John Howell Column
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday opens the political season for all state, county, and district offices in Mississippi. Seekers of offices from constable and justice court judge to governor will have from Monday (actually, they’ll have to wait until Tuesday since the circuit clerk and other offices will be closed January 3) until Tuesday, March 1 to qualify as candidates in the August primaries.
Next year’s political season promises to hold even more than the usual twists and turns of a Mississippi election year.
First, there’s the census. The Department of Commerce has apparently provided the governor with the 2010 Federal Census figures by the January 1 deadline, eliminating need for defaulting to the June 1 qualifying deadline for legislative deadline had they not.
Still, the census triggers the redistricting process at every jurisdiction level — from school board seats and supervisor districts to multi-county legislative districts. We’re going to see a scramble across the state as incumbents circle wagons to keep their core constituencies from being redrawn into another district.
Then there’s the continued growth of the Republican Party and its emphasis on fielding more candidates for more elective offices. Even if Republicans are not successful at fielding candidates for county offices in a county like Panola, for instance, local candidates who have traditionally sought office as Democrats will be having second thoughts. They will have to consider the appeal of Republicans running for statewide or legislative offices. If Republicans muster a slate of candidates with several competing for the same offices in the Republican Primary, voters who could formerly be counted on to vote the Democratic ticket may be lured to vote in the Republican Primary because they have a choice they want to express there instead.
Increasing primary competition among Republican candidates presents a dilemma for seekers of elective office in Panola where it has previously been a foregone conclusion that to win county-wide office, one had to run as a Democrat. Should be an interesting election year.