Mississippi
Democrats see Mississippi governor’s race as ripe for an upset
![Democrats see Mississippi governor’s race as ripe for an upset Democrats see Mississippi governor’s race as ripe for an upset](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/reevestate_111722ap_mississippi-reeves.jpeg?w=1280)
Democrats in Mississippi are feeling optimistic that their get together will be capable of oust Gov. Tate Reeves (R) from the governor’s mansion this fall after Democrat Brandon Presley’s latest entry within the race.
Reeves has suffered from low approval scores and has been name-checked at instances within the state’s long-running welfare scandal, however the governorship has proved elusive for Democrats within the pink state for many years.
The get together believes this time might be completely different. They are saying Presley, the state’s northern district public service commissioner and a distant relative of Elvis Presley, has a capability to attach with rural voters and that he’s confirmed he can win elections in a few of the reddest components of the state.
“There may be not a greater retail politician within the state of Mississippi, interval. He is aware of the best way to join with voters. He is aware of the best way to hearken to voters, which I believe is an underrated ability in a politician,” stated Democratic strategist Brannon Miller, whose agency has labored with Presley’s marketing campaign beforehand however isn’t concerned within the gubernatorial race at the moment.
“As a Democrat, you’ll be able to’t be something however optimistic about an individual like that,” he added.
Presley, who formally introduced his candidacy a little bit over per week in the past, touted his credentials as a former mayor of Nettletown — a “no stoplight city” — in his announcement video. He additionally emphasised his time serving on the state’s utilities regulatory physique the place he stated he “opened up closed-door conferences to the general public, introduced high-speed web service all the way in which out right here — to a few of the most rural and forgotten locations in our state.”
Shortly after his announcement, Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the lone Democrat in Mississippi’s congressional delegation and a strong member of the get together within the state, endorsed Presley.
In an interview with The Hill, Thompson pointed to lecturers grappling with low pay, the continuing welfare investigation into tens of millions of {dollars} that had been alleged to go to the state’s low-income residents and had been misappropriated, and dozens of rural hospitals on the point of shutting down as a few of the largest points the state might want to take care of.
“Brandon Pressley says he needs to work with these native communities on their specific issues. I’m enthusiastic about that,” Thompson stated. “‘Trigger I hear what persons are saying on daily basis about their trials and tribulations. And so we’d like someone within the highest place on this state that not simply hear about residents’ trials and tribulations however really does one thing about it.”
Certainly, Mississippi State Well being Officer Daniel Edney warned in November that the monetary disaster plaguing the state’s rural hospitals risked the closure of greater than half of them, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger reported. Lecturers’ pay within the state has trailed different states within the nation, although Reeves final 12 months signed laws that might increase pay a mean of greater than $5,000. Ageing water infrastructure in Jackson, exacerbated by critical climate situations, has left residents within the majority-Black metropolis with out dependable, clear water at instances.
There’s additionally an ongoing investigation into the misappropriation of Non permanent Help for Needy Households (TANF) funds that had been alleged to be directed towards the state’s lowest earnings residents however had been as an alternative pocketed for issues unrelated to this system’s priorities. The investigation has at instances name-checked Reeves, however he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Democrats see latest polling as purpose for optimism that there’s fertile floor to elect a Democrat as governor. A Morning Seek the advice of ballot launched earlier this month discovered Reeves among the many 10 governors with the bottom approval scores, coming in at 49 p.c. And a Mississippi At the moment-Siena School ballot discovered that 57 p.c of respondents, together with 33 p.c of Republicans, wish to see somebody apart from the governor because the state’s prime official.
“Brandon Presley’s by no means … relied solely on Democrats to win. He’s at all times needed to win Republicans and independents to have the job he has now,” stated a marketing consultant that works with Presley’s marketing campaign.
“’I’m not nervous in regards to the registration of the state,” the marketing consultant stated, pointing to the 57 p.c of these polled within the Mississippi At the moment-Siena School survey that needed a brand new governor.
Plus, a number of Republicans, together with former state Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice Invoice Waller Jr. and Secretary of State Michael Watson, are reportedly contemplating getting into the race, which might spark a bruising main for Reeves.
