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Welcome to Mississippi Happenings.

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Each podcast, we focus on important events and news that affect all of us in Mississippi.

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We also want to keep you aware of the actions in Jackson by our lawmakers and all the
local events.

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Joining us this week is our guest, Dr.

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Deborah Williams.

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Dr.

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Williams received her graduate from Tougaloo College.

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and she received her doctorate from the of Georgia, Athens.

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Deborah is also the chairwoman of the executive committee of the Democratic Party in
Desoto County.

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Welcome, Deborah.

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We appreciate your time and we appreciate you being here.

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Along with me.

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David.

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Thank you.

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Also with is my cohost, Jim Newman.

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Jim, say hello.

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Good morning.

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Morning, doctor.

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All Deborah, tell us, tell us, tell us what's first, tell us what's going on in DeSoto
County, Mississippi.

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Well, DeSoto County, Mississippi Democratic Party is pretty busy right now.

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The 31st of January is the final day, or was the final day, that people were able to file
to run as candidates on the various tickets, either Mayor Alderman or Alderman at Large.

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Horn Lake, for example, has a full slate of Democratic candidates that are going to be
running.

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It's a...

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a good hot bed for a democratic vote.

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And so we have all of those slots filled.

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We do not this year have people running out of South Haven and Olive Branch, but that's
soon come.

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We also have some candidates out of walls.

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We have a candidate out of walls for mayor, who is Mayor Henderson, and we also have
several alderman candidates coming out of walls, Mississippi.

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So it's gonna be busy.

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Today's gonna, well,

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The 31st is going to be busy, it's going to be a big scramble, everybody trying to make
the deadline and making sure that they got all of their paperwork in on time.

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So the deadline is this Friday the 31st.

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It is Friday the 31st.

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Was Friday the 31st.

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Thank you, Deborah.

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Let's talk about for a minute, an issue that's important to everybody is of course voting
and of course poll workers.

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so if you would tell us a little bit about that as far as voting in DeSoto County and also
as far as poll workers and how that goes.

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So as far as voting, we're always encouraging more people to register to vote.

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DeSoto County has about 131,000 registered voters and about really 60,000 of those
actually voted in the past election.

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So we've got a lot of people that are registered to vote already who have not actually
voted.

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And so we're always encouraging people and reminding them of how important their vote is,
their vote counts, their vote matters.

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important to this process.

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So we're always encouraging those that are registered to vote to vote.

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And then we're also encouraging those to vote or register who have not already registered.

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There are about 50,000 people in DeSoto County who have not registered to vote.

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So we encourage them to go down to City Hall if it's for a municipal election or you have
to go to your circuit clerk in Hernando if it's for like a county or state election and

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get yourself registered to vote because your vote does count, it does matter.

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And then you said about poll workers, I'm sorry Jim.

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Dr.

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I hear frequently everybody says we need to encourage people to go vote.

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Can you expand on how that encouragement?

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What is it?

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So we try to get as deeply as we can into the community itself.

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Because I don't think that we can wait for the community to come to us, we have to go to
the community.

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So we participate in a lot of events that the churches are doing, the fraternities, the
sororities.

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We're there, we're setting up tables, we're talking to people and encouraging them and
trying to empower them to vote.

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We try to do as much of that as we possibly can.

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We use social media to try to get our messaging out about how important it is to vote and
that their vote matters.

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We have a whole campaign that says your voice and your vote matter.

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And we have that on signs that we've been putting across the county.

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We have that on social media and it's kind of driving our email threads that your voice
and your vote matter.

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And so that's.

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part of our message that we're getting out through all of the various community
activities.

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We try to participate in the festivals, in the fall festivals that all the organizations
are having, the churches are having.

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We do the Juneteenth celebrations wherever we can find the community present.

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We do events out in the park.

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We go out and set up tables and we talk to people there.

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and we collect information from people that might be interested in working the polls as
Mr.

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Oles mentioned earlier.

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We always are looking for poll workers and people to help at the polls.

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Being a poll worker is an important job because you're our eyes and our ears inside of the
polling places.

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And so we're always looking for those people that might not have understood how to go
about being a poll worker, to go and to have an opportunity to sign up with us and

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and work the polls and actually be a part of the process.

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And I think to your first question, Jim, the first part of that is getting a lot of people
to be poll workers because we have a lot of first time poll workers who've never been

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engaged in the process before.

