Mississippi
This Advocate for Abortion Rights Wants to be Mississippi’s Next Attorney General
![This Advocate for Abortion Rights Wants to be Mississippi’s Next Attorney General This Advocate for Abortion Rights Wants to be Mississippi’s Next Attorney General](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AP23243707378251.jpg)
Politics
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September 12, 2023
Challenging the Republican who took the Dobbs case to the Supreme Court, Greta Kemp Martin champions civil rights, worker rights, and reproductive rights.
Greta Kemp Martin, the Democratic nominee for Mississippi attorney general, discusses her proposal to create a fair labor division, during an August 31 news conference in Jackson, Miss.
(Rogelio V. Solis / AP Photo)
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch took the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case to the US Supreme Court, which overturned the precedent set in the court’s historic Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions and upended abortion rights in America. A conservative ideologue who in 2020 became the first Republican since Reconstruction to serve as Mississippi’s chief law enforcement officer, Fitch uses her official state website to argue that abortion bans “empower women” and to suggest that, with the rejection of reproductive rights, “we start a new chapter in American history.”
But voters across the country, in states just as conservative and Republican-dominated as Mississippi, have recognized that the chapter Fitch is writing puts Mississippi and other states that are promoting abortion bans on the wrong side of history. There’s nothing “new” about where Fitch is taking the law. Rather, it’s a throwback to the bad old days when, as former Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards explains, “women and families…[are denied] the right to make their own decisions about the most fundamental issue in our lifetime.”
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Can Brandon Presley Shake Up Mississippi Politics?
Fitch is running for reelection this November, with a new message that puts an Orwellian twist on her anti-choice machinations. The Mississippi attorney general is leading a national crusade to assure that law enforcement agencies in states that ban abortion can track down information about people from those states who have abortions in jurisdictions that protect reproductive rights.
That doesn’t sit well with Greta Kemp Martin, the former president of the Mississippi Women Lawyers’ Association and the immediate past president of the Mississippi Association for Justice—the organization that represents the state’s trial lawyers. “Just because our attorney general orchestrated the Dobbs case, that doesn’t mean that Mississippians are in agreement with her,” says Martin.
“The polls show that people do not agree that Dobbs should be the law of the land.”
Indeed, while Mississippi may be quite conservative and currently very Republican, a 2022 survey of likely voters in the state found that 51 percent opposed the Dobbs decision. While pollsters and pundits suggest that there is a higher level of support for restrictions on reproductive rights in Mississippi than is found nationally, only 18 percent of Mississippians say abortion should be illegal in all cases.
Current Issue
So, could Mississippi be a next red state where voters send a pro-choice message? It happened in the 2022 election season in Kansas and Kentucky, where referendum votes rejected efforts to restrict abortion rights. And Martin is hoping it will happen again this fall in the Magnolia State.
When the Dobbs decision came down, Martin says, “For me, like many women, it was devastating.” As one of the state’s most prominent and active lawyers, she joined a group of Mississippians who set out to identify a Democratic candidate to take on Fitch. Eventually, Martin recalls, “people were saying, ‘You should run. You’re qualified. You understand the issues. You need to stand up for women.’”
Martin answered the call and launched what, she acknowledges, is an uphill bid in a state where every statewide elected post is held by a Republican and where Donald Trump’s two presidential bids prevailed with some of his highest levels of support in the country—57 percent in both 2016 and 2020. But her grassroots campaign has gained traction in Mississippi, where the candidate has earned strong support from Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, which says, “Unlike Lynn Fitch, Greta Kemp Martin knows health care decisions should be made by patients, not by politicians,” She’s also backed by the Mississippi AFL-CIO, which has been enthusiastic about her proposal to establish a fair labor division within the AG’s office. The labor federation says the division, which would focus on cases involving child labor, wage violations, and unsafe working conditions, is needed because, as Mississippi AFL-CIO President Robert Shaffer notes, “We are the only state in the United States that doesn’t have any form of a voice for workers in government at all.”
Martin’s campaign has also grabbed the attention of advocates around the country. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a staunch defender of reproductive rights, hails Martin, who he met with last week at a gathering of Democratic attorneys general and AG candidates from across the country, as “smart, capable, compassionate and fearless.” Members of the Democratic Attorneys General Association have put themselves in the forefront of efforts to defend abortion rights in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, and Ellison argues that it is vital to elect pro-choice Democrats in this year’s contests for AG posts in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. “As the battle for reproductive rights unfolds at the ballot box, in statehouses, and in courtrooms across the country, state AGs are best positioned to lead the fight,” explains Ellison. He says Martin’s election, as a “guardian of the right to choose after Dobbs,” would send a powerful signal not just in Mississippi but nationwide.
Martin agrees. But she’s not focused on abortion access alone. “We have an almost $100 million corruption scandal here in Mississippi, and the current attorney general has done nothing. She’s failed Mississippians on every account.” That’s a reference to the controversy that has unfolded in the state since a 2000 auditor’s report raised concerns about the mishandling of $94 million in federal funds for low-income families disbursed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Much of the money was directed to organizations linked to political allies, friends, and associates of the state’s powerful Republican leaders, when it was supposed to have been used as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding.
