What does the future of the Democratic Party look like in Mississippi?

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Can Mississippi move away from being known as a red state? One Democratic candidate is calling out his own party’s leadership for being a roadblock to victories.

WLBT spoke with Mississippi Democratic Party chairman Tyree Irving in October of 2021 about the future of the party.

“Long-term vision is to have us as Democrats and Mississippi to start winning from the local level all the way up,” said Irving.

Fast forward to November 11, 2022, and Chairman Tyree Irving told us in a phone call that he is not going to talk about the party’s plans and didn’t have the time or desire to have any conversations on the issue.

Meanwhile, third congressional district Democratic nominee Shuwaski Young put out this statement a day after the election taking responsibility for his loss but calling out the state party.

“In the final analysis, those folks want to see me run for either a statewide office, whatever it may be, or something along those lines, or even perhaps another bid in 2024,” noted Young. “So, that’s not something that I’m willing to do without a change in leadership.”

Young says he didn’t receive any support from the state party, pointing to having a difficult time getting them to share posts or retweet the campaign. A check of the party’s Facebook page shows the last post was made in July that listed the candidates for each congressional race.

“It’s the basic necessities of what a party should be doing, that we’re not seeing,” added Young. “This is a level of incompetence, and arrogance that I’ve never seen in any party, in any party that I’ve worked in.”

Former Democratic Party Chairman and current Executive Committee Jamie Franks say there is work to be done.

“We have not cultivated a fundraising program or process here in Mississippi,” explained Franks. “It has to be a priority. And money is a driving force in politics these days, when you look at Georgia, or Pennsylvania, Nevada, or Arizona, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent. And Mississippi needs to be part of becoming a blue state. Because our people deserve to have the resources and deserve to have an opportunity.”

Franks believes Democrats can still win in the state but they need increased support from the state party.

“We have not cultivated a bench of candidates to have people that can get out and do what needs to be done that has served in political offices and know what needs to be done. Not to say that our candidates who ran this year did not do an outstanding job and do what they needed to do,” added Franks. “But if you don’t have messaging, you don’t have a coordinated campaign. And you don’t have the opportunity to reach some type of parity with Republicans to say what the Democratic Party stands for and that we’re not that far apart. There’s a lot more that connects us as Mississippians than separates us from the Democratic Party. And we need to build on that. And so far, that’s not happening. And we need a leadership that that will do that.”

Franks says the current leadership was elected during COVID and had to be done with a virtual convention.

He notes that they have yet to have an in-person meeting. He believes it is time to meet in person and talk about the issues. He thinks that will be a catalyst for more action.

We reached out to others involved in the party to get their take.

“It’s hard not to be frustrated after an election night like Tuesday,” said Jacqueline R. Amos Chair, Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee, and National Democratic Committee Woman. “The fact that the state party has just hired a new young black man as Executive Director with lots of campaign experience in Texas and with the hopes that he will make some needed changes. The only way to go is up! We need active and better recruiting for candidates statewide. We need a stronger bench. We need to give voters in Mississippi hope for electing progressive candidates who aren’t afraid to be progressive Democrats and don’t always just appeal to mythical Republican crossover voters. We need more white Democrats who aren’t set on voting against their own self-interest to keep their perceived power. I just hope we can move in the direction that I’m speaking of for the betterment of all Mississippians.”

Democratic strategist Brannon Miller, partner at Chism Strategies makes this note about the future of the party.

“We consistently get 40 to 45% of the vote and statewide elections,” said Miller “You know, are we going to be able to get to 50%? I do think, remains to be seen. And that’s because it requires a lot of investment, a lot of infrastructures, a lot of planning, right, this is not, you know, what Georgia has been able to do, going from a red state, just like us to a purplish, or maybe even a bluish purple state that took decades of planning of investment. And, you know, I think that’s what it will take, you know, to get to that sort of place here.”

Miller added this reminder about some recent races.

“If I was talking to Democrats in Mississippi who are not feeling great, I would say two things. One, we’ve just come off of the heels of two really huge elections, where Democrats really overperformed in the state... in terms of 2018, Mike Espy’s runoff race against Cindy Hyde-Smith, where he got a larger share of the vote than any democratic candidate for Senate since the 80s. And then the 2018 Jim Hood-Tate Reeves gubernatorial race, right where Jim Hood got a larger share of the vote than any democratic statewide candidate since Ronnie Musgrove won the governorship and 99. And so I mean, you’re talking about 20 years sort of historic performances, that sure did not translate into statewide wins but they translated into, you know, some legislative pickups too, you know, some other down-ballot pickups. And so, you know, in the past few years, we’ve had actually a lot of success. And we’re getting a lot closer to that point.”

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