels. 

“Still a lot of work to do, and of course our goal with all of our assessments and accountability results is to get back to pre-pandemic levels and continue that upward trajectory,” said Paula Vanderford, chief accountability officer with the state education department. 

The agency recommends districts ensure their professional development is aligned with research-backed practices, provide similar professional development to paraprofessionals who support elementary teachers, and use the data from this test to target students who need additional help. 

Melissa Beck, K-3 assessment coordinator for the state education department, also stressed how important it is for parents to understand their child’s test results to ensure they are on track to pass the third-grade reading test a few years later. If students do not pass the third-grade test, they will not be promoted to the next grade.

“If you have questions, please reach out to your teacher, your school, or even me,” Beck said. 

The post Kindergarten reading scores improve slightly but still fall short of pre-pandemic levels appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center, approved in April to host the state’s next burn center, didn’t fully meet almost a third of the required criteria.

However, an expert said that wasn’t uncommon, and UMMC filed a corrective action plan following the visit which lists steps UMMC will take in the following months to get up to speed.

Since Mississippi’s only burn center closed in October, both UMMC and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center have submitted applications to become the next burn center’s host. The state Health Department was given $4 million by the Legislature this year to choose the home of the next burn center, though nothing prevents the money from going to more than one hospital. 

Baptist received its site visit from the Health Department on July 18. The results from that site visit have not yet been released.

A March inspection of UMMC showed that in 46 of 155 categories, the health system did not meet or only “partially met” the requirements for a burn center.

The corrective action plan shows remedial steps for 44 of those 46 deficiencies. 

UMMC spokesperson Patrice Guilfoyle declined to comment on any of Mississippi Today’s questions, including about improvements the health system has made since the site survey.

The site survey pointed out that UMMC had no internal burn education plan, did not have sufficient staff and was missing some policies and procedures.

According to the corrective action plan, the health system will develop its internal burn education plan by the end of the year and staff will have been trained in it by March 2024. 

The health system plans to recruit staff — including a dietitian, psychiatrist, outreach coordinator and pharmacist — and develop the policies it’s still missing by the same deadline.

Corrective actions for two of the “partially met” requirements, though, are missing from the report. 

Mississippi State Department of Health employees directed Mississippi Today to UMMC for an explanation but confirmed the entire report was released. Guilfoyle, the spokesperson for UMMC, also declined to answer that specific question.

Previously, the site survey found that UMMC’s policies and procedures for the use of allograft tissues were being updated, and therefore, the health system only “partially met” that requirement. Additionally, UMMC was still recruiting staff for a rehabilitation program for its burn patients. Neither criteria were mentioned in the corrective action plan. 

At the time of the site survey report, Dr. Peter Arnold, director of the burn center, was not current in Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS), the standard training for burn patient providers. Though he was scheduled to undergo this training in April, Arnold’s deadline for completing the training in the plan is the end of this month. 

While the health system’s initial burn center application showed that none of its staffers were ABLS trained, a Facebook post from May showed that 48 people had undergone ABLS training. The corrective action plan notes that “hospital administration revealed a very robust plan for ABLS.” By the end of the year, attending staff will be trained in ABLS, the plan says. 

UMMC is also remodeling a dedicated operating room space, which will be available by next March, the plan says. The Institutions of Higher Learning recently approved UMMC’s request to use $4 million of its own money to renovate its facilities to create a new burn center.

The post UMMC document shows plan to correct burn center deficiencies appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Which opossum would he listen to if he won?

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NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson on Thursday vowed to reform Mississippi’s lax campaign finance and lobbying reporting and nearly nonexistent enforcement of laws if reelected.

He also vowed in his Neshoba County Fair speech to do away with politicians’ “legacy” campaign finance accounts — money still held in accounts under pre-2018 rules that allowed politicians to spend campaign money however they want and pocket the money when they leave office.

Watson’s Democratic opponent, Shuwaski Young, on Thursday at the fair also called for campaign finance reform, as did incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on Wednesday.

This statewide election cycle has seen several claims of campaign finance law or reporting requirement violations. It has also shown what appears to be a reluctance by Attorney General Lynn Fitch – the only statewide officer with clear authority to enforce campaign finance laws – to address or investigate complaints.

