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Chris McDaniel announces an announcement on challenge of incumbent Lt. Gov. Hosemann

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Chris McDaniel announces an announcement on challenge of incumbent Lt. Gov. Hosemann

Longtime state Sen. Chris McDaniel on social media late Monday said he’ll announce his campaign plans Jan. 30 at events in Jackson and in Biloxi, leading most observers to believe he’s going to challenge incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.

Asked for comments or further info on his announcement Monday night, the Republican from Ellisville joked in a text, “I’m thinking (of running for) sheriff. :-)”

In a lengthy interview with Mississippi Today last week, the four-term incumbent senator said he was still undecided about challenging Hosemann, but sounded like a man gearing up for a campaign. He’s been traveling the state for months speaking to various political and civic groups and is co-head of a PAC that has been actively fundraising.

Usually on the outs with the Senate GOP leadership and back-benched for much of his tenure there, McDaniel has not seemed enthusiastic about his current seat for years as he looked to bigger offices.

“Yes, we’ve done polling,” McDaniel said. “My name ID is good. My favorability is good, and (Hosemann’s) unfavorability is higher than mine … Any politician in this state who is challenged from the right is vulnerable in this current environment.”

More than a decade ago, with the rise of the Tea Party, McDaniel became a leader of the far-right GOP and libertarians in Mississippi. In 2014, he made ran a seismic challenge of longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. McDaniel, with financial support from out of state conservative groups and the state’s first true social media bombardment campaign, led the late Cochran in the first GOP primary vote, then narrowly lost in a runoff.

McDaniel’s run shook the Republican establishment in Mississippi, and has been credited by many as the catalyst for a large shift to the right in state Republican politics. McDaniel himself has said, “I was Donald Trump in Mississippi before Donald Trump.”

READ MORE: McDaniel blasts Hosemann as too liberal, weighs Lt. Gov. run

McDaniel ran for U.S. Senate again in 2018, but lost with only 16% of the vote in a nonpartisan, four-way race. Despite his declared loyalty to Trump, the then-president endorsed Cindy Hyde-Smith, who won the Senate seat.

Many in the GOP then wrote McDaniel off as a fringe candidate with only a small, albeit vocal and loyal, base. But McDaniel has mended fences at least with some in the state’s GOP, including his former political foe Gov. Tate Reeves. In 2019, McDaniel’s surprise endorsement of Reeves appeared to help Reeves garner more of the ultra conservative vote and helped him win a tough Republican primary.

McDaniel said his conservative base is strong and large, and more moderate Republicans are foolhardy to say otherwise.

“They tell themselves that so they can sleep better at night,” McDaniel said. “(His base) is going to exceed 40% on any given day in a Republican primary … Nobody thought Trump had a base, either.”

McDaniel, who serves in the Senate Hosemann oversees as lieutenant governor, has blasted Hosemann as too liberal and questioned his Republican bona fides. So far, Hosemann has not taken the bait and declined comment on McDaniel and his brickbats.

“This is the same Delbert Hosemann who endorsed Ray Mabus instead of Kirk Fordice (for governor). This is the same Delbert Hosemann who endorsed Mitt Romney instead of Donald Trump,” McDaniel said. “There’s consistency there throughout his career where he’s been not simply moderate, but more liberal than moderate … If people get wind of that, yes, he’s vulnerable. The cute commercials are one thing, and they are really clever. But the truth is out there, and it’s not the little lady on the bench, it’s his record.”

McDaniel’s improved relationship with Reeves has had many political observers speculating that Reeves, who has clashed often with Hosemann, is helping and urging McDaniel to run. Both McDaniel and the Reeves camp have denied this. A sitting Republican governor is de facto head of the MSGOP, and helping draft a challenge of a fellow incumbent Republican would be considered unsportsmanlike in political circles.

“(Reeves) has got his own races to run,” McDaniel said. “We haven’t discussed it, and we each have to, in some respects, stay in our own lanes. I consider him a friend, and I chalk our past differences up to misinterpretations on my part.”

McDaniel also refuted widespread rumors that he’s helping draft right-wing challengers of some of his fellow state senators.

“No, that’s not something I’m doing,” McDaniel said. “I can’t be playing checkers all over the state like that.”

But McDaniel said he does not feel as ostracized by the GOP machine as he did when he challenged the status quo with Cochran in 2014.

“I’ve gotten calls from all over — probably two dozen consultants offering to help,” McDaniel said. “These are options I’ve never had before. If anyone wants to help me, they can give me a call.”

McDaniel has in the past struggled to raise campaign money inside Mississippi, and he said he knows Hosemann will be well-funded and “incumbents, they try to clamp down fast on that, with threats, holding contracts over people’s heads.” But he said he’s confident he could raise enough money for a successful challenge.

