(Photo provided by Shuwaski Young - 2023)
- The Secretary of State candidate says he believes race-based districts are unconstitutional, adding that “racially polarized voting” protects political power such as in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District.
A Mississippi candidate for Secretary of State says race should not be a motivating factor in drawing electoral districts.
Shuwaski Young, a Democrat-turned-Republican, issued the statement Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case out of Louisiana that could upend how predominantly Southern states draw their electoral districts.
READ MORE: Supreme Court seems inclined to limit race-based electoral districts under the Voting Rights Act
Young said Mississippians are no longer living through the realities of the 1960s, which gave way to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He said the Act was meant to ensure equal opportunity at the ballot box, not to guarantee specific electoral outcomes.
“Race should not be a motivating factor in drawing voter districts. District maps should be based on geography and population volume, not racial calculations designed to preserve one seat,” Young said. “That’s why I believe race-based districts are indeed unconstitutional.”
Young pointed to Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District that has been represented by Democrat Congressman Bennie Thompson for over 30 years as an example of “how race-based districting and racially polarized voting has protected his political power and fueled racial division in Mississippi for decades. “
The statewide candidate said the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of Louisiana v. Callais marks a defining moment for redistricting laws, especially in states like Mississippi.
“It is my hope that Mississippi legislators adopt fair and commonsense congressional maps if the Supreme Court revises the standards under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” Young added.
Young announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party in October 2024, saying then that today’s Democratic platform and the policies it advances “do not represent the Mississippi I know and love.”
READ MORE: Hypocrite, Traitor, Wanna Be: Young leaving “unrecognizable” Democratic Party long time coming
“Over time, I have continuously witnessed an intraparty course change: from advocating for fairness and equity in the workplace to unrecognizable liberal policies that challenge traditional gender norms, traditional family values, bedrock beliefs in religion, and the mocking of men for being men, while advocating for economic policies that do not improve the lives of the poor and middle class and do not advance strong unified families,” Young said last year.
Since then, he has engaged in a statewide campaign to run as a Republican for Secretary of State in the 2027 election cycle, an office he briefly sought as a Democrat in 2023 before withdrawing from the race.
