Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Then-Gov. William Winter makes a presentation to football star Willie Richardson at his induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

Gov. William Winter, for my money, was our greatest statesman, an intrinsically good man who cared for all Mississippians and spent a lifetime trying to make his beloved Mississippi a better place to live.

I freely admit prejudice where Gov. Winter is concerned. He was my moral compass, my hero and also my treasured friend. How often does that happen? How fortunate am I? One of my most cherished gifts in life was to know William Winter well.

Rick Cleveland

We had many shared passions: of sports, of history, of literature and, most of all, of all things Mississippi. His knowledge of our state’s political and social history was vast, of course, but he also knew as much about the state’s sports history as anyone. He was a walking, talking, deep-thinking encyclopedia of Mississippi sports.

“William really is like an encyclopedia,” Archie Manning once told me. “Every time I’m around him, I am amazed. He loves sports. He has been involved, in some way, his entire life in sports. I really cherish the time I get to spend with him, such a great man and great leader.”

1949 Ole Miss annual

William Winter as a student journalist at Ole Miss.

Gov. Winter grew up wanting to be a sports writer. That’s right: The man many consider our greatest governor initially wanted to make his living writing sports. He grew up outside Grenada, reading the great Walter Stewart’s sports columns and the Major League Baseball box scores in The Commercial Appealof Memphis.

“I really wanted to be Walter Stewart,” Winter said. “He was my model. He wrote elegantly and often with slap-your-leg humor.”

Six years ago, in the fall of 2014, a national sports news organization asked me to write a historical essay about the Ole Miss-Mississippi State football series. At the time, both teams were undefeated and ranked in the top five in the national polls. It looked as if the Egg Bowl might have national championship implications. Naturally, in my research, I called Gov. Winter first — a wise decision. The truth is he could have written the piece himself, from memory, with no need for record books or Google.

I remember asking him about the 1941 Egg Bowl, still the only one ever played with the SEC Championship hanging in the balance. If State won, State won the SEC Championship. If Ole Miss won, Ole Miss won the SEC Championship. Winter, who covered the game as a student journalist at Ole Miss, remembered everything: the weather, the 6-0 score and all the meaningful plays, including State’s winning touchdown and an apparent Ole Miss touchdown that was called back when officials ruled the Rebel runner had stepped out of bounds. It had been 72 years. (Gov. Winter wasn’t so sure the Ole Miss guy stepped out of bounds but admitted he was prejudiced.)

I told Gov. Winter his memory amazed me. Said he, and I will never forget this: “Well, you have to remember it was the most important thing in my life at the time.”

READ MORE: “One of the greatest Mississippians”: Governors, congressmen, judges, friends, former staffers remember Gov. William Winter.

On another occasion, he told me about the first college football game he ever attended: Arkansas versus Mississippi State, in Memphis in 1939. Visiting relatives in Memphis, he ventured alone to the game at old Crump Stadium, walking part of the way, riding a street car and buying a ticket outside the gate. He was 16.

“And who won?” I asked him.

“Oh, the Maroons won, nineteen to nothing,” he answered. “That was a really great State team.”

Gov. Winter was sports editor and then editor of The Mississippian, now The Daily Mississippian, the Ole Miss student newspaper. As was the case with most college students at the time, he did not own a car. He often hitchhiked to and from the games he covered.

“I hitchhiked all over the South,” Gov. Winter told me. “It was mostly Ole Miss games but I remember hitchhiking to Tuscaloosa to watch State play Alabama.”

He told me about hitching a ride on a cottonseed truck to Memphis in 1942 for an Ole Miss-Georgia game, featuring remarkable quarterbacks Charlie Conerly and Frank Sinkwich. “There was a group of us that got on that truck on Highway 6,” Winter recalled. “When we got to Memphis, we couldn’t get all the cotton lint off our clothes.”

Gov. Winter remembered the score, if ruefully: Georgia, 38-13.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Gov. William Winter with baseball great Mickey Mantle at the governors mansion. )Date uncertain.)

Gov. Winter was a huge supporter of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, both financially and otherwise. In my four-plus years as the director, I could always count on him for generous support. He greatly appreciated Mississippi’s remarkable sports history and the people who made it. Old-timers will remember that he often emceed the Hall of Fame’s annual induction banquet during the 1960s and 70s. He also chaired the selection process for years and championed the cause of including African Americans, both for induction and for being part of the committee who chooses the annual inductees.

In 2016, Gov. Winter and I rode together to Cleveland to watch one of his heroes, Boo Ferriss, present the C Spire Ferriss Trophy to then-freshman Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum. I got a history lesson going to and from. We talked about the Mangum family. He remembered big John Mangum, Jake’s grandfather, from his days as splendid defensive tackle at Southern Miss. He remembered Jake’s dad, little John, and uncle, Kris, from their days at Alabama and Ole Miss, respectively. But, mostly, he remembered Boo Ferriss ever so fondly.

In 1942, Winter covered Boo Ferriss’s last pitching performance at Mississippi State, a victory over Ole Miss in Oxford. Seventy-four years later, he talked about it as if it had happened the day before.

“I was in awe of Boo Ferriss back then; I was sure he would be a Major League star,” Winter said. “I was an Ole Miss man but a Boo Ferriss fan. I think I probably called him Mr. Ferriss when I interviewed him.”

Can you imagine? Mr. Ferriss, who would go on to win 46 games in his first two seasons a Big Leaguer and pitch a shutout in the World Series, was 20. The future governor was 19. Oh, what I’d give for a recording of that interview.

Gov. Winter and I worked out at the same gym until the pandemic. He spent most of his time on a stationary bike, one of those you pedal with both your arms and legs. He would keep that cycle going, often quite fast, for 20 or 30 minutes, sometimes longer. For someone in his mid-90s, he remained spry and fit. He and his lovely wife Elise almost always came to the gym together and usually ended their gym time with leisurely laps around the indoor track, always hand in hand. If you sneaked glances at them, as I and so many others often did, you just had to smile. Theirs was a marriage of 70 years, and they remained obviously so much in love.