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And bringing all of these people into the process automatically starts to change the
narrative inside of the community because now there are people who understand what's going

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on, who

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before that did not understand the whole process and why it's important that you work the
polls, why it's important that you register, why it's important that you vote.

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They were disconnected from the process.

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Bringing them all in as poll workers has started to change that narrative, so that's part
of it as well.

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Do you think the fee that is being paid to pull workers has had any influence on bringing
more people in?

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I believe, I think it's what, 225?

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Yeah, the pay has gone up to $200 now for the day.

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And if you're a receiving manager, you also get an extra $25 for going to pick up the
ballots and another $25 for bringing them back.

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So that's a total of $250.

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So I think because it was like $100 and to spend a whole day from six o'clock in the
morning to eight or nine o'clock at night.

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$400 was not really appealing to people and then some people were having to take off work.

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I think increasing the pay has definitely made it easier for us to secure people to work
the polls because it's just a practical matter.

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If you're going to spend that whole day or not go to work, it needs to be worth it even
though we all know that that's part of your civic duty but we all have bills to pay at the

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same time.

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Good.

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Thank you for that.

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Yeah, the poll workers, they're so vital to the elections and to the whole voting process.

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You mentioned Horn Lake.

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Let's talk a little bit about that.

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We know that, let's see, in Walsh, Mayor Kendrin Henderson, he's running for re-election,
correct?

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correct.

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He is running from you.

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running?

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I'm sorry.

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Is he running up unopposed?

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He is, well, that's in question right now because he is not running unopposed.

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But there are questions about the person that has put his hat in the rain, which I don't
wanna get into here.

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But there are questions about his residency.

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So the jury is out as to whether he will or will not have an opponent.

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Understood, Well, in Horn Lake, you mentioned there's a full slate of candidates for mayor
in the alderman positions.

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Tell us a little bit about that.

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Well, as you know, Mayor Latimer has been the mayor of Horn Lake for many, many, many
years, and he has retired this year.

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So we're going to have new leadership in Horn Lake regardless.

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We've got two on the Republican side that are battling it out on the Republican side.

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And then on our side, we have Jimmy Stokes II, Commissioner Jimmy Stokes II, who ran a
very, very competitive race with Mayor Latimer during the last cycle.

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and is in this race again.

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And I would venture to say the favorite going into this particular race.

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So he has gotten a lot of traction.

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He's gotten support publicly from a number of high profile people.

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Brandon Presley, to name one, and many, many others.

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He's getting a lot of good support.

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He's getting a lot of good financial support.

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And he's getting a lot of volunteer support.

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So I am certain that we are going to launch a very competitive race for the race of mayor
in Horn Lake, Mississippi.

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We also have a candidate for Alderman at Large, Larry McKinney.

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So almost all of the Republicans have primaries.

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There are two, three or four people on each spot.

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And then they're gonna battle out whatever they're gonna battle out and then they're gonna
face our candidate.

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So it'll be Larry McKinney for Alderman at Large.

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Then we move down to Ward 1.

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And Ward 1, the incumbent is not running.

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all three of those that in that race right now are all newcomers.

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Our newcomer is Joshua Langford, and he is going to lodge a vigorous fight against whoever
wins the primary from the other side.

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Then we move to Ward 2, Yolanda Rooks is going to be running against whoever wins that
primary.

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Ward 3, we have someone from the Sheriff's Department.

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He's a sheriff here in DeSoto County.

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His name is Officer Morrell and he's going to be battling for the seat in Ward 3.

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In Ward 4, we have Kelly Smith.

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Kelly is a newcomer.

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He's a young guy.

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He's kind of new to the process, but he's very, very influential inside his ward.

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The people there know him, the people there love him, the people there support him.

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When he made his announcement, he probably had 500, 600 people that were singing his
praises on social media.

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So I think he's going to lodge a very competitive race in ward four.

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Ward five, have Lashonda Johnson.

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She's our returning Alderwoman.

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She will be opposed this time last cycle she was not opposed.

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There was no Republican in the race.

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She will be opposed this time not in the primary but in the general election.

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So we expect her to go back in there and fight and get her seat back in Ward five.

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And then in Ward six, have Charlotte Armstrong.

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Charlotte came within 50 votes of winning that election last time and trust and believe
we're coming for that seat this time.

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There's no doubt about that.

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And Charlotte is committed to giving it a good, strong fight.

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We're committed to getting in there behind her and making sure that she does that.

