Mississippi

See who MS Democratic leaders want as their next choice for presidential nominee

Published

6 months ago

July 21, 2024

See who MS Democratic leaders want as their next choice for presidential nominee

With President Joe Biden officially backing away from his 2024 Presidential Campaign, Mississippi leaders from party chairs to elected officials have weighed in mixed opinions about the decision.

Most notably, state Democrats who support Biden early on in the race, such as Congressman Bennie Thompson and State Democratic Party Chair Cheikh Taylor thanked Biden for his service and are looking forward to a united party after the August Democratic National Convention.

In Mississippi, there is only one U.S. Congress member that is a Democrat. The party also holds a minority in the state Legislature and boasts no elected statewide offices.

Biden’s announcement comes only a week after his opponent, former President Donald Trump, was shot during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and about a month after Biden’s poor performance during a presidential debate against Trump.

More on Biden decision How will MS choose Democratic nominee after Joe Biden backs out of 2024 presidential race?

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After that night, those within Biden’s party began to call for him to respectfully bow out, according to reporting by USA Today and others. Several Mississippi Democrats still supported Biden at the time, such as Thompson and Taylor, to name a few.

Here is how state leaders and elected officials responded to the news as it unfolded Sunday afternoon.

State Democratic leadership

Thompson posted to X, formerly Twitter, not long after the announcement was made by Biden.

Thompson said it is time for the party to unite and support Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden endorsed to take his place Sunday.

“As Democrats, we have faced a lot lately, and although I wish President Biden would be leading the Democratic ticket, I am committed to supporting our nominee,” he wrote. “We have to unite; democracy depends on it!”

Taylor declined to say who he would endorse as the next candidate. However, the party’s executive committee plans to meet this week to decide a new nominee. He added to Thompson’s words with a call for unity at the convention to beat back Trump.

In the Mississippi Legislature, House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, and Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, both thanked Biden for his efforts as President and plan to support Harris if she is the nominee chosen at the Democratic National Convention in August.

“I’m grateful that the President was not selfish and thought about what is the best way to protect our democracy, and what’s the best way to to defeat Donald Trump in November,” Johnson said. “…I didn’t necessarily agree with that. But if he made that choice, he made it because he thought it was best for the country to have a candidate that could make sure that we protect democracy, and that candidate will come out of the Democratic Party.”

“As a strong supporter of President Biden, and his policy that we have seen and that have been successful and beneficial to all Americans over the last four years, I believe that we have a great chance of continuing those policies increasing our chances for reelection by his endorsement of Kamala Harris,” Simmons said.

Other Mississippi legislators’ response

District 3 Republican Rep. Michael Guest also posted about Biden’s decision, saying that bowing out doesn’t go nearly far enough and that Biden should resign now.

“During his time in office, the Democratic Party has covered up Joe Biden’s inability to serve as President,” Guest wrote. “We saw in the debate he is not able to handle the duties of the office and by him dropping out of the race today, Biden admits he is not able to do the job…For the good of the country, he should step down and resign immediately.”

Other Republican House Representatives Trent Kelly and Mike Ezell had not spoken publicly about the announcement as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker took to X as well, quoting Greek poetry to say that Biden did what was right.

“Biden made the right choice: ‘Old age hath yet his honor and his toil,’ ‘Death closes all: but something ere the end,’ ‘Some work of noble note, may yet be done…’- Ulysses,” Wicker wrote.

Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith as of 3:30 p.m. had not responded to Biden stepping down.

Statewide offices and leaders:

Of the Mississippi statewide office holders, all being held by Republicans, no one had kind words for the President.

Gov. Tate Reeves took the decision as proof of Trump’s strength.

“Have you ever seen a politician so strong and talented he made his opponent quit in the middle of the race? I have: Donald J. Trump,” Reeves wrote.

State Auditor Shad White simply reposted a few words he wrote on July 18, saying that Democrats have lied about Biden’s capability to maintain his office and his faculties.

“Democrats lied to you for years about one of the most important things: whether President Biden was mentally equipped to be president,” he wrote. “If they force him off the ticket, they will be admitting they have lied. Don’t forget this when you hear them talk about anything else under the sun.”

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Jason White’s offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and neither of them had made a public statement as of 3:30 p.m.

Other state officials such as Secretary of State Michael Watson, Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and State Treasurer David McRae had not yet said anything about the Biden decision as of Sunday afternoon.

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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Mississippi

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Published

11 hours ago

January 28, 2025

Press Room

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Mississippi State women’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to Missouri on Tuesday night. Yet, it didn’t negatively impact its NCAA tournament projection.

The Bulldogs (16-6, 3-5 SEC) also won 96-56 against Auburn on Thursday, their largest SEC margin of victory in coach Sam Purcell’s three seasons.

MSU only has one game this week at LSU (21-1, 6-1) on Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network).

Here’s where Mississippi State stands in the latest NCAA tournament predictions.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament projection

ESPN’s Charlie Creme kept Mississippi State as a No. 8 seed this week. He has the Bulldogs matched up against No. 9 Oregon. The winner would play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 16 seeds Texas Southern or North Carolina A&T.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament resume

Mississippi State’s NCAA NET ranking fell three spots to No. 34 after the Missouri loss. Missouri’s NET ranking is No. 74, becoming MSU’s worse loss of the season. MSU is now 14-1 in Quads 2-4.

The Bulldogs’ best wins are at home versus Oklahoma and against Utah on a neutral court.

