Other than state judicial races, it was a light political year under the old Neshoba oaks

• Columnist Sid Salter takes a look at the races on the ballot this year in Mississippi.

The tin roof of the Founder’s Square reverberated with a lot of political rhetoric this week – some of it serious and relevant and some of it, well, not so much.

While 2024 is a presidential election year, the White House race between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris has not been forecast as particularly competitive either before or after Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden announced his decision not to seek reelection.

In the 2016 presidential election, Trump took 57.86 % of Mississippi’s votes against Democrat Hillary Clinton with 40.06 percent – a margin almost 12 % better than Trump got nationally. In 2020, Trump took a slightly lesser percentage of Mississippi’s vote with 57.60 % of the voters but earned some 56,000 additional Magnolia State votes in that win.

Mississippi hasn’t voted Democratic in presidential politics since giving fellow southerner Jimmy Carter of Georgia the nod in 1976 48 years ago.

Incumbent Mississippi Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker faces a general election challenge from Democrat Ty Pinkins, but Wicker is expected to win re-election handily.

The state’s four U.S. House of Representatives races carry little political intrigue with all four incumbents – 1^st District U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly (R), 2^nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D), 3^rd District GOP U.S. Rep. Michael Guest (R), and 4^th District U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell (R) all expected to win re-election.

Kelly will face Democrat Dianne Black while Thompson will face Republican Ronald Eller. Guest is unopposed in the general election while Ezell faces Democrat Craig Raybon.

There are several contested nonpartisan judicial races for posts on the state Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals.

Incumbent District 1, Place 3 state Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens is facing a strong challenge from State Sen. Jenifer Branning, an attorney from Philadelphia. Other challengers in the race include attorney Byron Carter of Byram, former Court of Appeals Judge Ceola James, and Jackson attorney Abby Gale Robinson.

Incumbent District 2, Place 2 state Supreme Court Justice Dawn H. Beam of Sumrall is facing a challenge from Gulfport attorney David Sullivan. Incumbent District 3, Place 1 state Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Chamberlin of Hernando and incumbent District 3, Place 2 state Supreme Court Justice James D. “Jimmy” Maxwell II of Oxford will both seek reelection unopposed.

On the state Court of Appeals, four candidates are vying for the District 5, Place 2 seat being vacated by incumbent Judge Joel Smith: Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker; Chancery Court Judge Jennifer Schloegel; Pascagoula attorney Amy L. St. Pe; and Chancery Judge Chad Smith.

Incumbent District 2, Place 2 state Court of Appeals Judge Latrice Westbrooks of Lexington is running for reelection unopposed, as is incumbent District 3, Place 3 state Court of Appeals Judge Jack Wilson of Madison.

Since the 1994 state legislative reforms gave Mississippi the modern iteration of “nonpartisan” judicial elections, the laws have been effectively the target of the old political wink-and-nudge. 

Mississippi’s laws don’t preclude partisans from expressing support for judicial candidates. The laws do preclude judicial candidates from labeling themselves as members of a particular party, but the law says nothing about the partisan leanings of their supporters.

Since the state’s first constitution was drafted in 1817, Mississippians have argued over whether to appoint or elect judges. In 1832, a constitutional convention fight erupted between three groups — the “aristocrats” who favored the appointment of all judges, the “half hogs” who wanted to elect some judges and have others appointed, and the “whole hogs” who wanted all judges elected.

History shows that the “whole hogs” won in 1832, and Mississippi has been electing judges ever since. Of the state’s current 545 judges from the Supreme Court to the municipal courts, only municipal judges are appointed. But Mississippi judicial races are supposed to be nonpartisan — meaning that candidates don’t run under the cloak of any political party.

As noted before, Mississippi’s “nonpartisan” judicial races are likely to remain — legally at least — as partisan as they are today.