Funny thing: When Gov. Winter and I visited in recent years, I usually tried to steer the conversation to politics, while he always seemed to prefer to talk about sports. One of our last conversations combined both: Mississippi’s new flag and the role sports was playing in making that happen. He beamed about that.

I am so thankful he lived long enough to see it. But then, where Gov. Winter is concerned, I am thankful for so, so much more.

The post Governor Winter, our greatest statesman, was passionate about Mississippi sports appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Former Gov. William Winter, right, and Myrlie Evers, activist and wife of the slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, share a joke prior before a news conference on Thursday, June 11, 2015 in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Former Gov. William Forrest Winter, widely respected for ushering sweeping reforms of Mississippi’s public education system and for his commitment to achieving racial equality, died on Friday evening. He was 97.

“The only road out of poverty runs past the schoolhouse door,” Winter famously said as he championed the Education Reform Act of 1982, heralded at the time as the most significant state education legislation since Mississippi created its public education system in 1870.

The act brought increased school funding and a teacher pay raise, created a compulsory attendance law, a school accountability system and publicly funded kindergarten among other reforms. It was a notable break from the state leadership’s racist apathy toward public education. About a decade earlier in response to federally mandated desegregation, a majority of Mississippi voters had approved a constitutional amendment that said the Legislature could dissolve the state’s public education system.

The late nationally syndicated columnist Carl Rowan wrote: “The greatest piece of civil rights, national security, and economic recovery legislation enacted this year does not bear any of those labels and did not come out of Congress. It is the bill enacted by the Mississippi Legislature to spend $106 million to give children of that state a more reasonable chance at a decent education and lift Mississippi out of the ignominy of being the worst-educated and most backward state in the union.”

Winter is survived by his wife of 70 years, Elise Varner Winter, and three children. The former governor fell at his home in 2017 in icy conditions that led to a deterioration of his health. Before then, he continued in his 90s to go to his law office almost every day.

Winter served as Mississippi’s 58th governor from 1980 to 1984, after two previous unsuccessful gubernatorial bids. He was the state’s 25th lieutenant governor from 1972 to 1976. Winter served as state treasurer from 1964 to 1968, and as state tax collector (a now defunct position) from 1956 to 1964.

“I think William Winter should be viewed as one of the greatest Mississippians,” said former Gov. Ray Mabus, who served as a legislative liaison and legal counsel on Winter’s staff. “His name belongs up there with (slain civil rights leader) Medgar Evers and (Nobel Prize-winning author) William Faulkner because of the immense impact he had.”

Mabus said the governor showed perseverance in passing the Education Reform Act.

“The Legislature kept turning him down, and he calls a special session (on the Education Reform Act) right before Christmas and we won,” Mabus recalled.

Winter was elected to the state House of Representatives while still in law school and served there from 1948 to 1956.

Winter never wavered in his support for public education, although in the 1960s — like nearly all white Mississippi politicians — he had voiced support for segregation. He later apologized for that stance and dedicated his career to achieving racial equality. After leaving public office, he served on the National Advisory Board for Race Relations created by then-President Bill Clinton. From that effort, the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation was established at the University of Mississippi. That organization continues to operate as a nonprofit.

“He was the finest example of a Southern gentleman that I know,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said. “His mark was getting people of different persuasions, colors, ethnicities together and working things out. In Mississippi, he was the rarest of the rare. I can’t name another white politician that comes anywhere near his stature, Democrat or Republican. There are a lot of good politicians on both sides, but none measures up to William Winter.”

Winter was born in Grenada and was a graduate of the University of Mississippi law school. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry in the Philippines during World War II and was recalled to service during the Korean War. He served as a major in the Mississippi National Guard until 1957.

Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Former Gov. William Winter is given a standing ovation at the conclusion of a symposium on the Future of Mississippi and the South on his 90th birthday, Feb. 19, 2013 at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson.

Winter’s entrance into statewide politics began when he was appointed to the vacant post of state tax collector by then-Gov. J.P. Coleman. Coleman had urged Winter as a state representative to run for House speaker against the powerful incumbent Walter Sillers. But Coleman got cold feet and abandoned the young lawmaker’s efforts, leaving Winter in a precarious situation. The governor appointed him tax collector as consolation.

Back then the state tax collector received a percentage of state revenue including the “black market tax” on illegal liquor sales. A Life Magazine article in 1962 declared Winter was the second-highest paid elected official in the nation, behind the president. The Legislature eliminated the tax collector position upon Winter’s recommendation.

“He was a dear friend and a great governor,” said longtime educator Andy Mullins, who, along with Mabus, was one of the so-called “Boys of Spring” who served on Winter’s gubernatorial staff, advising him on education and conservation issues. “He was a man of integrity, and most of all he was kind and treated everyone with respect.”

Mullins developed a lifetime friendship with Winter, visiting every Major League ballpark together.

Mullins said Winter “loved all things America, and he loved Mississippi.” He recalled when their baseball group traveled to San Francisco for a baseball game, they came across a gay pride parade. Soon afterward, Mullins said, Winter seemed in deep concentration. Mullins asked what he thought of the parade, and Winter looked up, smiled and simply said, “Isn’t America a great country?”

Winter’s work and legacy truly transcended politics, even in bitter partisan environments. “An unapologetic Democrat,” Thompson said, he earned the respect of politicians on both sides of the aisle — a rare feat that made him successful in pushing groundbreaking legislation, many of his closest friends and advisors said.

Even today, when Winter’s name or legacy is brought up at the Mississippi State Capitol, Republicans and Democrats alike on the House and Senate floors rise to give extended standing ovations.

“Governor Winter has always represented to me a person who cared more about what was best for Mississippi and not what he thought was best for him as a politician,” said Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez and the current House Democratic leader. “Whether it was challenging Walter Sillers for speaker, pushing for transcending changes in public education or leading the discussions for changing the flag in the face of zealous resistance, he never wavered in his commitment to what he believed was right for Mississippi. He is a role model and an inspiration.”

Republican former Gov. Haley Barbour recalled Winter as a friend, “a gentleman, honorable and gracious.”