The Sunday game at LSU will be Quad 1.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament history under Sam Purcell

MSU has reached the NCAA tournament once in coach Sam Purcell’s two completed seasons. In 2022-23, MSU won in the First Four and the first round before losing to Notre Dame in the second round.

The Bulldogs have made NCAA tournament appearances 12 times and have won at least one game 11 straight times.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Published

22 hours ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Mississippi State women’s basketball had the ball in the hands of its 40-point scorer with 25.8 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s game.

The Bulldogs led by one point, but the shot clock showed 16 seconds. One more bucket to add to Jerkaila Jordan’s career high in points could seal the win against Missouri.

Mizzou forward Laniah Randle poked the ball away from Jordan with 13 seconds remaining and another Tigers player grabbed it and raced down the floor. Missouri didn’t call a timeout before Grace Slaughter hit a midrange baseline jump shot at the buzzer.

It dealt Mississippi State (16-6, 3-5 SEC) a 78-77 loss to the Tigers (12-10, 1-6) at Mizzou Arena.

“This one stings,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said in his postgame radio interview. “The kids are heartbroken in that locker room. They wanted this bad. I’m proud of the effort they gave, but at the end of the day, our defense was not good enough to get enough stops tonight.”

What Sam Purcell said went wrong on final play

Purcell called a timeout before Jordan’s turnover. As she began penetrating toward the hoop, center Madina Okot set a screen to the left, but Jordan drove right instead. Jordan then tried to cross back to her left when she began to lose control of the ball.

“I’m going to have to go back and watch it,” Purcell said. “Obviously I thought we had a great flat back screen. We called a timeout, even though we had the matchup earlier because we wanted to catch our breath. We still were able to get it back in our hands for the end of the game.

“You just got to tip your hat to Missouri. I think they got a deflection or a hand in there because she wasn’t able to be stopped. But for that possession, she was. And then they go down, and then obviously make a dagger there at the horn.”

Purcell pointed to two other aspects that went wrong in the game for Mississippi State, who played without backup point guard Destiney McPhaul because of illness.

One, he thought the Bulldogs allowed too many and-1 fouls. They also left points at the free-throw line, going just 14 of 24. Jordan, despite becoming the ninth player in program history to score at least 40 points in a game, was 9-for-17, with four misses in the fourth quarter.

MSU led for 22 minutes, 3 seconds of game time, including the entire third quarter, when it led by as many as nine points.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

The matchup is set for Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s a star-studded game featuring Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jalen Hurts and probably singing star Taylor Swift, too. There are also a handful of Mississippi ties to the Super Bowl — 12 to be exact, including players and coaches.

Southern Miss has the most connections among the Mississippi colleges with four.

Here’s are the Mississippi ties to know for the Super Bowl.

Mississippi State’s Super Bowl connections

Chris Jones is back in the Super Bowl as Kansas City’s star defensive lineman. The six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro played at Mississippi State from 2013-15 and is a Houston, Mississippi, native. In 15 games this season, Jones has 37 tackles, five sacks and 20 quarterback hits. He’s played his entire career with the Chiefs and already won three Super Bowls.

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay played at Itawamba Community College from 2009-10 and Mississippi State from 2011-12. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round and was traded to Philadelphia in 2020. Slay is a six-time Pro Bowler and has 49 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.

Ole Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Ole Miss’ connections are both on the Eagles.

AJ Brown, Philadelphia’s star wide receiver, played at Ole Miss from 2016-18. Brown was a second-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans but was traded to the Eagles in 2022. He’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time out of six seasons. Brown is also a Starkville native.

Eagles assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio coached tight ends and special teams at Ole Miss from 1995-98.

Southern Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Linebacker Swayze Bozeman signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring. He’s spent time on the practice squad and active roster this season, appearing in three games with three tackles. Bozeman is a Flora native, attended Tri-County Academy and played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before Southern Miss from 2019-23.

Two other former Golden Eagles are on the Chiefs’ practice squad: cornerback Eric Scott Jr. and wide receiver Jason Brownlee.

Scott played at Southern Miss from 2020-22 and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys. He was cut by the Cowboys in August and signed by Kansas City on Sept. 3. Scott has not played in a game this season. Brownlee, a West Point native, played at East Mississippi Community College from 2018-19 and Southern Miss from 2020-22. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets and caught a touchdown as a rookie but was cut in January. The Chiefs signed him to the practice squad on Jan. 15.

Todd Pinkston is in his second season as the Chiefs running backs coach. The Forest native played wide receiver at Southern Miss from 1995-99 and was a second-round draft pick by the Eagles. Pinkston also coached at Petal High School.

Mississippi high school connections to the Super Bowl

There are four Mississippians who are participating in the Super Bowl but played college football out of the state:

Nakobe Dean, the Eagles linebacker, is a Horn Lake native. He’s a former five-star in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Dean went to Georgia and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round.
Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell is from Yazoo City. He played at Memphis and was a fifth-round draft pick in 2021. Gainwell, the backup to Saquon Barkley, suffered a concussion in the NFC Championship game and did not return.
Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is from Laurel and went to West Jones. He played at Alabama before being drafted in the third round by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. Young has been on injured reserve since Oct. 26.
Defensive tackle Fabien Lovett Sr. signed with Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring and has been on the practice squad. He’s an Olive Branch native, played at Mississippi State from 2018-19 before transferring to Florida State.

When is the Super Bowl?

Date: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Location: New Orleans
Time: 5:30 p.m. CT

How to watch the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl will broadcast on FOX. Streaming is available via FuboTV, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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