Q-Day.
Well, Qualifying Day for statewide candidates has come and gone. The Secretary of State’s office has posted a full listing of all qualified candidates.
There’s too much to go into every race in detail, but here are some of the things that really stick out.
Lt. Gov
The inability for the Democrat party to field a serious candidate for Lt. Governor I think will come back to haunt them. Whoever comes out of the Republican primary (Reeves or Hewes) will have an awful lot of power and will have incentive to get involved in other races (even on the house side). Plus, I think we will be in a judicial fight over redistricting about that time and that person will hold a lot of cards.
Treasurer
Connie Moran, Mayor of Ocean Springs, was a last minute qualifier on the D side for Treasurer. Her climb will be decidedly uphill. Shawn O’Hara qualified as a D as well for that race, but the Dems will almost certainly decertify him to clear the field for Moran. She had some recent run-in with the law in the Jackson area.
Coast candidates
There is an interesting and eclectic list of statewide candidates from the Coast. Dave Dennis, Billy Hewes, Steve Simpson, Ricky Dombrowski, Connie Moran, and Louis Fondren all hail from the Coast. It’s an interesting dynamic to see how provincial Coast support will/won’t be. No predictions from me on that.
Other quick hits
• Delbert Hosemann drew a primary opponent in Gulfport councilman Ricky Dombrowski, who seems to be a revenge/one-issue candidate
• Stacey Pickering has no real challenger. Mike Chaney has very token opposition also. Expect these two along with Delbert Hosemann to spread goodwill in Republican ranks all the way through election day.
• Former State Senator Scottie Cuevas, who lost to Senator David Baria by the slimmest of margins, is running for Southern District Transportation Commish as a Republican against current State Senator Tom King. That should actually be pretty competitive.
• Former Jackson City Councilman Marshand Crisler (D) will face the winner of Lynn Posey and Charles Barbour for the Central District PSC slot.
• As a point of personal privilege, I get the opportunity to bring up my favorite political clip of all time thanks to Dorothy “Dot” Benford (of egg sucking dog fame), who qualified on the Dem side for Transportation Commish. (clip) It may be the best political sound clip in Mississippi political history. As bad a candidate as she will be, about every election, she’s good for a political jewel like this one.
More to come soon. Also, check out Majority in MS’s coverage. He’s got a more ordered list of candidates and some thoughts on what Q-day meant.
Magnolia Tribune