“I intend, on the first day that I take office, to launch a full investigation,” says Martin.
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She also wants to work with Democrat Brandon Presley, if he is elected governor in a tight race this fall with Republican incumbent Tate Reeves, to expand Medicaid, as part of a push to provide health care to hundreds of thousands of people in a state where rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate. These are issues she knows a lot about, having worked for a number of years as the litigation director for Disability Rights Mississippi.
Presley, an economic populist who has run close to Reeves in a number of polls, identifies as a “pro-life Democrat.” He does not favor a complete ban on abortion, but is likely to accept restrictions on access. “Brandon and I are not going to agree on everything. No two people ever will,” says Martin. But, she adds, they agree on most issues and are prepared to work with one another to help low-income families in Mississippi’s rural counties and hard-hit cities. “I believe Brandon Presley is going to be the next governor of Mississippi, and I am excited that he wants to extend Medicaid, which is a huge issue here in Mississippi,” she says. “He’s going to need an attorney general who is on his side on that issue.”
But is it possible that Mississippi could elect a pro-choice Democrat as attorney general? Martin thinks so, noting that voters in the state continued to elect Democratic attorneys general long after Republicans started winning other statewide posts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Indeed, when Fitch won the post in 2019, she became the first Republican to hold the title since 1878.
Martin is traveling to every corner of the state to build a multiracial coalition that can motivate young and progressive voters where turnout is historically low because of rampant voter suppression and gerrymandering. Martin thinks that concerns about the Dobbs decision will help her, even with some voters who might otherwise lean Republican.
“Dobbs is a slippery slope,” explains Martin. “If we don’t put people in office to protect women, there are going to be more restrictions and more efforts to criminalize health care decisions. Mississippians don’t want that.”
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Mississippi
Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan
![Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130225007-usatsi-24184754.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4080,2296,x0,y294&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Cam Skattebo slammed Mississippi State on the football field on Saturday night and also took another jab afterward in his postgame press conference.
The Arizona State running back, following a 30-23 Sun Devils win at Mountain America Stadium, took exception to MSU only utilizing three defenders on the line of scrimmage. The results were damning.
Arizona State (2-0) rushed for 346 yards. It was the most allowed by Mississippi State (1-1) in a game since Arkansas in 2016. Skattebo’s 262 rushing yards on 33 carries were the second-most in ASU history.
“They couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” Skattebo said when asked what made ASU’s run game successful. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with them in a three-down front. You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six. I don’t know. We took that a little disrespectful, and we rushed for what over 300 yards? Something around there. It is what it is.”
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior, also led Arizona State with 35 receiving yards on three catches.
“I knew these dudes were big and heavy,” he said. “We knew going into the game they weren’t as physical as most other teams but they’re heavy. So when they hit you, it hurts, no matter how hard they’re coming — 300 pounds at 10 miles per hour or 16 miles per hour hurts the same. I just kept my feet moving.”
Mississippi State trailed 30-3 in the third quarter but scored 20 unanswered points to cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The Bulldogs never touched the ball again, with the Sun Devils running out the clock on 12 plays.
Skattebo had a game-sealing 39-yard rush that allowed ASU to kneel down.
“Until the end, we had our ups and downs there, but that was fun,” he said. “You can ask these guys up front, bullying dudes, grown men that are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us. That’s fun to the front-five, the front-seven and the running back. The quarterback probably hates it. He probably likes watching, but he didn’t complain one time the whole game.”
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
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
![Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130223007-usatsi-24184733.jpg?auto=webp&crop=3382,1904,x0,y239&format=pjpg&width=1200)
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
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
Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State
![Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/07/PPHX/75127214007-asuuniformms.png?auto=webp&crop=450,254,x0,y9&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Sam Leavitt leads ASU to convincing victory in 1st career start
Leavitt and the Sun Devils cruised past visiting Wyoming 48-7 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.
The Arizona State football team elevated its play on the field in its 48-7 win over Wyoming in Week 1.
It is elevating its uniform game for Week 2 against Mississippi State.
ASU football is wearing a gold alternate jersey against the Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday night.
The jersey includes maroon “Arizona State” lettering and maroon numbering, along with a noticeable Big 12 logo.
The Sun Devil football team unveiled the uniform last month, with Athletic Director Graham Rossini posting that “you’ll see this on the field early this season.”
On Thursday, ASU football announced that it would be wearing the uniform against Mississippi State with a video that said “Modern shine, with a classic design.”
On Friday, it posted another look at the uniform.
More: Arizona State vs Mississippi State live score updates, analysis for college football game
ASU vs Mississippi State schedule, TV: How to watch college football game
Promising look: Arizona State football’s 2024 win prediction doubles after Week 1 victory over Wyoming
Social media reacted favorably overall to ASU football’s uniform vs Mississippi State:
Do you like the look for ASU football?
ASU vs. Mississippi State picks: Who wins Week 2 college football game?
Looking promising: Arizona State football makes huge leap in college football ranking, Big 12 power rankings
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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