BOBBY HARRISON: Empower Mississippi wins some, but total picture may be inflated
Empower Mississippi, a conservative political action committee with a focus on school choice issues, was crowing last week after its victories in the party primary legislative elections.
In particular, Empower Mississippi was excited about the defeat of four DeSoto County House members. Reps. Wanda Jennings, R-Southaven; Pat Nelson, R-Southaven; and Forrest Hamilton, R-Olive Branch, all received the grade of F on Empower’s education choice report card. The fourth DeSoto County House member, Rep. Gene Alday, R-Walls, garnered a C.
There were other victories for Empower. For instance, one of Empower’s benefactors, Joel Bomgar won the Republican primary and will face no opposition in the November general election for the open House District 58 seat, which includes the affluent areas of south Madison County…
…And in the upcoming November general election, several of Empower’s stalwarts face what could be tough opposition. For instance, in Northeast Mississippi, Reps. Lester “Bubba” Carpenter, R-Burnsville; William Tracy Arnold, R-Booneville, Randy Boyd, R-Mantachie; Chris Brown, R-Aberdeen, and Brad Mayo, R-Oxford, and Sens. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford; Gary Jackson, R-Hickory Flat, all received A+ grades from Empower and all could face tough challenges.
The point is Empower had a good night, but maybe not as good as advertised and, more importantly, the school year is not up so the final grade is still pending.
Daily Journal
8/12/15
