Jackson Free Press

Use this blog to discussion Mississippi and Jackson elections. Yes, non-Jacksonians are welcome. Here's to America and freedom.

Previous Commentsshow

Graves hit 50% at one point, but the last update we saw took it back down to 48%. The convention center was winning handily in the last update -- over 70%. No word on whether that would hold...we've heard some rumors that they're having trouble counting.

Todd Stauffer

Nov 2 2004

Last I saw on TV, Graves was at 50%. Convention Center at 70%. Rankin stays a dry county. The margin of victory for the gay marriage ban is too depressing to even contemplate. Even Jon Stewart made fun of it, on the Daily Show.

kate

Nov 2 2004

wlbt.com is reporting 67% yes to the convention center to 33% no with 85 of 94 precincts reporting

patrick

Nov 2 2004

ABC reported that Ohio's gay marriage ban was still 66% FOR. Well, there is a little bit of good news on the gay marriage amendment for Mississippi -- for Hinds at least. 33% AGAINST, the most opposition in the entire state [1] (yes, even higher than your reputedly more "gay friendly" Gulf Coast counties[2]!) Furthermore, opposition in Hinds to the amendment was larger than ALL BUT ONE of Louisiana's parishes during its own marriage amendment (obviously, that parish is Orleans[3]). Even on a metropolitan basis the tri-county metro and the Gulf Coast metro voted against the ammendment at practically even rates (21.3 for Jackson, 21.7% for the Coast). After New Orleans (at 34.5% against). Two other south La. metros did have more opposition to that state's gay marriage amendment than Jackson and the Miss Coast, but not by much (22.3 in Lafayette, 23.0 in Baton Rouge). Hattiesburg, the other state's metro, had only 13% opposition -- 18.94% for Forest Co. So, with a little extra hard work and publicity, Jackson can definitely develop a reputation for REALTIVE tolerance compared to other similarly-sized cities in the region. Perhaps that's where Jackson needs to start -- a tolerant city relative to the rest of the region. But Hinds County's 33% opposition does give Jackson a nice headstart. [1] Mississippi as a whole voted 14.23% AGAINST. By comparison, Ohio voted close to 33% against (I can't remember the precise figure, but I'm CERTAIN that's darn close to the real one!) [2] Harrison Co (Gulfport & Biloxi) was a rather distant second; 23% against. [3]Orleans Parish voted 45% against in Louisiana's election concerning its own gay marriage amendment. SOURCE: http://network.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2004/general/by_county/ballot_other/MS.html?SITE=MSJAD&SECTION=POLITICS

Philip

Nov 3 2004

Watch the TV reports that a.m. that are saying that Justice James Graves "won." They do not consider it a victory unless they get 50 percent plus one vote, which they do not believe is going to happen. (I just got off the phone with the campaign.) They will have to go into a run-off if they don't get that against Samac Richardson and in our state that we are so proud has come so far in race relations, Graves has about the chance of a snowball in hell of winning the run-off against a conservative white man. (My words, not theirs.) However, this does mean that a serious GOTV effort is named in Jackson in the next two weeks, especially in black communities. So there's somewhere to put your pent-up energy today if you don't want the "one of us" conservative-activist guy representing you in the Mississippi Supreme Court.

DonnaLadd

Nov 3 2004

Hinds' opposition to the gay marriage amendment is just as great as in "The Big Two" Arkansas Counties: Pulaski (Little Rock) and Washington (Fayetteville, home of Univ of Ark.). The metro opposition was higher than the Jackson metros, but it does show that the City of Jackson, where the vast bulk of the Hinds population lives, has REAL POTENTIAL for becoming at least a REGIONAL (if not national) center of relative tolerance. It will take a lot of work to do so, but a more broadly tolerant society is possible in Mississippi's largest metro area. BTW, I'm not gay, but personal experience makes me fully agree with Dr. Richard Florida that tolerance of all kinds of people can be a critical element for enhancing an area's quality of life...and job market too. See the following links for more: The Secret to Jackson's Future Creative Class Rising So, what is my take on what Jackson should do? Well, consider that of the phrase "God, Gays, and Guns", [b">"God" is what captures the souls of people most. Therefore "God"should be the focal point. I put up quite a number of posts about God and Government: [Lott] Opposing Homosexual Marriage (Jul 17 3:18 pm, 3:26 pm, and 3:37 pm) Clinton LeSeuer (Oct 12 5:46 am, Oct 16 6:19 am, plus subsequent responses on Oct 16 to TCStein. Also, Oct 22 8:23 pm and todds Oct 23 12:21 pm offers great additional information as well) PARTS REPEATED AT It's Mourning in America Clinton LeSeuer