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And so that as well is going to be a competitive race in Horn Lake, Mississippi.

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There's always been talk about uncontested races and where you have the Republicans
running two or three people and the Democrats essentially don't have a primary because

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they only have one candidate.

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Do you think that affects the voter turnout when it comes to the general election?

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Jim, I think it depends on the mindset of the candidates.

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So in our case, I don't think so.

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And that is because we're not gonna waste the time that we have.

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If you sit and you wait until after the primary to get started, then I would say yes, that
probably is, because they're gonna be out in front of you.

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But trust me, we are moving as though we have a primary.

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Everything that we do, we're moving as though we have a primary.

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But we don't have to waste time trying to get people to the polls for the primary on April
1st.

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We don't have to deal with that.

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The only thing that we need to do is to make sure we've delivered our people on June the
3rd.

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So that's where our time and our effort is.

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While they do that, we're gonna be getting our people ready to come to the polls on June
the 3rd and support our candidates.

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So no, I think there's advantages to being out, but I also think there's a disadvantage
because that costs money.

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You have to buy signs, have to do mailings, you have to do all of these things to try to
even get to become the winner of your primary.

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So you spent a lot of money and most of us don't have extra money.

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While they're doing all of that, we're raising money.

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So I think it levels out the playing field as long as you don't sit and wait and pretend
as though nothing is happening until after the primary.

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No, day one, we're going out.

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We're going to get it.

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Sounds like you've got a good plan because most candidates seem to me to wait until after
they filed to start raising money and getting their organization together.

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When in reality, they should have been doing that in October and November.

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Correct.

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Correct.

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What about as far as that's good.

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importantly, we don't have to spend any.

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It's also about walking the streets and knocking on doors in the local races, isn't it?

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Absolutely, and that's one of the things that we'll be doing while they're battling, while
they're duking it out amongst themselves.

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That's one of the things that we'll be doing.

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Canvassing, knocking doors, talking to neighbors, better understanding what their
viewpoints are.

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interested in the Democratic Party in DeSoto County, how could they get in touch with you
or how could they become involved as a Democrat in DeSoto County?

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So they can join our Facebook page, is DeSoto County, Mississippi Democrats.

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So they can feel free to join our Facebook page.

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It's a private group, but they're certainly willing, invited to join that.

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They can send me an email and they can send that to chair.dcdec.

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So DeSoto County, DC Democratic Executive Committee, DCDEC at

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gmail dot com that's chair dot d c d e c at gmail dot com they can send me an email just
let me know they're interested and I will make sure that they get where it what whatever

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they're interested in doing and volunteering around I'll make sure that happens

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Fantastic.

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Thank you.

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Now, do you guys have a monthly meeting, a weekly meeting?

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Tim, tell us about that.

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So we meet once a month.

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We meet the third Thursday in every month.

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And we also have an administrative committee that meets the first Thursday in every month.

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So that's the group that kind of looks at things first, makes recommendations, sends those
recommendations to the executive committee, and then we vote as a collective group from

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there.

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So those executive committee members were voted at the convention that we had in, I think
it was March or April.

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and they will be in place until 2029.

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Thank you.

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is there anything else, Deborah, that you want to talk about that we want to bring up?

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So in terms of some deadlines, I'll go over a few of the deadlines.

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So anybody who has not registered to vote, they have to vote no later than March 3rd.

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You have to go down to City Hall for this particular municipal, for the city elections,
you have to go to City Hall and you have to register to vote no later than March 3rd.

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That is the deadline.

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There are also absentee ballots.

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So if for some reason you're going to be out of town, you have to work, or you've got some
kind of conflict.

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Or if you're 65 or older, you don't need an excuse.

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If you're 65, you automatically don't have to come out on voting day and vote.

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00:18:26,196 --> 00:18:28,176
You can send an absentee ballot.

214
00:18:28,176 --> 00:18:36,836
You can either mail them in, and they have to be postmarked by the deadline, or you can go
down to City Hall and you can do it in person.

215
00:18:36,836 --> 00:18:41,836
We always recommend going down and doing it in person because the mail is the mail.

216
00:18:41,836 --> 00:18:42,556
Things happen.

217
00:18:42,556 --> 00:18:43,896
Things get lost.

218
00:18:43,896 --> 00:18:48,724
And if you go down there in person, then you don't have to worry about things being lost
because

219
00:18:48,724 --> 00:18:52,607
you took it there and you got a stamp from the clerk yourself.

