Mississippi Today
Poll highlights conservative tilt that impacts Mississippi elections

Based on polling, more people identify as conservative in Mississippi than in any state in the nation.
According to Gallup, which routinely does extensive polling asking people to self-identify as liberal, conservative or moderate, 50% of Mississippians say they are conservative while only 12% say they are liberal in one of the recent polls.
The poll results encapsulate the difficulty facing Democrats in winning elections in Mississippi. In general, white Mississippians who identify as conservative vote Republican. The same might not always be true for Black Mississippi conservatives, who often remain loyal to the Democratic Party based at least in part on the opposition of some in the Republican Party to voting rights and other integration efforts beginning in the 1960s.
Those poll results highlight the headwinds facing Democratic candidates, such as Brandon Presley who is vying this year to be the first Democrat elected governor since 1999.
And the poll results provide insight as to why Democratic candidates, sometimes to the chagrin of Mississippi’s small but vocal liberal community, often campaign as conservative on various issues. The argument that Mississippi Democrats would win if they only campaigned as true Democrats, i.e. liberal Democrats, loses much of its validity when considering the voters of the state.
Based on the poll, Mississippi is the nation’s only state where a majority of its people identify as conservative. Mississippi’s four contiguous states also are among the 10 most conservative, with Alabama being No. 2 with 46% of its population identifying as being conservative and 14% as liberal. All of the top 10 most conservative states have Republican governors and legislatures.
It is important to note that when it comes to actual voting, Mississippi is high but not in the top 10 in terms of the percentage of its population voting for the Republican candidate. Mississippi had a lower percentage voting for Donald Trump for president than did the contiguous states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama. What is unique is that based on studies by the FiveThirtyEight blog, which compiles and analyzes data, Mississippi voters are the least persuadable in the country. In other words, it is more difficult to convince people who normally vote Republican to vote Democratic and vice versa.
Is it a surprise that Mississippians are set in their ways?
Despite the daunting data, many in recent years have speculated that Mississippi might be in line to follow Georgia, North Carolina or even Texas and become more electorally competitive. Remember Georgia now has two Democratic U.S. senators, and by a narrow margin voted for Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. President Barack Obama won North Carolina.
With the nation’s highest percentage of African American residents (about 38%), many surmise that Mississippi will be the next Southern state to enter swing state status.
A 2021 article in Politico titled, “The Southern state where Black voters are gaining in numbers, but not power,” argued that Mississippi is not — at least not yet — entering swing state status. The article pointed out that Mississippi does not have the population centers and large college-educated suburbs that have trended toward the Democratic Party.
But the article did cite a little hope for Mississippi Democrats. DeSoto County, for years considered one of the state’s bedrock Republican areas, ranked 30th in the nation of counties that swung toward the Democrats in 2020. DeSoto County still voted for Donald Trump, but the drop in Trump votes from 2016 to 2020 was significant.
In 2016, Trump won DeSoto County by 67% to 31%. In 2020, Trump won 61% to 37%. Hey, DeSoto County still went big-time Republican, but the Democratic inroads in the Memphis suburban county in northwest Mississippi did garner some national attention.
Democrats also performed better in 2020 than in the 2016 presidential election in what has been another Republican suburban stronghold: Madison County.
And one year earlier in 2019, former Attorney General Jim Hood became the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to win Madison County since 1987. The south Madison County area has a high number of college-educated suburban voters who have tilted Democratic in other areas of the nation in recent election.
While the Hood performance in Madison County provided a glimmer of hope for Mississippi Democrats, it is still worth noting the area still tilts conservative. South Madison County is home of the largest congregation in the state to leave the United Methodist Church because the local church members viewed the denomination as too liberal.
In other words, Mississippians of a broad spectrum of class and education level view themselves as conservative.
That is the headwind Mississippi Democrats will be facing this November.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed
April 26, 1964

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.
Mississippi Today
Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday
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.
“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.



“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.

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.




This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says
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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