Mississippi’s campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws and reporting requirements are weak, and contained in a piecemealed patchwork of confusing – some conflicting – laws passed over many years. The secretary of state’s office and Ethics Commission have for years said they lack enforcement or investigative authority. Most often, campaign finance violations go unchecked, leaving the state political system open to the corrosive influence of special interest money.

Mississippi’s system also lacks transparency. For instance, unlike all neighboring states, Mississippi’s campaign finance reports are not electronically searchable. They are PDF files, and some politicians still submit hand-written reports. One in recent years submitted hers in calligraphy.

Both Watson and Young have vowed to have electronically submitted and searchable campaign finance records.

Watson on Thursday said he is not seeking more responsibility or power for his office, but that he would take enforcement authority if no one else will, and lawmakers approve. He appeared to take a shot at incumbent AG Fitch in his statements.

“I want to be very clear here: I do not want more responsibility and I’m not seeking more power,” Watson said. “But when people do not do their jobs, I will stand in the gap for Mississippians.”

Watson called politicians’ grandfathered campaign accounts from pre-2018 “retirement accounts, golden nest eggs” and said they should be abolished. Mississippi’s old system of allowing politicians to pocket campaign money was called “legalized bribery.” Lawmakers passed some reforms in 2017 after two years of arguing, but grandfathered money held separately in old accounts, which allows politicians to keep the money when they leave office. Gov. Tate Reeves has such a legacy account, which contains about $1.9 million, which he could keep after he leaves office.

Last year, Reeves vetoed an effort by lawmakers to give the secretary of state’s office authority to levy civil penalties against candidates or political committees that fail to file campaign finance reports.

Young on Thursday noted that the portal for candidates to file campaign finance reports online is currently broken – during the busy statewide election season.

“We need a campaign finance system we can count on,” Young said.  He also called for numerous election reforms to make voting and registration easier.

Hosemann, who has filed campaign finance complaints against his lieutenant governor’s race opponent Chris McDaniel that appear to be going unaddressed by Fitch, on Wednesday said lawmakers will likely tackle reform if such laws are going unenforced.

The post Secretary of State candidates vow sweeping campaign finance reform, enforcement appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi election officials cannot prevent people with disabilities from seeking assistance to vote absentee or by mail in the upcoming Aug. 8 party primary election or in the November general election.

The temporary restraining order issued Wednesday by U.S. Judge Henry Wingate of the Southern District of Mississippi said the so-called ballot harvesting ban passed by the 2023 Legislature would be a violation of federal law designed to ensure that people with disabilities and those who cannot read or write have equal access to the ballot box.

Wingate wrote, “When questioned by this court, defendants (state officials) were unable to provide any data illustrating whether Mississippi has a widespread ballot harvesting problem.”

Legislative leaders said the bill was needed to prevent ballot harvesting – gathering absentee ballots of disabled and elderly people and essentially voting for them.

When signing the bill into law, Gov. Tate Reeves said, “Mississippi is taking another step toward upholding the absolute integrity of our election process by banning ballot harvesting across the state. This process is an open invitation for fraud and abuse and can occur without the voter ever even knowing.”

Senate Bill 2358  prohibits anyone other than election officials, postal workers, commercial carriers, household members or caregivers from providing voter assistance and submitting an absentee ballot. Under Mississippi law, only certain people, including the elderly and disabled, can vote early or via mail. But to vote by mail, a person has to go through multiple steps, including requesting a ballot application before receiving the actual ballot.

Wingate said he was concerned the bill did not properly define who could help a person obtain a mail-in ballot and vote. He said the term caregiver was especially ambiguous.

And that uncertainty combined with the criminal penalties for a violation of the new law could deter the estimated 850,00 Mississippian who could be impacted (one in five adults) from voting, Wingate said.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of behalf of a group of Mississippians and the League of Women Voters of Mississippi by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU-Mississippi and Disability Rights Mississippi.

“Mississippians with disabilities have a right to vote without barriers and to have access to fully participate in all areas of civic life,” said Greta Kemp Martin, litigation director of Disability Rights Mississippi. “We are pleased the court has recognized this and that Mississippians with disabilities can rest assured that they may cast their ballot in whichever manner is most accessible to them, including having the assistance of a person of their own choosing.”  