Plus, McDaniel said social media has helped level the playing field on campaign finances, and he has a strong digital presence, including 305,000 followers on Facebook. In numerous comments on his announcement Monday, many followers said they support him. Many said they would attend his announcement if they lived in Mississippi. Some urged him to run for governor, or for U.S. Senate again.

One urged him, “Stream it live and break the internet!”

READ MORE: Chris McDaniel considered bid for Congress in 2021

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1997

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-22 07:00:00

Dec. 22, 1997

Myrlie Evers and Reena Evers-Everette cheer the jury verdict of Feb. 5, 1994, when Byron De La Beckwith was found guilty of the 1963 murder of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers. Credit: AP/Rogelio Solis

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers. 

In the court’s 4–2 decision, Justice Mike Mills praised efforts “to squeeze justice out of the harm caused by a furtive explosion which erupted from dark bushes on a June night in Jackson, Mississippi.” 

He wrote that Beckwith’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had not been denied. His “complicity with the Sovereignty Commission’s involvement in the prior trials contributed to the delay.” 

The decision did more than ensure that Beckwith would stay behind bars. The conviction helped clear the way for other prosecutions of unpunished killings from the Civil Rights Era.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Medicaid expansion tracker approaches $1 billion loss for Mississippi

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-12-22 06:00:00

About the time people ring in the new year next week, the digital tracker on Mississippi Today’s homepage tabulating the amount of money the state is losing by not expanding Medicaid will hit $1 billion.

The state has lost $1 billion not since the start of the quickly departing 2024 but since the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1.

Some who oppose Medicaid expansion say the digital tracker is flawed.

During an October news conference, when state Auditor Shad White unveiled details of his $2 million study seeking ways to cut state government spending, he said he did not look at Medicaid expansion as a method to save money or grow state revenue.

“I think that (Mississippi Today) calculator is wrong,” White said. “… I don’t think that takes into account how many people are going to be moved off the federal health care exchange where their health care is paid for fully by the federal government and moved onto Medicaid.”

White is not the only Mississippi politician who has expressed concern that if Medicaid expansion were enacted, thousands of people would lose their insurance on the exchange and be forced to enroll in Medicaid for health care coverage.

Mississippi Today’s projections used for the tracker are based on studies conducted by the Institutions of Higher Learning University Research Center. Granted, there are a lot of variables in the study that are inexact. It is impossible to say, for example, how many people will get sick and need health care, thus increasing the cost of Medicaid expansion. But is reasonable that the projections of the University Research Center are in the ballpark of being accurate and close to other studies conducted by health care experts.

White and others are correct that Mississippi Today’s calculator does not take into account money flowing into the state for people covered on the health care exchange. But that money does not go to the state; it goes to insurance companies that, granted, use that money to reimburse Mississippians for providing health care. But at least a portion of the money goes to out-of-state insurance companies as profits.

Both Medicaid expansion and the health care exchange are part of the Affordable Care Act. Under Medicaid expansion people earning up to $20,120 annually can sign up for Medicaid and the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not opted into Medicaid expansion.

People making more than $14,580 annually can garner private insurance through the health insurance exchanges, and people below certain income levels can receive help from the federal government in paying for that coverage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation championed and signed into law by President Joe Biden significantly increased the federal subsidies provided to people receiving insurance on the exchange. Those increased subsidies led to many Mississippians — desperate for health care — turning to the exchange for help.

White, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others have expressed concern that those people would lose their private health insurance and be forced to sign up for Medicaid if lawmakers vote to expand Medicaid.

They are correct.

But they do not mention that the enhanced benefits authored by the Biden administration are scheduled to expire in December 2025 unless they are reenacted by Congress. The incoming Donald Trump administration has given no indication it will continue the enhanced subsidies.

As a matter of fact, the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is looking for ways to cut federal spending.

Some have speculated that Medicaid expansion also could be on Musk’s chopping block.

That is possible. But remember congressional action is required to continue the enhanced subsidies. On the flip side, congressional action would most likely be required to end or cut Medicaid expansion.

Would the multiple U.S. senators and House members in the red states that have expanded Medicaid vote to end a program that is providing health care to thousands of their constituents?

If Congress does not continue Biden’s enhanced subsidies, the rates for Mississippians on the exchange will increase on average about $500 per year, according to a study by KFF, a national health advocacy nonprofit. If that occurs, it is likely that many of the 280,000 Mississippians on the exchange will drop their coverage.

The result will be that Mississippi’s rate of uninsured — already one of the highest in the nation – will rise further, putting additional pressure on hospitals and other providers who will be treating patients who have no ability to pay.

In the meantime, the Mississippi Today counter that tracks the amount of money Mississippi is losing by not expanding Medicaid keeps ticking up.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1911

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-21 07:00:00

Dec. 21, 1911

A colorized photograph of Josh Gibson, who was playing with the Homestead Grays Credit: Wikipedia

Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. 

When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs. 

He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame. 

The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays. 

Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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