Mississippi state party leaders discuss efforts with one week till election day

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – There’s no hesitation when you ask state party leaders what will drive Mississippians to the polls this election cycle.

“It’s going to be the presidential election.,” said Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Cheikh Taylor.

“I mean, it’s a presidential ballot, and you’re going to have a high turnout because of that,” noted Mississippi Republican Party Executive Director Rance Bilbo.

History bears that out. There was a more than 100,000 voter difference from 2016 to 2020 in Mississippi, despite the fact that both were presidential election years.

However, 2020 also included medical marijuana and state flag measures. This go-around, there are down-ticket items like congressional and judicial races the parties are reminding voters about.

Although Mississippi is considered a red state, the GOP says that’s where they have to make sure voters don’t sit at home.

“I tell everyone, as I travel the state, the worst thing Republicans do is get complacent,” added Bilbo. “We have to run like we’re 20 points down. It’s going to be a tight race. I encourage every Mississippian to go out and vote because their future, their kids, and their grandkids depend on it.”

Governor Tate Reeves has shared a similar message in recent posts to his social media accounts, including videos of him speaking to voters.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Reeves said in one video. “It doesn’t matter what you think. It’s how you vote. So, what’s incumbent upon all of us is to work to turn out our friends and neighbors, sure, here in Mississippi, but in every swing state.”

Democrats say the last-minute change at the top of the ticket has added to voter engagement.

“We were kind of late in the game, you know, as she got endorsed less than 100 days out from the election,” said Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Director Mikel Boldne. “But we pretty much, we’ve had billboards that were, you know, established throughout the state in available areas. We also had radio messaging. We’d had people to volunteer to do virtual phone banking. We ignited our text banking.”

“We know that we’re not a battleground state,” added Taylor. “We know we’re not a swing state, but we still have a lot of activity going on for GOTV.”

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Tuesday, November 5.

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