220
00:18:52,607 --> 00:19:03,614
So the deadline, if you want to go down there in person and vote absentee because you
can't make it to the primary on April 1st, you have to do that no later than March 29th.

221
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That is the deadline.

222
00:19:05,115 --> 00:19:08,798
The primary election is on April 1st.

223
00:19:09,659 --> 00:19:15,403
And also for absentee on that day, the 29th, you can only go as late as noon.

224
00:19:15,403 --> 00:19:17,856
The office is only open until noon.

225
00:19:17,856 --> 00:19:24,096
So you have to go ahead and vote absentee by 12 o'clock on March 29th.

226
00:19:24,096 --> 00:19:28,836
And then the primary will be on April 1st.

227
00:19:28,836 --> 00:19:35,136
If you are looking to vote in the general election, then you have to be registered by May
5th.

228
00:19:35,136 --> 00:19:38,376
That is the deadline to be able to do that.

229
00:19:38,376 --> 00:19:42,696
And then the general election itself takes place on June 3rd.

230
00:19:42,696 --> 00:19:46,356
And you can go to vote anytime between 7 a.m.

231
00:19:46,356 --> 00:19:47,648
and 7 p.m.

232
00:19:47,648 --> 00:19:54,308
And just make sure that you have some form of ID because you will have to have ID
required.

233
00:19:54,308 --> 00:20:08,296
I also wanna add that if for some reason we have the primary and that during the race with
the two people, one of them does not get 50 % of the vote, then they will have to move to

234
00:20:08,296 --> 00:20:09,687
a runoff election.

235
00:20:09,687 --> 00:20:17,554
And that runoff election, if they are forced to do that, will take place on April 22nd.

236
00:20:17,554 --> 00:20:22,271
So a candidate, like I'm saying, there's two or three people, they may all run.

237
00:20:22,271 --> 00:20:24,874
Somebody has to give 50 % of the vote.

238
00:20:24,874 --> 00:20:28,758
If no one gets 50 % of the vote, they have to do a runoff.

239
00:20:29,661 --> 00:20:30,862
And I think that's it.

240
00:20:30,862 --> 00:20:32,416
Those are all my key dates.

241
00:20:32,416 --> 00:20:36,438
Those are, those are very important dates for the candidates.

242
00:20:36,438 --> 00:20:45,073
Let me talk a little bit about a little more national this morning.

243
00:20:45,073 --> 00:20:50,697
Congress is talking about cutting Medicaid.

244
00:20:50,697 --> 00:20:56,178
So I want to encourage everyone to get involved.

245
00:20:56,299 --> 00:21:08,402
I want to encourage everyone to use that right that our ancestors and our forefathers and
everyone has fought and died for, for our right to vote.

246
00:21:08,862 --> 00:21:17,064
And just encourage everybody to make your voice heard because your voice is important.

247
00:21:17,064 --> 00:21:19,185
Your voice matters.

248
00:21:19,185 --> 00:21:21,144
and your vote does matter.

249
00:21:22,066 --> 00:21:24,789
We do want to ask you about and get your

250
00:21:24,783 --> 00:21:26,001
opinion on.

251
00:21:26,902 --> 00:21:29,322
Jim just brought up Medicaid

252
00:21:29,524 --> 00:21:34,495
That's how this is wanting to cut Medicaid by two point three trillion dollars.

253
00:21:34,856 --> 00:21:39,877
And that's going to affect an awful lot of rural.

254
00:21:41,197 --> 00:21:42,718
Mississons.

255
00:21:43,074 --> 00:21:45,879
And we already have enough.

256
00:21:46,399 --> 00:21:51,710
Problems with lack of emergency rooms, hospitals closing.

257
00:21:51,710 --> 00:21:57,673
All those things that go along with it and.

258
00:21:57,673 --> 00:21:58,674
all that.

259
00:21:58,736 --> 00:22:03,055
And whether we like it or not, that is part of this election.

260
00:22:04,808 --> 00:22:06,661
Because it's local.

261
00:22:07,385 --> 00:22:08,486
And.

262
00:22:09,269 --> 00:22:11,654
What happens locally affects me.

263
00:22:14,602 --> 00:22:15,408
Right.

264
00:22:18,889 --> 00:22:36,871
But also at the same time, I mean, it is a deported issue, but that's not something that
as far as the mayors and the older people, I don't know if they have a lot of influence on

265
00:22:36,871 --> 00:22:37,101
that.