“While our politics didn’t always coincide, I’ve always admired him,” Barbour said. “He made great changes in the structure of Mississippi’s K-12 educational system … He and Mrs. Winter, who is a delightful, gracious lady, represented our state very well, both while he was in elected office and afterwards.”

Barbour, who at the time worked for the state GOP, recalled an airplane flight to Memphis in the late 1970s when Winter asked him to sit beside him.

“He was going to meet with a political consultant, from Arkansas, if I recall correctly, about whether he should run for governor,” Barbour said. “I told him, yeah, he ought to run, it was a good time to run following (former Gov.) Cliff Finch. He ran and won. He and I laughed many a time over the years that I’d encouraged him to run and he got elected as a Democrat and all that. I think part of the joke was that here was this twenty-something year old telling the guy about to be governor that, ‘I think you should run for governor.’”

AP file photo

Former Gov. William Winter, right, and his wife Elise talk after voting in the general election in Jackson on Nov. 6, 1984.

Winter’s last foray into Mississippi politics came in 1984, when he ran unsuccessfully against incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. Since then, he stayed active practicing law in Jackson and as an ambassador for the state.

Mullins recalled campaigning with Winter for the Senate seat in 1984 and stopping at a pharmacy in southeast Mississippi. The pharmacist said he would not support Winter because he didn’t help his child get into medical school while he was serving as governor.

“Gov. Winter replied, ‘That’s just not how I operate,’ to which the pharmacist replied that he did operate that way,” Mullins said. “As Gov. Winter was walking out, he looked at me and said, ‘Put him down as doubtful.’”

Winter received numerous awards and accolades throughout his life as he continued to be a champion for public education and racial reconciliation after he left office.

Winter received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award from the National Education Association, and the National Civil Rights Museum Award, among many others. The University of Mississippi named the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation for him in 2003, and in the same year the Mississippi Department of Archives and History named its building for him.

One of Winter’s most impactful legacies in Mississippi was spearheading the effort to build the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the first publicly funded civil rights museum in America. He brought politicians of both parties to the table for those financial negotiations and was instrumental in securing public and private funds for the project.

“These museums stand at the intersection of William Winter’s greatest passions — history, education, and racial justice,” said Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Generations of young people will come here to experience the stories that have shaped our state and nation.”

Barbour said that during his first term as governor, the push to build a civil rights museum hit a political impasse with some wanting it built in downtown Jackson and others wanting it built at Tougaloo College.

“It tripped us up,” Barbour said. “But Gov. Winter and (former state Supreme Court) Justice Reuben Anderson came to see me and proposed that we put not only the Civil Rights Museum but the museum of Mississippi history side-by-side up by the state Capitol. That won the day. People realized this was the best plan for the most impact and most visitation, and (Winter and Anderson) went out and worked just as hard as I did on it … I honestly believe that if it had not been for Gov. Winter and Judge Anderson, we couldn’t have gotten it over the line.”

Anderson, a close friend of Winter’s, recalled the former governor’s role in preserving and showcasing African American history of the state, even before the civil rights museum was built.

“With his encouragement, (the Department of Archives and History) strengthened its focus on African American history in Mississippi, acquiring significant collections of papers, mounting award-winning exhibits, and offering grants for the preservation of sites associated with African American history,” Anderson said. “Most notably, his close friendship with Myrlie Evers led to her decision to donate the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Collection to MDAH in 2002.”

Other living Mississippi governors offered their condolences.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of former Gov. William Winter,” current Gov. Tate Reeves said. “He truly loved this state and his country. And the people of Mississippi loved him back. He will be missed by all of us.”

“Gov. William Winter is a legend in public service,” former Gov. Phil Bryant said. “Even though we represented different parties, he has been my dear friend for many years. Our common desire to make Mississippi a better place always brought us together. He will be remembered by all who knew him for his many contributions to public education and racial reconciliation. Gov. Winter has truly earned our respect and admiration. I will be forever grateful to have known this remarkable man.”

“Governor William Winter was a student of History and a clarion voice for a better future,” former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove said. “From a call for kindergartens, more support for our public schools and a change of our flag, his voice was for a new and better Mississippi for all. We have lost a true statesman.”

The post ‘One of the greatest Mississippians’: Former Gov. William Winter remembered by friends, dignitaries appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Former Gov. William Winter died at age 97.

Editor’s note: This obituary was provided to Mississippi Today by the family of Gov. William Winter and was written by longtime family friend David Crews.

JACKSON — Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, who championed education initiatives, job creation and racial harmony throughout his life, died Friday at age 97.

Known as Mississippi’s Education Governor, Winter secured passage of landmark educational initiatives in 1982 bringing kindergartens, compulsory school attendance, and a range of other key reforms to a state plagued by poverty and illiteracy. During his remarkable 75 years of public service, Winter linked education with economic development in the nation’s poorest state, observing, “The road out of the poor house runs past the school house.”

In remarks made in 2003, the historian David Halberstam called Winter “Mississippi’s best and strongest governor of modern times.” Halberstam went on to say, “Winter, more than any other politician, is the architect of the new Mississippi and the new America. By contrast, we are all too aware of politicians who can play to the darker side of our nature.”

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Winter stood in staunch opposition to the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Councils — organizations which advocated for strict racial segregation, at times through violent means.

In 1967, Winter ran for governor for the first time. After leading in the first primary, his life was threatened by the Klan for his open-minded stance on race. Persisting with the campaign despite death threats, Winter was ultimately defeated in the second primary by John Bell Williams.

Winter’s political courage was recognized on the national stage when he received the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award in 2008. Presidential adviser Vernon Jordan eloquently commented that “Governor Winter exhibited courage throughout his career, a willingness to speak out, to stand up, to be daring.”

READ MORE: “One of the greatest Mississippians”: Governors, congressmen, judges, friends, former staffers remember Gov. William Winter.

After service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Winter was elected to the Mississippi Legislature in 1947 while still a student at the Ole Miss Law School. In a bid for progressive reforms, Winter ran for speaker of the House against the long-serving and powerful House Speaker Walter Sillers. The bid was unsuccessful but solidified Winter’s reputation as a courageous advocate of political, economic and educational reforms.

Winter went on to serve as state tax collector, state treasurer, lieutenant governor and ultimately as governor from 1980 to 1984.

