Three candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot made their cases at the Marion County Democratic Executive Committee’s “Beans and Greens” dinner Saturday night.
They included Jeramey Anderson for U.S. House, Tobey Bartee for U.S. Senate and Vanessa Jones for chancellor.
Higher profile U.S. Senate candidates Mike Espy and David Baria, who had been billed as speakers, did not attend. Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Darrick McGowan announced it was a busy weekend with other events conflicting for them.
Anderson, a 26-year-old Democratic state representative from Moss Point, is running for Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District against Republican incumbent Steven Palazzo. The Cook Political Report lists the district as “Solid Republican,” and Palazzo has outraised Anderson $592,778 to $73,531, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
But during his speech, Anderson promised a victory.
“When you run across people who say there is no ‘blue wave,’ there is no ‘blue tsunami,’ there will never be a Democratic congressman for this district, there can never be a Democratic U.S. senator, you tell them watch. Because Nov. 6 will be here before you know it, and Nov. 7 we’ll be laughing in your face,” he said to applause.
The district includes southeastern Mississippi, with Marion County included at the western edge.
Tobey Bartee, a candidate for the special election for U.S. Senate that also includes Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mike Espy and Chris McDaniel, spoke about his plan for education and infrastructure. The military veteran, who holds a mechanical engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in public policy from Vanderbilt, used statistics to highlight Mississippi’s education shortcomings and said improvements are needed to prepare the state for the future economy that will have an emphasis on automation and artificial intelligence.
This is the Pascagoula native’s first run for public office. He said his mother’s family roots are in Marion County, with his grandparents Mr. and Mrs. O.W. Crowther living in the Hub community.
Jones is one of six candidates running to replace the retiring Chancellor Ronald Doleac in the 10th Chancery District, which covers Marion, Forrest, Lamar, Pearl River and Perry counties.
The Grenada native said she and her family moved to Hattiesburg in 1996 when her husband was in the military. She said she was appointed the first black woman to be an assistant district attorney in Forrest and Perry counties and was later the first woman to be a Hattiesburg municipal judge.
“I have a background in service, and I believe in service to all people. The people that know Vanessa J. Jones know that she’s quite firm, but she’s a fair individual,” she said. “When you look at judges, when you go into the courtroom, that’s what you’re looking for, someone that you know is going to be fair and impartial to both parties. Can you imagine what shape this country would be in right now if we didn’t have judges to step in and make sure these children were reunited with their families?”
Jones sued the city of Hattiesburg in 2013, alleging slander, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, menace, outrage and wrongful termination after the city restructured the municipal court to have one full-time judge rather than three part-time ones, eliminating Jones’s position, according to court records.
The courts dismissed the suit, finding that Jones was an “at-will” employee whom the city could terminate at any time.
Pictured Above: Marion County Democratic Executive Committee officers smile during the annual “Beans and Greens” dinner Saturday night at the BusinessPlex. From left are Chairman Darrick McGowan, Vice Chair Brenda Shields and Assistant Secretary Barbara Franklin. | Photo by Charlie Smith
