Jackson Free Press

Jan. 19, 2004--The Sun-Herald is reporting: "A Senate committee has recommended a new election in the disputed Hinds District 29 race. Democrat Dewayne Thomas was certified the winner of the race by the Hinds County Election Commission, but incumbent Sen. Richard White, R-Terry, filed a contest petition with the Senate. 'The full Senate will vote on the committee's recommendation, but it is unclear when that will happen,' said Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, chairman of the committee. The committee recommended a Feb. 10 special election in the entire district.

Previous Comments

ID

137491

Comment

They should let the official results stand and let Senator Thomas get to work. Richard White lost, and it couldn't have happened to a better homophobe (yeah, he's the one that told the Associated Press that Presidential candidates like Howard Dean who believe in gay equality should stay out of Mississippi, they aren't welcomed here). He should stop whining and deal with it.

Author

Jo-D

Date

2004-01-20T19:19:02-06:00

ID

137492

Comment

"The state Senate voted Tuesday to hold a new election in Hinds County District 29, but the Democratic contender says he is financially and emotionally drained and is considering pulling out of the race." ""We've already been through enough, and I don't know if I want to go through any more of this," Thomas said. "They should have went ahead and seated him (White). That's apparently what they wanted." From Clarion Ledger (whole story)

Author

kaust

Date

2004-01-21T12:53:37-06:00

ID

137493

Comment

Today's Clarion-Ledger editorial pretty much sums it up. FWIW, the following comments regarding public defenders are also on target.

Author

Ex

Date

2004-01-21T15:11:36-06:00

ID

137494

Comment

Let's see, the republican track record is: Florida in the 2000 election Re-doing redistricting in Texas The California recall election and now this. There's a pattern here that makes me very fearful for the future of democracy.

Author

kate

Date

2004-01-22T10:43:14-06:00

ID

137495

Comment

Suffice to say this kind of thing is not unique to Republicans. Florida: We will probably never know for sure who legitimately won that state, given that people proposed different criteria and the debates about which criteria were fair or not. While it's generally not a good idea to bring up "ancient history", I will say that JFK's victory hung on some questionable votes in Chicago. Texas: The majority party in the legislature will always redistrict to its advantage. The Democrats did it the last generation, now the Republicans are doing it in this generation. If anything, we should reform the process of how states draw their districts (hint: taking the redrawing out of the hands of the legislature, at least in part, would be a TREMENDOUS improvement) California: similar story to TX. Reform the recall process. I'd say doubling the percentage of the state's registered voters needed to effect a recall would be a great start. The state is too responsive to the voters IMO (too many referendums, for one thing). Voters, like politicians, always try to the something for nothing - or as close to it as they can (which is general human nature, I know. But still!) Beyond this, our nation went through a lot worse threats (Lincoln suspending the Act of Haebus Corpus, incredible corruption in The Late 19th Century's Guilded Age, and so forth). Be glad that the 2000 election, whatever its shortcomings, was decided by lawyers and not the generals or other armed groups. If anything, the 2000 Election STRENGHTENED my faith in this country's democratic culture.

Author

Philip

Date

2004-01-24T13:04:29-06:00