In 1956, he was appointed state tax collector by Gov. J.P. Coleman. As state tax collector, Winter was responsible for collecting the state’s black-market tax on whiskey and liquor at a time when alcohol sales in the state were outlawed. In that position, Winter was the second highest paid officeholder in the nation right behind the president of the United States. As a good government initiative, Winter successfully advocated abolishing the position of state tax collector. He went on to be elected state treasurer.

In 1971, Winter was elected lieutenant governor, continuing his advocacy of education enhancement and job creation. In 1975, he ran a second time for governor, losing to Cliff Finch, whose campaign was high on theatrics.

After returning to his law practice, Winter ran for governor again in 1979, this time successfully. Winter’s slogan in that campaign was, “William Winter for Governor: The Toughest Job in Mississippi.” That slogan foretold the tough, complex battles Winter faced in dealing with the Mississippi Legislature on his signature education reforms. When Winter became governor, Mississippi was the nation’s only state without compulsory school attendance and was one of only two states without a statewide system of kindergartens.

While serving as governor, Winter’s progressive educational initiatives were defeated twice by a recalcitrant Mississippi Legislature. Only on his third attempt, and after mounting an intensive effort to gain grassroots citizen support, were Winter’s educational reforms finally approved by a scant one vote. The Clarion-Ledger newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service based on its in-depth coverage of the legislation that brought a statewide system of kindergartens and compulsory school attendance to Mississippi for the first time.

The Clarion-Ledger characterized passage of the bill as “The Mississippi Miracle.” Winter’s achievement rippled out and was a catalyst for reforms by many other Southern states who secured passage of their own education reforms. The nationally syndicated columnist Carl Rowan characterized Winter’s Education Reform Act as “the most important civil rights and economic development legislation of 1982.”

As noted by political scientist Jess White, “Winter had a whole other career after serving as governor, principally in the arena of racial reconciliation.” After being appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the National Commission on Race, Winter expanded that work for racial harmony with the creation of the Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.

Reflecting on Winter’s legacy, businessman and former Secretary of State Dick Molpus said, “Winter confronted racial, economic, and educational inequities throughout his life and fought those inequities with courage, hope, and tenacity.”

Winter was an early and longtime advocate of changing Mississippi’s state flag to rid it of the Confederate battle emblem. He and Tupelo businessman Jack Reed headed an effort to change the flag through a statewide referendum in 2001. Although unsuccessful, this effort led to renewed focus on changing the flag which was accomplished in 2020 by action of the Mississippi Legislature. Commenting on banning the flag, Winter said, “I hope this may spark further action to meet the compelling social and economic needs of our state.”

To highlight the cultural accomplishments of Mississippi, Winter and his wife Elise launched a series of conversations at the Governor’s Mansion with accomplished Mississippians including Shelby Foote, Eudora Welty, Leontyne Price, Willie Morris, Walker Percy, Margaret Walker Alexander and many other literary, musical, and scientific luminaries. After a performance by opera diva Leontyne Price at the Governor’s Mansion, Winter changed the Bilbo Room at the Mansion to the Leontyne Price Room, a testament to the advances in racial harmony and inclusiveness fostered by Winter.

Noting Winter’s efforts to promote valuable dialogue between people of different racial backgrounds, Myrlie Evers, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, commented, “William Winter brings people of all walks of life together for honest discussion.”

In a column marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2005, columnist David Broder wrote, “All of us have people we turn to when we need inspiration. One such person in my life has been former Mississippi Governor William Winter, a man whose courage and leadership, especially on racial and educational issues, have been demonstrated for decades.”

A passionate student of history and government, Winter served on the board of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History for 50 years and as board chairman for over 30 years. The state’s Archives & History Building in downtown Jackson is named for Winter.

Reflecting on Winter’s 75 years of public service, businessman Jim Barksdale observed, “Leadership is the most important ingredient in politics, business and life. I can’t think of a better example of leadership than William Winter.”

The arc of Winter’s life and his accomplishments were chronicled in an Emmy Award winning documentary film “The Toughest Job.” The film chronicles Winter’s life from his early education in a one-room school house in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression through his many political campaigns to his leadership on important national issues.

In that documentary, former President Bill Clinton observed, “The combination of Winter’s personal strength and political openness is the key to making this crazy time we’re living in hold together and make sense.” The film’s producer, David Crews, commented on the humility that Winter exhibited throughout his life, noting, “William Winter was humble with little to be humble about, a rarity among politicians today.”

Winter, a devoted family man, is survived by his wife of 70 years, Elise Varner Winter, who played a pivotal role in education reform and worked relentlessly on all of her husband’s campaigns. She also successfully led Habitat for Humanity efforts in Mississippi, resulting in the construction of hundreds of homes for the working poor. Governor Winter is also survived by three devoted daughters Anne Winter, Lele Gillespie and Eleanor Winter, along with five grandchildren Dr. Winter Williams, Dr. Zach Williams, Ty Gillespie, Caroline Gillespie, and Grace Gillespie and five great grandchildren. Governor Winter was the son of William Aylmer Winter, who served in the Mississippi Legislature, and Inez Parker Winter, a devoted Grenada County school teacher.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Foundation for Mississippi History. Gov. Winter was the leading force behind the opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. His goal was for every Mississippi student to visit these museums at least once. Over the last years of his life, Winter helped raise funds to endow field trips to both museums for schools with limited resources. With his help the Foundation for Mississippi History has raised half of the $4 million endowment to make this possible. Contributions in Winter’s memory can be made to the William Winter Education Fund, FMH, P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205.

A memorial service will be held once the dangers from COVID-19 abate and it is safe to gather for a service. Condolences to the Winter family may be mailed to P.O. Box 427, Jackson, MS 39205.

The post William Winter, former Mississippi governor who ushered in education reform, dies at 97 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, who is accused of misspending tens of thousands in campaign cash, is being scrutinized by the House Ethics Committee. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee has confirmed it’s probing U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo’s campaign spending, and Palazzo has hired former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper — a longtime Ethics Committee member — as his lawyer in the probe.

