Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann based his recent argument for placing the special U.S. Senate race at the bottom of the ballot on precedent, but his office’s research overlooked the last such race, which was at the top of the 1947 general election ballot.
The special Senate election on Nov. 4, 1947, was at the top of the ballot – above the contest for governor.
Hosemann had submitted a sworn affidavit to the court defending his position that the Wicker-Musgrove race should be at the bottom of the ballot. In the affidavit, he said, “Mississippi has not had a special election for a United States senator since 1941… Therefore, no precedent for the last 60 years exists.”
Monday, after a reporter pointed it out to him, Hosemann said he was not familiar with the 1947 election or the circumstances under which Stennis was elected.
“This has not come to my attention before,” Hosemann said. “I did not vote in that election.”
NE MS Daily Journal
9/24/8
Magnolia Tribune