266
00:22:37,101 --> 00:22:38,182
Do they, Jim?

267
00:22:40,746 --> 00:22:44,188
Mayors pick up the telephone and call their congressman.

268
00:22:44,369 --> 00:22:46,631
They get, they get heard.

269
00:22:46,631 --> 00:22:47,631
Okay.

270
00:22:52,130 --> 00:23:00,977
I think the point that you're bringing up is even larger than just, that's not just a
Mississippi issue right now.

271
00:23:00,977 --> 00:23:12,664
It's a country-wide issue with everything that we're struggling through right now with
them trying to get rid of DEI, trying to get rid of federal loan programs.

272
00:23:13,005 --> 00:23:20,700
All of that speaks to the same issue that you're talking about, meaning that the least of
us are being left behind.

273
00:23:39,114 --> 00:23:40,930
You

274
00:23:40,956 --> 00:23:47,357
like to us that the least of us are being cut out of the process and left behind.

275
00:23:47,357 --> 00:23:50,598
And so I feel strongly about that.

276
00:23:50,896 --> 00:23:57,308
across the board, not just in Mississippi, but certainly Mississippi is included in that
as well.

277
00:23:57,308 --> 00:24:13,723
I think the whole visual that we have right now of people ice going in and waiting at the
school bus stops and taking kids off and talking about getting rid of the holidays and all

278
00:24:13,723 --> 00:24:18,684
of these things that we've all been hearing over the last week are

279
00:24:18,866 --> 00:24:21,407
concerning I think to all of us.

280
00:24:21,407 --> 00:24:36,071
If we have any sense of empathy, any sense of humanity, I think that most of us and many
of the companies understand that inclusiveness is good business, it's not bad business,

281
00:24:36,071 --> 00:24:44,594
but for them to try to get rid of diversity, equity, inclusion, should be concerning to
everybody.

282
00:24:44,594 --> 00:24:46,914
So I will answer it in that way.

283
00:24:47,777 --> 00:24:56,204
It's a good answer and it's also a very good reason for people to get involved and go
vote.

284
00:24:57,325 --> 00:25:03,069
Because if you don't vote, you don't have a voice in what's happening to you.

285
00:25:03,836 --> 00:25:06,548
Exactly.

286
00:25:07,129 --> 00:25:08,070
Absolutely.

287
00:25:08,070 --> 00:25:15,976
If you don't go vote and then you do need to pay attention even if you do vote because I
think there's a lot of buyer's remorse right now even from this last election.

288
00:25:16,137 --> 00:25:20,601
I've heard that one of the most googled terms is can I change my vote?

289
00:25:20,601 --> 00:25:25,004
No, you can't change your vote at this point so you have to do the research.

290
00:25:25,445 --> 00:25:31,489
You have to do the research in advance and make sure that you know who you're voting for
as well.

291
00:25:31,827 --> 00:25:32,827
Yes.

292
00:25:46,151 --> 00:25:48,186
Yeah, it is.

293
00:25:48,186 --> 00:25:50,092
And I agree with you.

294
00:25:50,092 --> 00:25:54,093
People are beginning to be surprised at what's going on.

295
00:25:54,413 --> 00:25:56,827
And I was actually

296
00:25:56,827 --> 00:25:58,009
Absolutely.

297
00:25:59,064 --> 00:26:02,233
with the cancellation of Black History Month.

298
00:26:02,233 --> 00:26:04,348
I just could not believe that.

299
00:26:06,556 --> 00:26:09,254
And I don't think that's going to last very long.

300
00:26:11,476 --> 00:26:16,730
I don't think so and I don't think anybody's gonna pay any attention to it because how you
can't cancel a culture.

301
00:26:16,991 --> 00:26:20,383
Unfortunately, people are still gonna celebrate in the way they're gonna celebrate.

302
00:26:20,383 --> 00:26:26,298
So you can try to erase it, but as long as we're gonna still celebrate it, you haven't
erased anything.

303
00:26:27,861 --> 00:26:28,724
Excellent point.

304
00:26:28,724 --> 00:26:30,065
That's important.

305
00:26:31,407 --> 00:26:34,095
Yes, that's important for the soda counting.

306
00:26:34,095 --> 00:26:36,272
just trying to, but you can't.

307
00:26:37,384 --> 00:26:40,176
You are the second largest city in...