The panel released a statement late Thursday noting that Ethics Chairman Ted Deutsch of Florida and ranking Republican member Kenny Marchant of Texas have decided to “extend the matter regarding Representative Steven Palazzo.”

It is both a dry procedural statement of fact, but also an extremely consequential admission. Although the statement says it “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” it is the first time the panel has publicly acknowledged it is probing Palazzo.

Palazzo’s spokeswoman denied wrongdoing on the part of her boss, and said the congressman has hired Harper. Harper told Mississippi Today on Friday he believes the matter will be “completely dismissed.”

Palazzo is accused of sending more than $60,000 in monthly rental payments of $3,000 from the campaign to a property company called Greene Acres MS that Palazzo owns in Perkinston and more than $146,000 to his ex-wife’s accounting firm, which Palazzo used to run before heading to Congress. 

But Harper said he believes the allegations have misconstrued Palazzo’s financial arrangements.

“There were allegations that money had been paid to Palazzo or to his wholly owned LLC that was for a farm in Perkinson. That was not true. It was for a campaign office in D’Iberville,” Harper said. “So we’ll be able to clear that up and show that it was a legitimate campaign office, that this was within the rules, and was appropriate, and there is nothing unethical about paying two accounting firms to do work.”

Mississippi Today has also previously reported on other questionable spending, including thousands for “gifts,” including liquor and wine and purchases from a tactical clothing outfitter, a boot store and university campus stores, as well as money spent on sporting events, golf expenses and trailers. Roll Call has also reported on suspicious purchases that appear to be related to home maintenance and car upkeep. Harper said he expects to clear all of these issues up with the Ethics Committee, as well.

READ MORE: Rep. Steven Palazzo ethics investigation: Is the congressman’s campaign account a slush fund?

Palazzo’s staff has previously denied the allegations that led to the investigation, calling them “politically motivated,” and has argued that the spending was proper.

Though a campaign spokesman has previously said all these expenses are above board, he told Mississippi Today the campaign did err when it bought a fold-up wall bed and continuing accounting education for Palazzo, and has since refunded those purchases.

Timeline for updates

The Ethics Committee statement issued Thursday means the clock is ticking until the committee has to let the public know more. It starts a procedural timeline under which an investigation must start or be dismissed, and sets a timetable for a decision that will either commence a full investigation into Palazzo, hand the investigation to the Department of Justice, dismiss the matter, or allow a full report about the investigation surrounding Palazzo to be made public. 

“I expect everything to be dealt with by the committee and hopefully wrapped up sometime during the 117th Congress,” Harper said.

But to figure out exactly when those things could happen takes some understanding of Congressional rules — and a little bit of math.

As the committee noted in its statement, it received a referral regarding the Palazzo case on Sept. 2 from the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent watchdog that investigates allegations of wrongdoing and makes recommendations to the Ethics Committee. The OCE’s inquiry was likely spurred by a complaint in March from the Campaign Legal Center, an election reform group, alleging that Palazzo had been spending campaign money like a “personal slush fund.” This complaint was prompted by one or more of Palazzo’s opponents in this year’s GOP primary, including one who hired an investigator to look into it.

Normally the ethics announcement would have come much sooner, but it was delayed because the Ethics Committee’s internal rules essentially stop all committee proceedings 60 days before an election, because the panel is wary of weighing in on anything that could become politicized and affect the outcome of a race.

The committee simply extended its review, starting a new 45-day clock to complete its work. This happens in nearly every ethics case. The committee has a maximum of 90 days, or two 45 day periods, to decide what route to take in the case.

In normal circumstances, the Ethics Committee would now have 45 days to decide what to do next. Then it would have to reveal to the public either that it is empaneling an investigative subcommittee to litigate the allegations on its own or that the Justice Department is taking over the investigation. If neither of those happens or the Ethics Committee dismisses the case, then the Office of Congressional Ethics would release the full report of its investigation into Palazzo.

If the Ethics Committee decides to empanel an investigative subcommittee, the OCE report would have to be released after a year, unless the subcommittee finishes its work up sooner. If the Department of Justice gets involved, generally the OCE would hold off releasing any report until it gets the OK to do so from federal prosecutors.

Predicting when, exactly, the public will know more about Palazzo’s situation is a bit of an inexact science. The 45-day clock will tick until the end of this Congress, which is on January 3, 2021. But the clock won’t start again right away in the next Congress. Instead, the count doesn’t officially start again until after all the new Ethics Committee members are seated and appointed and the panel has its first meeting — a process that could take an indeterminate amount of time.

It generally takes at least a month or two to ramp things up in a new Congress, but it could take even longer this coming year because several members of the Ethics Committee, including both its top Democratic and Republican members, will have to be replaced. Marchant is retiring, while Deutsch is term-limited as chairman.

The best estimate about when the public may know more about Palazzo’s situation is that it will probably happen sometime within the first quarter of 2021. More specifically, it will need to happen 28 days after the first Ethics Committee meeting of the 117th Congress — a meeting that could be private, and might not even be announced publicly.

The last time an ethics case like this bled over from one Congress to the next was in the case of ex-Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who will report to prison next month for an 11-month term after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds for personal use “for items as inconsequential as fast food, movie tickets and sneakers; as trivial as video games, Lego sets and Playdoh; as mundane as groceries, dog food, and utilities; and as self-indulgent as luxury hotels, overseas vacations and plane tickets for their family pet rabbits, Eggburt and Cadbury,” according to the Justice Department.

In that case, the OCE referred their investigation to the Ethics Committee in late 2016 but it wasn’t until March 2017 that the committee announced that the Justice Department was taking over. Even then, it wasn’t until almost three years later that Hunter pleaded guilty.

Mississippi Today reporter Geoff Pender contributed to this report.

The post House Ethics Committee confirms probe into Rep. Steven Palazzo’s campaign spending. What’s next? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,507 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | December 18, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Friday, December 18:

New cases: 2,507| New Deaths: 34

Total Hospitalizations: 1,293

Total cases: 190,411| Total Deaths: 4,354

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 61 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, December 16

On Tuesday Mississippi hit a new record with the seven-day average for cases, reaching 2,196. After going nine months without reporting 2,000 cases in a day, the state has reached that point nine times in just the 16 days of December so far. 