Philip

Nov 3 2004

The metro opposition was higher than the Jackson metros, but it does show that the City of Jackson, where the vast bulk of the Hinds population lives, has REAL POTENTIAL for becoming at least a REGIONAL (if not national) center of relative tolerance. It will take a lot of work to do so, but a more broadly tolerant society is possible in Mississippi's largest metro area. Praise be, and pass the potatoes. Thanks, Phillip, for believing in us and reminding us of these things when we're down a bit. Come see us soon; would love to finally meet you. "God" is what captures the souls of people most. Therefore "God"should be the focal point. If you note from our dialogue today, we're taking your advice. The dialogue has started. (Actually, we were already doing it with your help. Thanks!)

DonnaLadd

Nov 3 2004

BTW, my sources for the above are MississippiClarion-Ledgeras of about 1 am, Nov 3 (it's been updated a bit since then, but I don't anticipate any substantial % difference in the outcomes) ArkansasArnaksas Amendment 3 County Results as of about 1 am, Nov 3 (the CNN site also might have been updated a bit since then, but I don't anticipate any substantial % difference in the outcomes) Louisiana Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Division, "Gay Marriage Amendment" Election was on September 18, 04. These figures are complete.

Philip

Nov 3 2004

I hate to say it, people - for you all and for me...but apparently I should have waited until I put up those figures. Trust me when I say this disappoints me as badly as it does you. Apparently Hinds Co. still had a lot of uncounted ballots on the measure when I ran the numbers. In fact, the update is QUITE a letdown!! There's no reason to give up, but I will say Jackson will have much more work to do than I implied in my erroneous previous posts. Donna, I invite you to delete all my posts on all boards concerning the gay marriage election results, with the exception of the Nov 03, 04 6:11 pm ones (my sources), so as to avoid confusion. To prevent further confusion, let me qualify the rest of this post. These are the results according to the Linked Clarion-Ledger site as of 7:17 am TODAY. The Arkansas results are also based on the CNN figures as of that same time TODAY. Ditto for the Louisiana ones. Hinds Co.'s opposition to the measure is only at 22.31% - only the 7th largest in the state -- behind two coastal counties (Harrison and Hancock), Lafayette (Ole Miss) and three majority black rural counties west of I-55. By contrast, the largest opposition among the regions' core metropolitan counties was well over 25%, and often over 30% (Orleans Pa. was at 45%). Jackson's metropolitan figures were even worse, not only in relation to the Coast, but to the entire region: 16.91%, just barely above the statewide rate and DEAD LAST among regional metros with populations between 250K and 500K. In fact, of the 17 metro areas of ALL metros in Ark., La., and Miss., Jackson ranked only 13th. Only Lake Charles, Monroe, Alexandria, and Hattiesburg (in descending order) had less opposition in their respective elections on the gay marriage ban issue than did metro Jackson. By contrast, the most metropolitan opposition, barring the metros of Memphis (TN had no such ballot inititative) and New Orleans (in a class by itself), came from metropolitan areas of Little Rock at 30.41% and Fayetteville at 29.51% (BTW, metro New Orleans' 34.48%, so metro LR seems to be snapping at metro N.O.s heels [ 34.48%]. Then again, suburban N.O. is pretty conservative despite The Big Easy's "everything goes" culture. This drags down the metro figures. Therefore, I seriously doubt if that's a valid comparison). So...even if Jackson does come up short, we can still organize our thoughts (both individually and collectively) as to deciding the most effective strategy for drawing up a convincing manifesto, something like "Why Laws Should Never Be Based Solely on Religious Morality". We're off to a great start on the Clinton LeSeuer and Mourning in America boards. I'll bet if we pool everything said on these boards, we can come up with a pretty strong blueprint for a coherent manifesto; not only for Mississippi, but America as well.

Philip

Nov 5 2004