However Republicans say Democrats nonetheless have their work reduce out for them. The state hasn’t elected a Democrat for governor since 1999, and unseating a Republican incumbent in a state that went for former President Trump by greater than 16 factors in 2020 might be no small feat.
“Brandon Presley and D.C. Democrats are dreaming in the event that they assume they will flip Mississippi blue. The hard-working individuals of Mississippi know they will’t afford a Joe Biden liberal working the state into the bottom,” Sara Craig, government director of the Republican Governors Affiliation, stated in a press release.
“Democrat insurance policies across the nation have crushed Individuals struggling to make ends meet. The management of Governor Reeves is a stark distinction, with extra jobs and higher pay, safer streets and high quality colleges, and he’s simply getting began,” she added.
Frank Bordeaux, the chairman of the Mississippi GOP, stated he didn’t take a lot inventory in Mississippi At the moment’s polling on Reeves and believed that the state’s welfare investigation wouldn’t negatively affect the governor’s reelection efforts — a probe that Presley referenced in his first advert.
“Clearly, for those who’re going [to] go destructive proper out the gate, you’re shedding,” Bordeaux stated. “And in order that’s sort of how we take that. Him saying that he’s acquired to do one thing to get his identify on the market, and he’s acquired to attempt to compete with the governor. And he’s clearly determined to go destructive proper out the gate.”
Democrats acknowledge {that a} combination of rebuilding state get together infrastructure and elevated monetary engagement is important for making inroads.
“An actual weak spot [in] the state is we don’t have the infrastructure, proper? We simply don’t have a Democratic infrastructure. Our Democratic Occasion is in a rebuilding section, for lack of a greater phrase,” stated Democratic strategist Pam Shaw, referring to the state Democratic Occasion.
Miller, the opposite Democratic strategist, put it one other approach.
“I believe it’s an issue of, , we’re only a poor state, and significantly Democratic voters are typically very poor in Mississippi. And we don’t have the kind of exterior progressive organizations that present the bottom when it comes to monetary and grassroots help for Democratic candidates,” he stated.
The Democratic Governors Affiliation (DGA) invested seven figures within the 2019 gubernatorial race, and spokesman Sam Newton stated in a press release the group will “proceed to carefully watch this race because it develops.”
“The DGA has proven that we are able to win wherever, together with ousting GOP incumbents in very robust environments like Kentucky, Wisconsin and North Carolina in latest election cycles,” he famous.
Andre Wagner, government director for the Mississippi Democratic Occasion, stated making features for Democrats in a pink state like Mississippi might be “one thing that takes time,” pointing to Georgia for example.
“I believe that Mississippi is on the precipice of with the ability to be on the forefront — to be proper on the forefront to show this state blue, or not less than purple. It took work, it took actual concerted effort to show Georgia into what it’s now,” Wagner stated.
“Shirley Chisholm stated that for those who’re not on the desk, deliver a folding chair. And truthfully, I believe that’s what we have to do is be certain we deliver folding chairs to the desk so we are able to all be part of this work collectively,” he added.
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Mississippi
How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff
![How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/03/PNAS/75060541007-usatsi-24129028.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5472,3078,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is preparing to play a team that, at least through one game, looks vastly improved from last season.
Coach Jeff Lebby admitted on Monday, and Bulldog players have noticed it too after Arizona State (1-0) thumped Wyoming 48-7 in its opener.
MSU (1-0) must also factor in the late kickoff that is scheduled Saturday (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Mississippi is hot, but so is Arizona — a different kind of hot, too.
Modifications and remedies are being made, such as the team leaving Starkville on Thursday instead of how it normally would on a Friday for a Saturday game.
“For our guys, just knowing exactly what we are getting into,” Lebby said. “We continue to talk about that through yesterday and this morning and (are) having those conversations to understand what it’s going to look like late in the week. We got to do a great job from a preparation standpoint of how we are hydrating, how we are eating and how we are resting to give us the ability to go on the road on this flight and be able to be at our best Saturday night.”