On Dec. 9, Mississippi also hit a new high for total hospitalizations on the rolling average, surpassing the summer peak. The state had already reached a new high for confirmed hospitalizations at the end of November, but hadn’t yet for the total tally, which includes suspected cases as well.

As seen in MSDH’s illness onset chart, the record for most illnesses in a day — Dec. 11, with 2,442 — is within the last two-week period, meaning those numbers could still go up.  

Mississippi’s present rise in cases mirrors the national surge, as the state currently has the 26th most new cases per capita. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute tracker, every state except Vermont is now in the “red zone” (recording over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 people). 

The health department reports that 148,466 people are presumed covered as of Dec. 13.

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,507 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld Gov. Tate Reeves’ partial veto of legislation earlier this year providing funds to multiple entities to combat COVID-19.

In a ruling that weakens legislative powers, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld Gov. Tate Reeves’ partial veto of legislation earlier this year providing funds to multiple entities to combat COVID-19.

“The governor is obviously very pleased that the court interpreted the Constitution the way it was written,” Reeves’ spokesperson Bailey Martin said of the ruling in the lawsuit that pitted the Republican leadership of the House against the Republican governor. “This will be an impactful decision — protecting taxpayer dollars — for a long, long time.”

Six of the nine justices, with Chief Justice Michael Randolph writing the majority opinion, on Thursday reversed an earlier Supreme Court ruling that gave individual legislators the authority to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of partial vetoes. The justices went on to say that Reeves’ partial veto that he issued earlier this year was proper.

Justice James Maxwell said he saw no need to rule directly on whether the legislators had standing to bring the lawsuit because a majority decision was reached that the partial veto was proper.

Justice Josiah Coleman, on the other hand, opted not to rule on whether the partial veto was proper, arguing instead that the case was improperly before the state’s highest court because the legislators did not have standing to bring it.

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves gave to Justice Josiah Coleman’s campaign. Now Coleman is hearing a case against Reeves.

House Speaker Philip Gunn and House Pro Tem Jason White filed the lawsuit after the Legislature passed a bill this summer appropriating federal funds designed to fight the coronavirus to four different state agencies, including $91.9 million to the Department of Health. The Department of Health funds were slated to be disbursed to various health care providers.

Reeves vetoed $2 million designed to go to the shuttered North Oak Regional Medical Center in Tate County if it reopened, and $6 million to a program designed to combat health care disparities in poor and minority communities.

Since the funds had to be spent this calendar year, it is not clear whether the money could have been useful even if the Supreme Court had overturned the partial vetoes at this late date.

“We strongly believed the law supported our position when we filed this lawsuit,” Gunn said in a statement. “Our objective was to protect the rights of citizens to have their voice heard through their elected representatives and to guard against an abuse of power by one man. Today’s ruling weakened the rights and the voice of the citizens and vested more power into the executive branch. It is unfortunate.”

Justice Leslie King, a former member of the House, was joined by Justice James Kitchens in contending that Reeves’ partial veto was not proper and that the court majority also was wrong to find that Gunn and White did not have standing.

Perhaps the most striking portion of the ruling was the decision of a majority of the court that individual legislators could not bring such a lawsuit. In a case in the early 1990s, the Supreme Court had ruled that individual legislators did have standing to file similar lawsuits.

While the Constitution gives the governor partial veto authority, Supreme Court rulings through the years have dramatically limited that authority. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that the governor could not use that authority to veto so-called “purposes or conditions.”

King argued that for Reeves’ 2020 veto to have been proper, the governor would have had to veto the entire section of the bill sending money to the Department of Health, and that the money for the two vetoed items was a “purpose or condition” of the money appropriated to the Department of Health.

The majority indicated that the unique nature of the bill — that it appropriated funds to different agencies — might have played a role in the finding that the partial veto was proper.

“The omnibus characteristics of House Bill 1782 dictate today’s results,” Randolph wrote. “… The removal (or veto) of these appropriations did not affect any other appropriations in the bill.”

Quoting a case from the 1890s finding a partial veto improper, Randolph wrote, “the (Reeves) partial veto properly removed parts that could be ‘taken from the bill without affecting the others.’”

During oral arguments on the case heard last month, some of the justices argued that this case was different than other partial veto rulings because the Legislature was in session when it occurred while it was not in the other cases. In fact, the Legislature was in session in at least one of the past cases. But the issue of whether the Legislature was in session did not appear to play a role in the ruling.

And the case was heard soon after the Nov. 3 general election where Reeves voiced strong support for the re-election of Justice Coleman to his Northern District seat and contributed to his campaign. Coleman participated in the case, not ruling on the merits, but contending Gunn and White did not have standing to bring such a case.

The post Supreme Court sides with Gov. Tate Reeves in partial veto fight with speaker appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

Brett DiBiase entered a guilty plea regarding making false statements in order to defraud the government. DiBiase pleaded guilty before Judge Tomie Green in Hinds County Circuit Court Thursday morning in Jackson.

During his televised wrestling days, Mississippi’s famed “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase adopted the phrase: “Every man has his price.”

For his son, that price was $48,000.

On Thursday, Brett DiBiase, also a retired wrestler, admitted to his role in defrauding Mississippi’s welfare agency. This is the latest development within a broader embezzlement scheme that the state auditor’s office is calling the largest in state history. DiBiase, a Clinton, Mississippi native, is now a state’s witness in the case.

The $48,000 he obtained fraudulently represents just 1% of the $4.15 million prosecutors allege that agency and nonprofit officials stole and even a smaller fraction of the $94 million in potential welfare agency misspending the auditor found.

DiBiase, one of six defendants arrested in February, pleaded guilty to making fraudulent statements in front of Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green. The crime carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

In exchange for DiBiase’s plea and agreement to cooperate in the remaining investigation, the district attorney’s office agreed to drop a separate conspiracy charge against the 32-year-old and recommended the judge delay sentencing.

“He’s a homegrown guy,” Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens told Mississippi Today. “You can’t make this case without some factual witnesses. We think he’s a credible one.”

