Luckett Touts Bio-Fuels, Education at Jackson Forum
“Education is one thing I’m going to tackle like fighting a bear,” Luckett added.
Asked for his opinion of charter schools, which the Mississippi Legislature is currently considering, Luckett replied that he liked many of the reforms that charter schools implement, like longer school days and increased support services, but wouldn’t endorse charter schools statewide. “Why don’t we adopt the charter school concepts and put them into the whole public school system?” Luckett said.
Luckett has not held public office before but has served on the Democratic Executive Committees for Coahoma County and for the entire state.
In addition to defending a variety of corporate clients, including Kroger and Archer Daniels Midland, Luckett co-owns two Clarksdale businesses, Madidi Restaurant and the Ground Zero Blues Club, with Morgan Freeman. Freeman donated $250,000 to Luckett’s political action committee, Progress for Mississippi, last year, according to 2009 campaign-finance reports. Progress for Mississippi raised $407,289 total last year, including $17,332 from ActBlue Mississippi, the Mississippi branch on a national online Democratic fundraising organization. Luckett himself contributed $25,000 to his war chest.
Asked if he thought he could win a statewide election as a Democrat, Luckett acknowledged that he faced a disadvantage because of his party affiliation. But Democratic principles and policies better serve most Mississippians, he argued.
“The Democrats in Mississippi haven’t fared well,” Luckett said. “I believe that Democrats have done far more for Mississippi than the Republicans have. Up in the Delta they say, ‘If you hope to live like a Republican, vote Democrat(ic).’”
Jackson Free Press
3/12/10