Just this week, Phoenix broke a record with its 100th straight day of 100-degree temperatures. According to AccuWeather, the high on Saturday in Tempe will be 107 degrees with a low of 86. The temperature should dip to around 91 near kickoff with a humidity of 24%.
“Coach Lebby has already been harping on that,” tight end Justin Ball said. “We’ve already been hydrating and making sure we are getting rest every single day. We leave on Thursday, so we already talked about the plan to make sure we are hydrating the entire plane ride there, making sure when we get there we get acclimated as quickly as you can and just staying together. Making sure we’re focused, make sure we keep the goal first and then execute the game plan.”
MORE: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here’s how he’s wrong
Mississippi State played well the last time it played in Arizona
The Bulldogs played Arizona in Tucson two seasons ago. They squandered a pedestrian Wildcats team 39-17. Kickoff for that game was at 8 p.m. PST though the temperature was 84 degrees at game time.
Not many players remain on Mississippi State’s roster from that 2022 season. But the ones who are, like linebacker Nic Mitchell, can benefit from the experience and also share it with teammates.
“We know it’s going to be a long flight, so we know we got to be hydrated,” Mitchell said. “It gives people experience that have done it before and they can tell the young guys how it’s going to be in the flight, how you got to hydrate and stuff like that.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Playing for Mississippi State not an option for Arizona State back Kyson ‘Sipp’ Brown
Arizona State forces 3 turnovers in win over Wyoming to start 2024
All offseason, coach Kenny Dillingham preached getting turnovers. Forty seconds into the season’s first game, the defense produced its first one.
Sophomore running back Kyson Brown is one of the faster players on the Arizona State football team. But Brown seems to have a little more pep in his step this week. Why? Well, the Sun Devils (1-0) are set to take on Mississippi State (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Sure an SEC opponent is enough to get any athlete fired up. But the 6-foot, 200-pounder hails from Tupelo, Mississippi, which is where he got his nickname, Sipp. Tupelo is 67 miles north of the Mississippi State campus in Starkville that Sipp has visited a handful of times.
“I have family, growing up they were all Mississipp State fans and some Ole Miss fans,” he said. “Some of my family are debating whether they want to cheer for me or not. It’s going to be good. A lot of hometown friends. Got a couple guys I went to high school with there. It’s going to be good seeing those guys and hopefully, we compete at a good level and get the W.”
Brown, a mechanical engineering major, is enrolled in ASU’s Barret honors program, He emerged as one of the team’s most improved players. He saw some time on special teams as a true freshman in 2023 and has set himself up for a bigger role, although the ASU backfield has a lot of depth.
In the last week’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, Brown pitched in with six rushing attempts for 25 yards and two receptions for 73 yards. His 68-yard touchdown reception was the longest play from scrimmage that ASU had on the night.
“It felt amazing just to get back in the end zone again,” Brown said. “You come out of high school, you know I’m used to being in the end zone every game, all the time. That play, I knew — once I made the first guy miss — I knew I wasn’t going to let anybody catch me.”
Brown lived in Mississippi until moving to Lancaster, Texas, outside of Dallas, after his sophomore year of high school. He sat out junior year after the transfer. As a senior he averaged 9.5 yards per carry, finishing with 707 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries while adding 14 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Sitting out his junior year hurt his recruiting, but he still had notable offers from Purdue, Missouri and Houston. The balance of his options were lower-profile schools. Mississippi State didn’t offer.
He is happy with the end result. A place on the ASU football roster. In the offseason, he worked on his agility, flexibility and catching the ball, which was evident in his recent scoring play.
“We all have the big-play potential,” he said of his fellow running backs. “I feel my role is to make plays, wherever they put me be able to perform.”
Mississippi
Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why
![Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/30/PJAM/73515915007-tcl-legislature-06.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2999,1687,x0,y100&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Lawmakers, PERS director agree they must work together in the future
How to plan for retirement using an online calculator
Retirement calculators can give you an idea of when you’ll financially be able to retire.
Problem Solved
State lawmakers will need to readdress concerns about the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi in 2025 if it is to remain viable long term, according to a July study.