Owens said it’s possible DiBiase will eventually face no jail time.

The district attorney also alluded to the possibility of additional guilty pleas among the five other defendants. But he said he did expect to take cases of the principal defendants — namely former human services director John Davis and nonprofit owner Nancy New — to trial in 2021.

Before DiBiase could complete the “drug addiction training” that Mississippi Department of Human Services had paid him upfront in 2018 to conduct, the former wrestler said he found himself back in rehab.

DiBiase couldn’t fulfill his contract during his four-month stay at the luxury Malibu, California, treatment facility, but he said he kept the money.

The state alleged DiBiase, Davis and state agency employee Latimer Smith “covered up by trick” that DiBiase hadn’t actually conducted the work for which he was paid.

Davis and Smith pleaded not guilty to charges related to their alleged involvement in the scheme. Nancy New, founder of Mississippi Community Education Center, her son Zach New and the nonprofit’s accountant Ann McGrew also pleaded not guilty to indictments that allege they conspired to convert $2 million in human service funds to the News’ personal businesses.

The News are accused of funneling another $2.15 million through personal investments in a biomedical startup company called Prevacus and its affiliate PreSolMD.

Indictments and a state audit also allege that Mississippi Community Education Center, which eventually hired DiBiase and had been primarily funded by a federal grant called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, used state grant funding to pay for the retired wrestler’s drug treatment to the tune of $160,000.

Officials did not charge DiBiase with a crime related to this purchase because, Owens said, they do not believe he was not involved in processing the payment. Instead, the indictment against the former human services director alleged that Davis and Nancy New conspired to pay for the rehab stint.

On Thursday, DiBiase presented a $5,000 check to the court — the first installment of his restitution and repayment of the $48,000.

READ MORE: Why did a welfare organization pay $5 million to build a volleyball stadium?

Of the many questionable welfare recipients, only one person has voluntarily returned the money he or she received. Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre received $1.1 million from the New nonprofit to conduct promotional work that the auditor’s office said it found no evidence he actually performed. He publicly promised to repay the funds and has since returned $500,000 to the auditor’s office, where it sits in a custodial account.

Favre is also a notable Mississippi sponsor of the company, Prevacus, where the News allegedly funneled public funds.

All of the alleged fraud occurred at the Mississippi Department of Human Services, an agency that answers to the governor’s office, under the administrations of Davis and former Gov. Phil Bryant. Bryant appointed Davis as agency chief in 2016.

New, accused of the bulk of the theft, told reporters in November that someone directed her to make payments to the founder of Prevacus, but she would not say who.

“We certainly realize that wrongs have occurred that we can’t show occurred, but we know they don’t pass the smell test,” Owens said. “And our hope is that as more people come forward, which they are … we’ll be able to get that missing piece.”

The post Son of ‘Million Dollar Man’ admits to defrauding Mississippi’s welfare agency, turns state’s evidence appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press

In this Sept. 17, 2018 file photo, Pelicia Hall, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner. speaks before a meeting of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Fiscal Year 2020 hearing in Jackson, Miss.

Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall and her administration mishandled thousands of dollars in public funds, according to a report the state auditor’s office released on Thursday.

The 31-page compliance report was requested by current MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain and Gov. Tate Reeves, who has publicly alluded to prior corruption within the agency. It audits MDOC for the period of July 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2019, revealing hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in illegal comp time buyouts and thousands of dollars spent in improper travel reimbursements.

The report also shows previous MDOC leadership spent thousands to upgrade the executive suite as well as thousands of dollars in purchases of massage chairs, rugs, art and Himalayan salt lamps for meditation rooms at MDOC facilities.

“One of the most disconcerting things is that a lot of the misspending seems to stem from decisions that were made at the top of MDOC under the previous commissioner, and a lot of the spending seems to have benefitted people at the top at MDOC,” State Auditor Shad White said in a teleconference Thursday. “So, that’s one of the first things we noticed when we were doing this audit.”

When the auditor’s office questioned agency personnel, it was revealed that, under previous leadership, MDOC “accidentally destroyed records,” ultimately “destroying evidence” that would have otherwise been accessed for the audit, according to the report.

“Additionally, the agency was unable to provide some records to the auditors when requested due to the agency destroying audit documentation and public records,” the report said. “Inquiry with agency personnel revealed that the agency accidently (sic) destroyed records relating to procurement cards, purchasing, cash receipts, and other vital financial processes during the move from one physical office space to another. 

“Personnel stated that some records were marked for destruction and should have been moved to a truck housing items that were to be “burned” or destroyed,” the report continued. “However, agency personnel mistakenly moved public records and vital accounting records to the “burn” truck; thereby destroying evidence of many purchases, approvals, and audit evidence.”

“That’s one of the more troubling findings because what you see in the audit is what we were able to uncover, right. But if we know that records have been burned, we don’t know what else happened at the agency,” White said in Thursday’s teleconference.

The report said former MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall was paid an illegal buyout of $109,446, and the former Deputy Commissioner of Institutions Jerry Williams was paid $240,497 in buyouts, including one payment of $160,000 in July 2017.

Current MDOC Parole Board Member Betty Lou Jones was also found to have received $47,321 in travel reimbursements, a matter that has been turned over to the investigative division of the Office of the State Auditor for possible civil demand, the report said.

Hall and Williams both left their posts as heads of the department in January 2020 and are currently receiving pensions from the state of Mississippi, which have been “artificially inflated” due to the illegal buyouts detailed in the audit report.

“We have forwarded this audit over to (the investigative division), and now they’re going to begin their side of the work to see if anything in here is criminal,” White said in the teleconference. “Yes, it is possible that some stuff in here is criminal. That is going to be a decision that we’re going to have to make through the investigative division as we look closer at evidence of intent.”

The audit report also investigated MDOC’s contract with commissary services company Premier Supply Link, LLC, revealing that the department had given the company the financial authority over restitution funds, resulting in one restitution center prisoner who earned $1,345.20 in excess of what was required while being a part of a restitution center.

