Adams County Dems Want To Stay In MS-03

Take this for what it’s worth, but the Natchez Democrat recently spoke with a couple Democrats who represent Adams county in the state legislature, and they both indicated that they prefer to remain in the Third District rather than move to Bennie Thompson and the Second. This is essentially the “company line” for Democrats, but is interesting to hear from those who would be directly affected. Remember, Gregg Harper and the GOP want to send Adams, along with Wilkinson, to the Second.

Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez said he wanted to stay in MS-03. “Other than the fact that we’re on the river, I don’t think we have much in common with the Second District. Historically, we’ve always been more of a central Mississippi district, so it just makes more sense,” he said. Rep. Kelvin Butler, who is from Magnolia but his district reaches into Adams county, echoed those sentiments, but seemed a little more diplomatic saying he is open to changes and has relationships with Thompson and Harper.

Be interesting to hear from Melanie Sojourner, the incoming Republican Senator who recently knocked off longtime incumbent Sen. Bob Dearing.

For those that have long followed Mississippi politics, you may remember that in the old Fourth District, candidates from Southwest Mississippi generally had the upper hand over Jackson area candidates. Thompson is from Hinds county and despite the rural leanings of his district is generally tied with the urban Jackson area rather than the Delta. I suppose the thinking may be that a rural Delta/ Southwest Mississippi coalition could potentially form to defeat Thompson in a Democratic primary.

The standard GOP line on the matter is that it makes sense to connect the River counties, while Democrats argue that it would unnecessarily lengthen the district. They want Northeast Jackson, which would be a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, but is home to many big GOP activists and donors that Harper would love to keep in his district. So while the outcome of the new maps will have no affect on the general election prospects of Thompson or Harper, there are plenty of politics involved and a potential primary for Thompson.

Demographically, Adams and Wilkinson would fit in MS-02, the state’s only majority black Congressional district. Wilkinson is around 70 percent black, while Adams is slightly majority black but was the only county to flip from Haley Barbour in 2007 to Johnny DuPree in 2011 even in the face of Phil Bryant’s landslide.