Governor Reeves rips Hosemann, DeBar as being Democrat-aligned, opposed to conservatives

• “I’ve never been more disappointed in elected officials than I am this morning,” Reeves said of the Lt. Governor and Senate Education Chairman. He added that the Senate Education Committee is “where Conservative priorities go to Die. And where the Democrat philosophy still dominates.”

Governor Tate Reeves (R) took to social media early Wednesday morning to express his displeasure with how Republicans in the Mississippi Senate failed to back the House education freedom package put forward by Speaker Jason White (R).

Reeves said in his 23 years in public office, “I’ve never been more disappointed in elected officials than I am this morning in [Lt. Governor Delbert] Hosemann and Senator Dennis Debar.”

“They killed a Republican legislative priority shared by conservatives all across this country and they worked closely with the Democrats to do it,” the governor wrote. “Even worse—they tried to do it in the dark and hide it from [Mississippi] conservatives on a deadline day.”

Governor Reeves is referring to the action taken Tuesday by the Senate Education Committee where in less than two minutes, all Republicans joined all Democrats on the committee to unanimously kill HB 2, the Mississippi Education Freedom Act. The measure had received support from White House officials, the U.S. Department of Education, the Mississippi Republican Party, and numerous pro-family, school choice groups both in Mississippi and around the country. Even President Donald Trump repeatedly spoken in favor of providing school choice to every child in America, and the issue has been placed in the Republican Party’s platform.

READ MORE: Mississippi Democrats celebrate Republican senators’ decision to kill Trump-backed school choice plan

Reeves said of the Mississippi Senate Education Committee that it is “where Conservative priorities go to Die. And where the Democrat philosophy still dominates.”

In fact, as previously reported, the Mississippi Democratic Party rushed to celebrate the demise of HB 2, couching it as a victory for their organizing efforts. Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Director Mikel Bolden said Tuesday, “When Democrats organize and fight for our home, we win.”

Governor Reeves went on to say he has spent the last 23 years “fighting the leftists, their liberal ideology, and the Mississippi Democratic Party’s philosophy that government knows best.”

“They believe the people should NEVER be empowered – only the government should,” the governor wrote. “But I have NO reason to get mad at the Democrats – they openly believe something very different than me. Their approach is wrong and we have proven them wrong over and over with our education results.”

Reeves continued, by saying, “In fact, our ‘Mississippi Miracle’ only started because Conservatives took over the House and Senate in 2011 and for 8 years we passed laws that adhered to our political philosophy.”

Speaker White said Tuesday evening that Senate leadership “has aligned themselves with the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, the Mississippi Democratic Party, and the status quo.”

“The self-proclaimed deliberative body did not deliberate. Instead of engaging in meaningful work to build on Mississippi’s education gains, the Senate has chosen the route to shut down any productive pathway to put students before systems,” White said. “To avoid conversation, debate, or thorough evaluation is a disservice to parents, students, and future generations of Mississippians.”