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Inside the Democratic Party’s coordinated effort to turn out Black voters for the Nov. 7 election

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When U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn was elected in 1992, he became the first African American elected to Congress from South Carolina in nearly a century.

Clyburn, considered a Democratic kingmaker and one of the most prominent Black elected officials in the nation, visited Jackson last weekend to sound alarm bells that if Jackson pastors, metro voters and college students do not organize and participate in the Nov. 7 election, a history of inadequate representation could repeat itself in the Deep South.

“We’ve got to do what is necessary to make sure that our children and our grandchildren don’t live the past that our parents and grandparents lived because there are forces who wish to turn the clock back,” Clyburn told a room of Mississippi Democrats on Oct. 15.

The South Carolina congressman joined U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and top Mississippi Democratic Party officials last weekend as part of one of the largest, most coordinated get-out-the-vote efforts from the state party in recent years.

The events Clyburn attended on Oct. 15-16 targeted predominantly Black churches, Democratic Party base voters and students at historically Black colleges.

He and state party officials visited several Jackson-area Black churches, historically anchors of progressive politics and activism, for weekend worship services, and they met separately with dozens of Black clergy members to discuss the importance of the Nov. 7 election. They visited Jackson State University and Tougaloo College, two historically Black universities, and Millsaps College to stress the importance of college students voting in elections.

The get-out-the-vote efforts from Democratic Party officials have continued into late October and have been focused across the state, not just in the Jackson metro.

This past weekend, state party leaders attended multiple events on the Gulf Coast, including a get-out-the-vote rally Sunday night at First Missionary Baptist Church Handsboro in Gulfport. The event, which organizers titled “Wake the Sleeping Giant,” was keynoted by Bishop William James Barber II, co-chair of the national organization Poor People’s Campaign.

The party will host a virtual organizing event called “Souls to the Polls” on Oct. 28, which is the first day of in-person absentee voting. The party has also hosted several town hall-style events in multiple Mississippi towns over the past few weeks focused on the state’s hospital crisis before mostly-Black audiences, culminating with a final stop on the tour in Jackson on Oct. 25.

And while party leaders organize their own events, Democratic candidates are benefitting from the independent electoral work of numerous third-party progressive organizations that are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to knock doors and target hyper-local Black communities. These groups, many of which have long organizing histories in Mississippi, are pumping money this cycle into door-knocking, phone banking, direct mailing, and digital and radio advertising.

But the party’s work of the past few weeks marks a noticeable shift in strategy to energize its base ahead of the 2023 election. Lackluster efforts with Black voters during the 2019 statewide election cycle from former state party leaders notoriously left candidates frustrated and Democratic voters feeling left behind.

“I don’t care if we’ve got a Democrat running for dog catcher now,” said Mississippi Democratic Party Chair Cheikh Taylor, who took over as leader of the state party in July. “I want us to win.”

The pitch to Black voters

Black Mississippi voters make up the overwhelming foundation of the Democratic Party — about two-thirds of the party’s voting base. If candidates and party leaders want to flip one of the eight statewide offices currently held by the GOP, encouraging Black voters to turn out on Election Day is critical.

Organizers of the recent political events have framed the upcoming election in a personal and somber tone, centered on how lives and personal health, particularly for Black Mississippians, are at stake in this election.

The basis for the grave tone is a fear that four more years of conservative policies from the Governor’s Mansion and state Capitol in one of the most impoverished states in the nation could dig the state deeper into negative health outcomes and cause rural hospitals to close.

Every region in Mississippi, for example, ranked higher in infant mortality than the national average, according to the state’s 2021 Mississippi Infant Mortality Report released earlier this month. The three counties with the highest 10-year averages were counties in the majority-Black Delta.

Mississippi Democrats have said this problem and many others the state faces have been avoidable. They say if the state’s Republican leaders, who have held most of the state’s policymaking power since 2011, expanded Medicaid coverage to the working poor and strategically developed the Delta economically, some of those metrics could be reversed.

“People say all elections and all voting is local,” House Democratic Leader Rep. Robert Johnson III said last week. “No, no, no, all voting is personal. See, when you cast a vote, you’re not casting a vote for Brandon Presley. You’re casting a vote for yourself. You’re voting for something that’s going to happen for you.”

PODCAST: Rep. Robert Johnson says Black turnout could be key in 2023 election

Governor’s race is a peripheral focus

The bulk of media attention and national party resources during the election cycle has focused on Presley, the Democratic nominee for governor who has mounted a formidable campaign against Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and recently outraised the incumbent governor in campaign donations.

But most of the recent Black voter outreach events have not been framed exclusively around Presley’s race or any specific candidate. Rather, they have served as a repudiation of conservative policies over the last four years that, in the Democratic leaders’ view, harm Black communities. The events have served as a call to action to elect all Democrats on the ballot.

However, there have been instances when Presley’s work as north Mississippi’s public service commissioner was lauded, and his attendance at predominantly Black churches, HBCU football games and other places over the past few weeks was clearly noticed.

READ MORE: At Jackson State homecoming, Brandon Presley pledges to advocate for Mississippi HBCUs

Clyburn, for instance, who previously served as House majority whip, partnered with Presley in recent years to pass federal legislation that installed broadband in rural areas of the country. Those efforts, according to Clyburn, ultimately led President Joe Biden to push for broadband in the final version of the bipartisan infrastructure bill Congress passed in 2021.