In January 2020, Mississippi Today published the results of a 14-month investigation in collaboration with The Marshall Project which found inmates in Mississippi’s little-known restitution centers must work grueling low-wage jobs to pay off court-ordered debts. The investigation also revealed that the state fails to keep accurate records on who is in the program at any given time, how many people judges send there each year or how long inmates stay.

READ MORE: How we investigated Mississippi’s restitution centers.

“Incarcerated people are sometimes held at restitution centers while they work to pay back money they owe as a result of judgments against them. Inmates should have been informed when they worked enough to fully repay what they owe, but the audit revealed MDOC was not verifying the amounts that inmates had paid so the inmate could cease work,” White said in Thursday’s teleconference.

White also said his office has begun an investigation into MDOC and Management & Training Corporation, which operates three prisons in the state. A recent investigation revealed that MTC routinely failed to fill scores of correctional officer positions required by contract. These “ghost workers” make prisons more dangerous and produce more profits for MTC—at least $8 million, according to an analysis by The Marshall Project.

“Based on some of the facts we saw in your report, we are investigating,” White said Thursday.

In a five-page response, Cain, current MDOC commissioner who was appointed to the position by Reeves in May, said the department concurred with or acknowledged all the audit report’s findings. 

“MDOC has worked tirelessly since February to address and has already corrected many of the findings stated in your report. MDOC has established its new vision as an honorable, innovative and fiscally responsible professional organization,” Cain wrote in his response.

View the full compliance report here.

The post ‘Widespread fraud, waste, and abuse’: Previous Mississippi Department of Corrections leadership misspent thousands of public funds appeared first on Mississippi Today.

COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,261 new cases

By Alex Rozier and Erica Hensley | December 17, 2020

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Thursday, December 17:

New cases: 2,261| New Deaths: 26

Total Hospitalizations: 1,316

Total cases: 187,904| Total Deaths: 4,320

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. Since then, he has added a total of 61 individual county mask mandates, covering half of the state. State health officials encourage widespread masking and credit the original mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, December 16

On Tuesday Mississippi hit a new record with the seven-day average for cases, reaching 2,196. After going nine months without reporting 2,000 cases in a day, the state has reached that point nine times in just the 16 days of December so far. 

On Dec. 9, Mississippi also hit a new high for total hospitalizations on the rolling average, surpassing the summer peak. The state had already reached a new high for confirmed hospitalizations at the end of November, but hadn’t yet for the total tally, which includes suspected cases as well.

As seen in MSDH’s illness onset chart, the record for most illnesses in a day — Dec. 11, with 2,442 — is within the last two-week period, meaning those numbers could still go up.  

Mississippi’s present rise in cases mirrors the national surge, as the state currently has the 26th most new cases per capita. According to the Harvard Global Health Institute tracker, every state except Vermont is now in the “red zone” (recording over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 people). 

The health department reports that 148,466 people are presumed covered as of Dec. 13.

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 2,261 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Whether any member of Mississippi’s congressional delegation will participate in a challenge of the election of Joe Biden as president when the U.S. House and Senate meet jointly on Jan. 6 is not clear.

Federal law gives House and Senate members the opportunity to challenge results of a presidential election on that date.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., arrives at the Senate Chamber at the Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Some members of the delegation, such as Sen. Roger Wicker of Tupelo, the senior Republican member of the delegation, said after Monday’s vote of the electoral college affirming the Biden win that they reluctantly accept the results of the election.

But U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo of the 4^th District, which encompasses much of south Mississippi, did not rule out participating in a challenge to the election, according to a statement he gave the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo.

UNITED STATES – MARCH 7: Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., walks up the House steps for final votes of the week in the Capitol on March 8, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

“I do acknowledge the electoral college’s decision, and I also acknowledge the responsibility of Congress to certify the election results on Jan. 6,” Palazzo said. “In the coming weeks, I will continue evaluating the evidence presented by President Trump’s legal team and make a final decision on verifying the election results closer to Jan. 6.”

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, whom Trump campaigned extensively for when she first won election to the post in 2018, has not commented since the electoral college vote. At one point, she was fund-raising on social media to help with Trump’s multiple, though unsuccessful, legal challenges.

Wicker voiced support soon after the Nov. 3 election for Trump’s efforts to look for instances of voter fraud, but has remain quiet since then.

In a statement on Wednesday, Wicker told Mississippi Today, “The electoral college vote makes it clear that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. I am obviously disappointed in the outcome, and I know many Mississippians feel the same way. Nevertheless, we must respect the constitutional process and move on.”

Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest

Rep. Michael Guest, who lives in Rankin County, said in a statement to Mississippi Today: “The electoral college has cast the final and deciding vote for Joe Biden. My prayers are with him as he prepares to assume the office of president of the United States.”

And Rep. Trent Kelly, who lives in Lee County and represents portions of north Mississippi told the Daily Journal in Tupelo: “It appears that Joe Biden is the president-elect. I have done exactly what I said I would do. I have supported President Trump and followed every possible legal remedy to ensure the election results are valid. At this time, there does not appear to be a viable and legal remedy left to pursue.

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly

“Elections and the electoral college, as well as states’ right to certify the electorate, are an integral part of all our elections dating back to our founders. Although I do not like the results of the current election, the courts and the states have spoken. Unless there is an unforeseen, valid legal challenge, I intend to support the results of the electoral college.”

On Jan. 6, if both a senator and House member jointly agree to challenge the electoral votes from any states, then the two chambers separately debate the issue. But for the challenge to prevail, both chambers must approve it by a majority vote. With the Democrats maintaining a slim majority in the House, there does not appear to be an avenue for a successful challenge for the president.

Various Republican senators also have said they would not vote in support of a challenge that would have to invalidate the ballots in multiple states to be successful.

In addition, media reports have surfaced that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who like Wicker acknowledged Biden as the president-elect this week, has asked his caucus members not to participate in a challenge that would be unsuccessful and place his members in the position of having to make a difficult vote.

Trump and his allies have filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the election results. Those lawsuits have been rejected by judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, including judges appointed by Trump.

Kelly, Guest and Palazzo filed friend of the court briefs in support of the effort of Republican state attorneys general, including Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, to invalidate the results in four swing states won by Biden, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

That lawsuit was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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