308
00:26:40,176 --> 00:26:42,095
important for this whole country.

309
00:26:42,952 --> 00:26:43,643
Yeah.

310
00:26:43,643 --> 00:26:46,162
You're the second largest city in Mississippi.

311
00:26:46,162 --> 00:26:47,266
Is that right?

312
00:26:47,266 --> 00:26:48,327
county.

313
00:26:48,808 --> 00:26:50,589
Second largest county.

314
00:26:54,063 --> 00:27:03,671
We're not the second largest, well yeah, county, yes, but we're also the second most dense
population of registered Democrats.

315
00:27:03,671 --> 00:27:11,577
So the only county in Mississippi that has more registered Democrats is Hines County down
in Jackson.

316
00:27:11,877 --> 00:27:13,919
Number two is DeSoto County.

317
00:27:13,919 --> 00:27:16,181
So DeSoto County has a lot of upside.

318
00:27:16,181 --> 00:27:17,862
It has a lot of potential.

319
00:27:18,128 --> 00:27:32,752
It has a lot of room to really change the trajectory of politics in Mississippi if we keep
on track and we stay focused and we become better tacticians, quite honestly, here in

320
00:27:32,752 --> 00:27:33,452
DeSoto County.

321
00:27:33,452 --> 00:27:37,323
And that's what we're focusing on, becoming better tacticians.

322
00:27:37,323 --> 00:27:47,885
If we do that, we are gonna start to see that DeSoto County makes the change and that we
hope that that change will trickle across the state as well.

323
00:27:47,885 --> 00:27:57,798
have any events that also involve the Memphis Democratic Party?

324
00:28:00,211 --> 00:28:06,323
Do you have any events that are inclusive of the Memphis Democratic Party?

325
00:28:06,785 --> 00:28:08,827
Because you border right up against...

326
00:28:08,827 --> 00:28:09,987
done any...

327
00:28:11,328 --> 00:28:13,009
We do, we do.

328
00:28:13,009 --> 00:28:13,819
We have not.

329
00:28:13,819 --> 00:28:18,381
We've done some things with Van Turner, but he's not the Democratic Party per se.

330
00:28:18,381 --> 00:28:20,012
was NAACP.

331
00:28:20,012 --> 00:28:27,715
He did some things with us here, but we really have not partnered per se with the Memphis
Democratic Party.

332
00:28:27,715 --> 00:28:30,916
That doesn't mean we won't, because I believe in collaboration.

333
00:28:31,057 --> 00:28:36,059
And I think that that's the key to everything, and that you can't get out here and try to
do everything on your own.

334
00:28:36,059 --> 00:28:37,489
You have to partner.

335
00:28:37,489 --> 00:28:43,365
And so I do believe in that, but that group is not a group that we have partnered with so
far.

336
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:57,483
Okay Yeah, it seems it seems like because you're so close border wise and you've got a lot
of

337
00:28:58,173 --> 00:29:02,987
distribution and warehousing in DeSoto County.

338
00:29:03,227 --> 00:29:07,190
And it's part of the Memphis distribution period.

339
00:29:08,312 --> 00:29:12,764
So it would seem that eventually you might have some.

340
00:29:12,764 --> 00:29:27,322
that their issues are a little bit different than the issues here in DeSoto County, but I
would have to have a series of meetings with them and really determine that.

341
00:29:27,322 --> 00:29:32,594
But I'm sure that even if our issues are different, that there have to be some things that
we have in common.

342
00:29:33,317 --> 00:29:35,253
I'm sure there probably are.

343
00:29:35,317 --> 00:29:37,847
Turning out the vote for one thing.

344
00:29:39,252 --> 00:29:40,152
Exactly.

345
00:29:40,152 --> 00:29:44,594
are you guys seeing in terms of voter turnout?

346
00:29:44,594 --> 00:29:54,557
I'm in DeSoto County, but in other counties across Mississippi or in the first CD, what
are you all seeing in terms of voter turnout?

347
00:29:54,557 --> 00:29:55,687
Is it increasing?

348
00:29:55,687 --> 00:29:56,588
Is it going down?

349
00:29:56,588 --> 00:29:58,198
Is it staying static?

350
00:29:58,198 --> 00:30:00,579
What are you all's observations about that?

351
00:30:04,176 --> 00:30:17,360
What I've seen is at the last moment, the last three four days, more Democrats signing up
to run for office.

