Jackson Free Press

Editor's note: In the interest of full disclosure, Jackson Ward 1 city council candidate Amile Wilson formerly wrote a column and has worked as a freelance photographer for the Jackson Free Press. Dorsey Carson, the other Ward 1 candidate who has officially announced, is an attorney for the JFP. Below is the full, verbatim release from Wilson about his candidacy:

Amile Wilson Announces Campaign for City Council

After much prayer and discussion with friends, family and members of the community, I am proud to announce my candidacy for Jackson City Council Ward 1.
Northeast Jackson has a tradition of sending strong leaders downtown: Dent Anglin, Ben Allen, Jeff Weill, and Quentin Whitwell. They have been a voice of reason and responsibility over the years regardless of who was Mayor. I want to continue that tradition and help Jackson forge a new path with Mayor Tony Yarber.
I am a homeowner and want to protect the value of my home just as you do. We need to empower the homeowner associations to use covenants to protect our neighborhoods as our neighboring cities do. We need to set standards for rental housing in Northeast Jackson as too often such housing lowers property values and brings in more crime.
I am a life-long conservative who has worked with leaders of both parties. Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, it doesn’t matter. The people expect us to fix the problems and get things done. As the owner of two businesses in Jackson, the city’s prosperity impacts my bottom line just as it does yours. I share Mayor Yarber’s vision to bring businesses back to Jackson and stop taxing small business out of existence. We’ve made a good start with the District at Eastover and the expansion at Highland Village. We need to keep the momentum going and grow Northeast Jackson.
Controlling crime is key to protecting Northeast Jackson. Crime forces families to leave and businesses to move. My home has been robbed and burglarized. Instead of moving, I’m staying and fighting back. We can fight crime. I will work with the Mayor to cut more fat out of the budget so we can put more cops on the street and put judges on the bench who don’t treat bail as a free get out of jail card.
I humbly ask you for your support and your vote. I will be honored to represent Ward 1 and continue the tradition set by those who have held that seat. Together, we can build a better Jackson.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/aug/25/18555/

Jackson Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell will retire this fall, WLBT reports.

Whitwell told WLBT's Cheryl Lasseter today that he would submit a letter of resignation to the city clerk; the resignation would be effective Oct. 31, the station said.

Lasseter: "Whitwell cites family commitments in Oxford and increasing demands from his professional life as reasons for his decision. He tells us he has tremendous respect for the City of Jackson and its leaders, and he believes the city deserves a Ward 1 Councilman who can dedicate maximum time and resources to the position. He is currently in his second term with the City Council."

After he steps down, the city would have to hold a special election to fill his northeast Jackson seat. Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes is also running for Hinds County judge in the November general election.

Jackson has already held one special election this year to fill the Ward 6 council seat that Tony Yarber vacated when he won election to Jackson mayor.

The Mississippi Republican Party has responded to the McDaniel campaign in the form of a statement to the public and a letter to Chris McDaniel's attorney, Mitch Tyner, from Joe Nosef, MS GOP chairman. (Here's the letter in PDF format.)

The upshot is that the MS GOP is suggesting to Tyner that they go ahead and take their fight to court, in part because the MS GOP's executive committee would only have 24 hours starting Aug 13th (once the requisite seven days notice for a meeting was circulated) to figure out whether it makes sense to overturn a U.S. Senate primary result. That's just one day before McDaniel would be forced by law to go to court on Aug 14th.

So, they're punting. (Which sometimes makes sense on Fourth and Forever.)

Jackson, MS. –– Joe Nosef, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, issued the following statement today regarding a challenge to the results of the June 24th primary runoff and a letter sent today by Chairman Nosef to Mitch Tyner, lawyer for the Chris McDaniel campaign:

"Our 52-member volunteer Republican State Executive Committee has been asked to spend just five hours listening to legal arguments and then overturn a United States Senate primary in which over 360,000 Mississippians cast votes.

It is neither prudent nor possible in a single day for any political committee to process and review the significant amount of complex evidence necessary to make such a decision, and attempting to do so would be prejudicial to both candidates.

Under these circumstances, the only way to ensure that the integrity of the Mississippi Republican Party and our election process remains intact is to have a proper, public review of this matter through the judicial system in a court of law. Both candidates have said they look forward to such a review, and now is the time. "