Republican Women Rising In 2011
When the November 8 elections are said and done, Mississippi is guaranteed to have one female statewide office holder (either Lynn Fitch or Connie Moran) and likely one more. (Cindy Hyde-Smith who is the favorite to replace Lester Spell as Agriculture Commissioner). And in that treasurer’s race, Fitch is the favorite over Moran who was a solid candidate for the Democrats but hasn’t been able to gain traction or money. And probably not helping her campaign, even though the issues don’t directly affect the office she is seeking, Moran announced yesterday she is opposing all three ballot initiatives- voter ID, Personhood, and eminent domain.
You probably also remember that Fitch and Hyde-Smith both defeated male candidates in their primaries. Finishing second to Hyde-Smith was Max Phillips, whose campaign was run by Red Print Strategy. (The same folks behind Delbert Hosemann’s 2007 and 2011 victories). While they were on the wrong side of the Agriculture Commissioner’s race, they are looking for better results in the state Senate. Melanie Sojourner is the Republican candidate in SD 37, hoping to unseat an incumbent who has been there for more than three decades. Sen. Bob Dearing faced a Democratic primary opponent in 2007, but I can’t tell you the last time he faced a general election opponent. The Republican State Leadership Committee is already up with ads criticizing Dearing, and now Sojourner is up with her first spot:
She’s not the only Republican woman hoping to make waves in the Senate. Earlier this year, Nancy Collins won a special election to replace Alan Nunnelee in SD 6. She is the favorite to win a full term in two weeks. And in SD 40, Angela Hill is the Senator-elect after unseating Sid Albritton in the GOP primary. Looking to replace Cindy Hyde-Smith is the Senate is Sally Doty, the GOP nominee in SD 39. She will meet W.L. Rayburn in the general election. And Patsy Gregory is the Republican candidate in SD 8, the seat that was vacated following the passing of Jack Gordon.
Then there are a couple Republican women hoping to knock off incumbents in addition to Sojourner. In SD 3, Betsey Hamilton is running against Nickey Browning and in SD 4, Rita Parks is matched up with Democrat Eric Powell. Parks is on the air with this radio ad, mixing humor and politics, a wise strategy when you’re dealing with a likeable incumbent like Powell. And SD 48 is an all-female race with Republican Ashley Skellie hoping to knock off Deborah Dawkins.
On the House side, Deborah Tierce is looking to unseat Donnie Bell in HD 21, Cindy Bryan is hoping to upset Bob Evans in HD 91, and Carolyn Crawford will meet incumbent Diane Peranich in the all-female race in HD 121. Brenda Whatley-Kirby is matched up with Tom Miles in the HD 75 seat vacated by the retiring Tracy Arinder, and Dorothy Wilcox is looking to replace J.P. Compretta in HD 122.
In HD 92, freshman Rep. Becky Currie should be good for re-election, assuming the false Mississippi School for of the Arts mailers don’t trip her up, but wanted to specifically mention her because if the GOP can takeover the House, I see her taking a much larger role over the next four years. She has been one of the strongest conservatives in the legislature, and certainly one of the most vocal and best at articulating the conservative position, and I see a bright future for her. I know many conservative activists feel the same way.
One other point, all of the female candidates who faced competitive primaries defeated male candidates even though that it has long been assumed that the male candidate has an automatic edge in Mississippi. Ask Lee Yancey, Lucien Smith, Max Phillips, and Dannie Reed about that. And what I have also heard is that being a female candidate, when matched with a male candidate (ala Sojourner or Parks) is good for a couple points this year.
Good. Maybe we can have a woman at the top of this blog sometime soon instead of nothing but a bunch of old white men.
Betsey Hamilton in SD3 against N. Browning.
Missed that. Thanks. Have updated the post.
One thing I don’t like about the ad is hearing any politician say, “We can create jobs”. I know they have been using this line for years, but it’s time people wake up and realize the simple fact that the only jobs that government creates is government jobs, then they unionize them and taxpayers are on the hook for the rest of their lives.
Doug–I’d just like to comment that Sojourner would be much better for jobs than Bob Dearing has been. She can create an environment in the state which will help create jobs through lower taxes and more business friendly policies. Bob Dearing has been bad for jobs, bad for Mississippi and especially bad for SW Mississippi. All he has done for years is taking a paycheck home from the taxpayers and not stand up for us in Jackson.
I’m glad to see all of these Republican women. It is great for the party and great for Mississippi. Of course, I am still trying to figure out exactly when it was Fitch became a Republican.
I’m sure about Fitch’s partisan background, but the fact that Moran opposes all 3 initiatives seems worthy of its own column.
why does the men sit on their butts and let the women do all the work. It has become a shame that most of men are lazy are just don’t care. I work on many thing every day trying to tell people what is going on they dont’ help do anything. I ask many men to go to meeting with me they will not get off they asses to do so.