352
00:30:18,501 --> 00:30:26,693
And I really believe that that is a result of national political situation.

353
00:30:30,729 --> 00:30:31,689
Shailen.

354
00:30:33,641 --> 00:30:43,234
Verona, Plannersville, Lafayette County is deeply there.

355
00:30:44,594 --> 00:30:57,358
I'm sorry that Lee County does not have a mayoral candidate, but I believe four out of the
seven council positions are being challenged.

356
00:30:58,098 --> 00:31:01,179
And one position has got

357
00:31:01,417 --> 00:31:04,709
four people running in a Democratic primary.

358
00:31:05,250 --> 00:31:19,863
So at least in Tupelo, it's going to be a hot election period because all of the
Democratic primaries have got challenges.

359
00:31:22,791 --> 00:31:24,992
And Jim, you live in Tupelo, correct?

360
00:31:26,573 --> 00:31:27,513
Yes.

361
00:31:28,133 --> 00:31:30,334
This is, that's your home turf.

362
00:31:31,795 --> 00:31:34,176
It is, it is encouraging.

363
00:31:35,977 --> 00:31:49,432
There's two city council positions that I'm sorry, we don't have anybody running, but
well, through Ashley, if I include the mayor, but in all practicality, they're not

364
00:31:49,432 --> 00:31:50,463
winnable.

365
00:31:51,049 --> 00:31:59,262
There's such a majority of Republican, but it doesn't make any difference who you would
run.

366
00:31:59,363 --> 00:32:00,883
They're not going to win it.

367
00:32:01,284 --> 00:32:06,906
So we're going to end up concentrating our efforts on the winnable races.

368
00:32:09,388 --> 00:32:13,675
That's exactly what we're doing too, concentrating on winnable races.

369
00:32:15,214 --> 00:32:26,183
Briefly, I do want to touch on the situation in DeSoto County, which is coming from
nationally, which is also affecting everybody in Mississippi.

370
00:32:26,183 --> 00:32:41,535
We do know that Matthew Barton, who is the district attorney for DeSoto County, he was
talking about, and he is pushing for a bounty on illegal immigrants.

371
00:32:41,559 --> 00:32:44,482
a thousand dollar bounty.

372
00:32:44,482 --> 00:32:54,790
Now we know that there's a Senator and I don't recall his name out of Bahalia who is
pushing for this law.

373
00:32:55,271 --> 00:33:09,253
It may happen, it may not, but it establishes a certification program for private citizens
to track down undocumented

374
00:33:10,607 --> 00:33:11,447
immigrants.

375
00:33:11,447 --> 00:33:16,169
And to me, that is, to me, that is frightening.

376
00:33:16,430 --> 00:33:31,846
You know, we do know that the legal experts are going to eat to, they say that it's unlike
the measures, unlikely to pass, but just the thought that there's going to be people out

377
00:33:31,846 --> 00:33:39,453
there deputized to hunt and be paid to.

378
00:33:39,927 --> 00:33:52,107
find illegal immigrants is kind of frightening to me, you know, as a person and also as,
you know, someone from Mississippi.

379
00:33:52,107 --> 00:34:00,101
I hate that it's happening in my state and happening in my county.

380
00:34:00,101 --> 00:34:02,903
And I hope that it does not pass.

381
00:34:02,903 --> 00:34:09,567
And I would highly recommend that all of us contact our senators.

382
00:34:09,701 --> 00:34:16,855
and our House of Representatives and let them know our feelings on that.

383
00:34:17,195 --> 00:34:24,059
I just think it's atrocious that we would even consider that.

384
00:34:26,343 --> 00:34:27,984
It's inhumane.

385
00:34:28,043 --> 00:34:30,305
I mean, I don't know what happened to our humanity.

386
00:34:30,305 --> 00:34:39,928
It's inhumane that we would be doing that, that we would be paying people to turn in their
relatives and their friends for a dollar.

387
00:34:40,689 --> 00:34:42,390
It's sad.

388
00:34:42,390 --> 00:34:43,400
It's scary.

389
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:49,132
And it's not just DeSoto County, but all over the state they're looking to do the same
thing.

390
00:34:49,132 --> 00:34:55,995
And I agree with you that people should get on the phone and contact their senators,
contact their congressmen.

391
00:34:55,995 --> 00:35:09,369
and let them know that they're outraged by just the thought of their proposing bounty
hunters to drag people out of their homes, their jobs, their schools to cash in on $1,000.

