Mississippi Democrats swing, miss in using Jackson water crisis to promote Midterm candidates

MSGOP Chairman says Democratic Party does not have a solid grasp on duties, roles of local, state, federal government.

Looking around much of Mississippi, it is easy to forget that the 2022 Congressional Midterm Elections are just weeks away.  The campaigns on both sides of the political aisle have been relatively quiet since the initial Primary Elections and the subsequent Primary Runoffs.

On Tuesday, the Mississippi Democratic Party tried to make some noise by releasing a joint statement from Chairman Tyree Irving and Vice Chair Jodie Brown, using the Jackson water crisis as a reason Mississippians should vote for Democrats in November.

“The latest water crisis in Jackson has demonstrated how critical it is to elect dedicated leaders at all levels of government,” the Democratic Party leaders say. “Gov. Reeves has regularly ignored the needs of Jackson’s residents in this long-standing water crisis, from vetoing the Jackson Water Bill in 2020 to refusing to provide emergency funding for residents left without water for weeks in 2021.  Though federal assistance has been much needed for years, Mississippi’s Republicans members of Congress frequently balk at legislation help fund infrastructure.”

The two Democrats thanked volunteers who have helped Jackson during the water crisis and said their party is working to send Republicans home.  They called on voters to elect candidates who will “stand up” for Mississippians.

“In 2023, we will elect officials to lead our state for the next four years.  We must vote for the best candidates to serve our state’s people,” Irving and Brown said.  “Mississippians know that we can depend on our fellow citizens in times of crisis, and we deserve the same from our elected representatives.”

Chairman Tyree Irving and Vice-Chair Jodie Brown released the following statement on behalf of the Mississippi Democratic Party: pic.twitter.com/YOVifq2GTm

— MS Democratic Party (@msdemocrats) September 6, 2022

However, even Congressman Bennie Thompson in the 2nd Congressional District, the state’s lone Democrat in D.C., has stated multiple times that the city of Jackson does not have a plan to fix the water system and that the city should not expect federal assistance without such a plan.

Much to the chagrin of Democrats, it was Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, along with state agencies under his guidance and coordination that stepped in to restore the water in the city of Jackson after decades of failed leadership in the municipal government led by Democrats that had allowed the system to be understaffed and underfunded.

State intervention is a last resort as providing water is a core function of municipal government.

Within a week, Governor Reeves and the state were able to make significant strides in restoring water in Jackson, largely using means that were at the disposal of city leaders all along.

Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Frank Bordeaux told Y’all Politics that while he agrees that Mississippians are some of the most generous and hospitable people in the country, and that he is grateful for all the volunteers who have helped in recent days, the water crisis in Jackson has indeed demonstrated the need to elect competent leaders.

Bordeaux also noted that the Democratic Party does not understand the roles of municipal and state government.

“It seems the Democratic Party does not have a solid grasp on the duties of local government and elected city leaders as opposed to the role of the state and federal government,” MSGOP Chairman Bordeaux said.  “The City of Jackson runs its water system and has responsibility for billing (revenue) and operations (staffing) – the two major factors cited by the EPA in its March report on problems with the city’s water system.  Unfortunately, that report was not acted upon by city leaders and is just now being made public.”

Republican chairman Bordeaux said that if the Democratic Party wants to join them in working to elect responsible leaders in the city of Jackson and in Congress, he certainly welcomes their assistance.

Here are the candidates running for Congress that will be on your ballot on November 8th:

1st District

• Trent Kelly (Republican) – incumbent
• Dianne Black (Democrat)

2nd District

• Bennie Thompsons (Democrat) – incumbent
• Brian Flowers (Republican)

3rd District

• Michael Guest (Republican) – incumbent
• Shuwaski Young (Democrat)

4th District 

• Mike Ezell (Republican)
• Johnny DuPree (Democrat)
• Alden Johnson (Libertarian)