“I’m here to say to you that if not for Brandon Presley, I don’t think we would have gotten broadband in our infrastructure bill,” Clyburn said to much applause.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., left, comments on the support the Biden Administration has provided for rural broadband projects as Jason Gumbs, Regional Senior Vice President at Comcast, center, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves listen at the Bolton-Edwards Elementary/Middle School, in Bolton, Miss., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Clifton Carroll, a Reeves campaign spokesman, said in a statement that Presley has gotten support from “every corner of the national liberal machine” and brought millions of dollars into the state in an attempt to “flip it blue.”

“It’s no wonder that everyone from the Biden team to Bennie Thompson has gotten behind him — because he’s a true blue liberal Democrat,” Carroll said.

But Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress who has been a presence on the 2023 campaign trail, said the rhetoric from the Reeves campaign seeking to scare voters by connecting Presley with national Democrats is hypocritical. The governor, Thompson pointed out, has attempted to celebrate some of Biden’s policies and take credit for them, like he did with broadband efforts in late August.

“If you look at the resources that Joe Biden has put into the state of Mississippi, it’s unreal,” Thompson said. “And now, (Reeves) is trying to claim some of this money that we sent from Washington as if he’s being a good steward as governor and all of that.

“Look, right string, wrong yo-yo,” Thompson added.

New strategy from Democratic Party

The governor’s race aside, several progressive officials proclaimed the slate of Democratic statewide candidates was strong, and they were building a better foundation for the party that can continue to be stronger in future years.

The coordinated events last weekend when Clyburn visited were the first major ones the state Democratic Party has hosted since Taylor took over as chairman. Local Democrats’ ability to attract a national figure like Clyburn, a personal friend of Thompson, to Jackson is the first visit of its kind in several years.

When Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood ran for governor in 2019, for example, no major outside Democratic official came to Mississippi to stump for him. When former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy ran for U.S. Senate in 2018 as the Democratic nominee, then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker stumped for him, but it was not billed around an organized event as was with Clyburn’s weekend visit.

Taylor, in quick fashion, has worked to build the weak foundation of the party up, brought national Democratic leaders to the state and, on Oct. 15, conducted the first large party fundraiser in several years.

“This party needs you, and we want to give you a reason to come back,” Taylor told party members at the fundraiser.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley visits with supporters during a forum concerning health at L.T. Ellis Community Center in Laurel, Miss., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today

But Clyburn warned voters during his Mississippi visit that just because the state party is working against well-funded Republicans, that is not reason to sit out the upcoming race. One absent vote during an election, Clyburn said, can set off a ripple effect of policies that last generations.

He illustrated that point by recounting when no presidential candidate in 1876 garnered a majority of the electoral college votes, the race was thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives to pick the winner.

The House became deadlocked and formed a 15-member committee to determine the winner for the highest office in the country. That committee then voted 8-7 to choose Rutherford B. Hayes as president, who eventually agreed to remove federal troops from Southern states, effectively nixing Reconstruction in the Deep South.

That one-vote margin allowed white Southerners to institute Black Codes that barred African Americans, such as the eight congressmen that preceded Clyburn, from voting and holding office.

“You must remember that clock got turned back by one vote,” Clyburn told Mississippians during his visit. “I want you to remember that. Are you that one vote who allows the clock to get turned back this time, or will you be that one vote to keep it from happening?”

READ MORE: New governor’s race poll shows Reeves leading Presley by just one point

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

Mississippi Today

1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-26 07:00:00

April 26, 1964

Aaron Henry testifies before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Civil rights activists started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s all-white regular delegation to the Democratic National Convention. 

The regulars had already adopted this resolution: “We oppose, condemn and deplore the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … We believe in separation of the races in all phases of our society. It is our belief that the separation of the races is necessary for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Mississippi, and the continuing good relationship which has existed over the years.” 

In reality, Black Mississippians had been victims of intimidation, harassment and violence for daring to try and vote as well as laws passed to disenfranchise them. As a result, by 1964, only 6% of Black Mississippians were permitted to vote. A year earlier, activists had run a mock election in which thousands of Black Mississippians showed they would vote if given an opportunity. 

In August 1964, the Freedom Party decided to challenge the all-white delegation, saying they had been illegally elected in a segregated process and had no intention of supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson in the November election. 

The prediction proved true, with white Mississippi Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. While the activists fell short of replacing the regulars, their courageous stand led to changes in both parties.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday

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mississippitoday.org – @alxrzr – 2025-04-25 16:04:00

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.

A truck sits in high water after the owner parked, then boated to his residence on Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg as a rising Mississippi River causes backwater flooding, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”

The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.

A rising Mississippi River causing backwater flooding near Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.
Old tires aligned a backyard as a deterrent to rising water north of Vicksburg along U.S. 61, Friday, April 25, 2025.
As the Mississippi River rises, backwater flooding creeps towards a home located on Falk Steel Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”

The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Flood waters along Kings Point Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.

“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”

NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.

The boat launch area is closed and shored up on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The boat launch area (right) is closed and under water on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
City of Vicksburg workers shore up the bank along Levee Street as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The old pedestrian bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:07:00

Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed. 

They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them. 

Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother. 

“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.” 

Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023. 

Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board. 

The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities. 

Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board. 

In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties. 

The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more. 

From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths. 

“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said. 

Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.

A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents. 

Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed. 

In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.

Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records. 

Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson. 

Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.  

He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media. 

Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary. 

Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents. 

At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.

“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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