Kemp Martin is running as the Democratic candidate for attorney general this year against Republican incumbent Lynn Fitch whose office defended the law. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann also has touted the new law in his reelection campaign this year. He called it one of the Legislature’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the ballot.

But others questioned the need for the law.

“Mississippians deserve to vote with confidence,” said Rob McDuff, director of the Impact Litigation Initiative at the Mississippi Center for Justice. “Many people in difficult situations rely on friends and neighbors to help deliver absentee ballots. We are glad that voters with disabilities and language barriers can freely exercise their right to vote with assistance from a person of their choosing.”

Wingate said he would hold additional hearings before deciding whether to permanently strike down the law.

The post Judge halts new law that he says will deter voting by disabled appeared first on Mississippi Today.

NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — Incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and his main primary opponent state Sen. Chris McDaniel had little nice to say about each other in their Neshoba County Fair stump speeches Wednesday, as their large crowds of campaign T-shirt-clad supporters cheered and booed.

McDaniel, as he did with Republican opponents in his past failed bids for U.S. Senate, continued his attack on Hosemann as not conservative enough, or a RINO — Republican-in-name-only. His speech rehashed lines from previous speeches during U.S. Senate runs and focused more on national partisan themes than state legislative issues.

“My opponent has moved us to the left,” McDaniel said. “He’s helping those people … He’s done absolutely nothing, nothing to push back against Joe Biden, the most incompetent and corrupt president in our history … (Democrats) are here to tear down our foundations … Everything they touch fails … Why would you ever reach across the aisle with these people? Why would you ever compromise with these people?”

Hosemann opened by listing accomplishments of his first term, including the largest teacher pay raise in state history; the largest income tax cut in state history; paying down state debt; and unprecedented spending on infrastructure. Then, he fired back at McDaniel.

Hosemann, who as lieutenant governor oversees the state Senate where McDaniel serves, reiterated a knock on McDaniel other opponents have used: that he has been ineffectual as a senator for four terms and is frequently absent from Senate proceedings and votes.

“I appointed him as chairman of the Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee,” Hosemann said. “… You know what? He didn’t hold one hearing. He didn’t pass one bill. He doesn’t work at all. He doesn’t show up for work.”

Hosemann called McDaniel “despicable” and asked voters in the crowd to “get rid of him on August 8.”

McDaniel reiterated another accusation his campaign has made against Hosemann, that he helped run a Jackson abortion clinic.

“It’s an objective, verifiable fact that from 1976 to 1990 he was vice president of an abortion clinic,” McDaniel said.

Hosemann, who has been endorsed by the national and Mississippi chapters of Right to Life, reiterated his defense — that as a young lawyer he did legal work to help a women’s clinic get started, but that work ended in 1981 before the clinic ever did abortions. A doctor who directed the clinic has corroborated Hosemann’s explanation.

Hosemann, under attack from McDaniel’s campaign as “Delbert the Democrat,” continued to list his conservative GOP bona fides Wednesday.

“I was a (Ronald Reagan) guy. My opponent was 9 years old when I first ran as a Republican,” Hosemann said. “My opponent voted in the Democratic primary in 2003.”

After Hosemann spoke at the pavilion in Founder’s Square on Wednesday, McDaniel waited backstage trying to corner him and again challenge Hosemann to a debate. But Hosemann, surrounded by staff, supporters and media, bypassed McDaniel and went to a nearby cabin to have a brief press conference. He has declined McDaniel’s requests for a debate ahead of the Aug. 8 primary.

Before either of the frontrunners spoke Wednesday, little-known Republican lieutenant governor candidate Tiffany Longino of Brandon spoke, saying the state must focus on education, economic development and improving health care.

Both Hosemann and McDaniel had large crowds of enthusiastic supporters packing the pavilion during Wednesday’s stumping.

McDaniel supporter S. Ross Aldridge of Rankin County said: “I support him because of his true conservatism and belief in the original intent of our Constitution and the 10th Amendment — power and sovereignty of the states … I don’t appreciate RINOs.”

Hosemann supporter Margie Morken of Pass Christian said: “Delbert has already proven himself to me, and I want more of the same leadership he’s shown. He’s been getting things done.”

The post Delbert Hosemann, Chris McDaniel trade blows in Neshoba stump speeches appeared first on Mississippi Today.