Legislative actions in the 2024 Session to reduce public employer contribution rate hikes and increase state funding are not enough to address billions in unfunded future benefits to retirees, according to a report released by the Legislature’s third-party watchdog group, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee.
Projections show the state’s retirement plan being less than 50% fully funded by 2047 and having $25 billion in liabilities. According to several municipal leaders who spoke to the Clarion Ledger earlier this year, the legislative move from lawmakers in the past session should save public employers from cutting positions and raising taxes to keep and hire more public employees.
“Change in approach for increasing the employer contribution rate, in addition to the one-time funds transfer, reduces the plan’s projected future funded ratio from 65.5% to 49.9%,” the report reads. “…The PERS plan is currently expected to be at a lower-funded level in the future than it currently is today.”
PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins told the Clarion Ledger he wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings.
“The PEER analysis seems to be an accurate report and generally reconciles with our information,” Higgins said. “Also, the legislative action from last session appears to be a short-term solution.”
While the report does not list out any specific recommendations for lawmakers this coming year, it says continued work will be necessary to fix the retirement system that has 118,000 retirees receiving benefits and 147,000 active members paying into the system.
In 2023, the PERS governing board, made up of mostly elected members, as advised by financial actuaries who watch over the state’s retirement plan, passed a rate increase on public employers, such as cities, counties and school districts from 17.40% to 19.90% that was to take effect July 1. The rate would have continued to increase to 22.4% by 2027.
In the 2024 Session, the Legislature passed two bills. Senate 3231, prohibits the PERS Board’s plan to gradually increase the employer contribution rate and replaces it with a plan to increase to 19.90% over the next five years in 0.5% annual increases. SB 3231 also takes the board’s only regulatory power to increase rates and puts it in the hands of the Legislature.
SB 2468 enacts a one-time transfer of $110 million of capital expense funds into the PERS trust.
More on PERS bill MS Legislature passes bill restricting state retirement board’s authority
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Rupp Smith told the Clarion Ledger efforts Hosemann helped push forward that resulted in those bills’ passage led to a potentially more stable retirement system.
“To avoid this calamity while developing a future solution, the Legislature adopted a less-aggressive employer increase,” Smith wrote via email. “We are now informed the plan has a projected future funding ratio of 65.5% as of 2047, as compared to 48.6% projected one year ago.”
Republican House Speaker Jason White’s Communications Director Taylor Spillman did not reply to several emails requesting White’s comments on the report.
What are the big problems?
Higgins previously said the ratio of retirees to active members has seen a reverse trend since 2013, when there were 93,000 retirees and 162,000 active members. This increases the unfunded liability of the system as fewer people take jobs in government, reducing active members and more people retire, increasing the funding obligation of PERS.
The other issue lies with projections for the retirement plan’s future if state lawmakers decide not to take action in the years to come.
“While the ($110 million) funding for the first year is comparable, each year in the future could potentially see a greater deviation in expected employer contribution revenues for the PERS plan,” the report reads. “This deviation does not immediately constitute a problem for the PERS plan; however, careful evaluation of the plan’s future liabilities and funding needs will be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the PERS plan.”
Are there any solutions?
Higgins and Smith both said future work on PERS is still a top priority.
Higgins specifically mentioned a new retirement benefits package that could be offered to new public sector employees, which the PERS board has called tier 5.
“The Board has previously recommended a tier 5 for new employees to help better sustain PERS in the future and is currently considering what may be included or resubmitted in next year’s legislative package,” Higgins said.
Read about new Medicaid program Mississippi Medicaid prenatal care access program still awaiting federal approval. Why?
Earlier this year, Hosemann told the Clarion Ledger he wanted to see evidence that a new tier of benefits could help maintain the retirement system long term. Smith did not confirm whether Hosemann’s office is currently studying that idea in the legislative off season, but she did say the Legislature is looking at several ideas.
“The Legislature is exploring any option for a more viable plan,” Smith said. “The Lt. Governor continues to be committed to fulfilling current employee and retiree benefits, including the cost-of-living adjustment for these individuals.”
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
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