392
00:35:09,369 --> 00:35:11,651
I think it's really sad and scary.

393
00:35:11,651 --> 00:35:16,045
And I agree with you, David, that we need to make our voices heard around.

394
00:35:16,447 --> 00:35:17,007
You

395
00:35:17,007 --> 00:35:23,754
Well, if you don't know your history, it's bound to repeat itself.

396
00:35:24,516 --> 00:35:31,153
And bounty hunting, like this, is nothing more than what the Nazis did.

397
00:35:33,471 --> 00:35:41,791
And you had children turning in parents because they didn't know what to do.

398
00:35:43,751 --> 00:35:46,291
And our legislation.

399
00:35:47,191 --> 00:35:48,271
Absolutely.

400
00:35:49,151 --> 00:35:50,651
Exact same thing.

401
00:35:51,491 --> 00:35:52,571
And.

402
00:35:54,971 --> 00:35:59,491
I had a thought that's escaped me for the moment, but.

403
00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:06,001
Here's another step that if we don't take action

404
00:36:06,001 --> 00:36:10,845
know our history because if you don't know it, you don't realize that it's being repeated.

405
00:36:11,366 --> 00:36:12,487
Our history.

406
00:36:12,904 --> 00:36:27,621
And if you know the history of the last five years in Mississippi, you notice that what
happens in Mississippi all of a sudden happens all across the country.

407
00:36:29,555 --> 00:36:35,998
The Supreme Court heard the Mississippi abortion case and look what's happened.

408
00:36:35,998 --> 00:36:36,958
We lost Roe V.

409
00:36:36,958 --> 00:36:37,858
Wade.

410
00:36:38,859 --> 00:36:48,323
Every state has gone back to every conceivable way of trying to prevent healthcare for
women.

411
00:36:48,603 --> 00:36:50,524
Started in Mississippi.

412
00:36:50,664 --> 00:36:57,617
So this is something we cannot have start in our own towns and in our state.

413
00:36:58,111 --> 00:37:07,931
I mean, with a laughing stock in so many issues anyway, because we're on the bottom, we
don't need to have this kind of thing going on.

414
00:37:09,751 --> 00:37:27,397
And I'd also say that if our viewers need a list of their lawmakers, they can contact me
at David.Oles, O-L-D-S, O-B-M-S.

415
00:37:27,397 --> 00:37:35,825
at gmail.com and I can get them the emails and the phone numbers of all of our lawmakers
in Jackson.

416
00:37:39,902 --> 00:37:47,922
to produce Mississippi Happenings and to talk about local issues is not free.

417
00:37:48,082 --> 00:37:49,782
It does cost money.

418
00:37:49,822 --> 00:38:03,502
So if any of you would like to become involved, $10, $15, whatever a month, you can go to
Mississippi Happenings.

419
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:09,353
And David assures me that there's a Venmo button and you can make a contribution.

420
00:38:10,474 --> 00:38:27,952
Kind of consider it like Mississippi Public TV, where they say, we've got such and such
foundation, etc, etc, etc, and viewers like you.

421
00:38:30,354 --> 00:38:32,914
So every dollar counts.

422
00:38:33,234 --> 00:38:35,814
Have you remembered what you wanted to talk about, David?

423
00:38:35,814 --> 00:38:36,694
Absolutely.

424
00:38:36,694 --> 00:38:45,054
do want to thank our sponsor for this podcast.

425
00:38:45,054 --> 00:38:53,214
It is Alpha Insurance, 7047 Commerce Road, which is off Goodman Road in Olive Grange.

426
00:38:53,254 --> 00:38:59,064
Ali Edgelolley is the agent there and he can help you with all of your...

427
00:38:59,064 --> 00:39:05,969
insurance needs and we so much appreciate him for his support along with all of our
supporters.

428
00:39:09,808 --> 00:39:11,342
Anything else we got?

429
00:39:11,418 --> 00:39:13,153
I think that does it, David.

430
00:39:13,153 --> 00:39:15,621
Deborah, any last?

431
00:39:17,628 --> 00:39:18,654
comments.

432
00:39:18,930 --> 00:39:25,075
No, I'm just going to encourage everybody to get involved however you want to get
involved.

433
00:39:25,316 --> 00:39:30,720
I think it's past time for us to sit back and just allow things to happen.

434
00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:39,627
We have to get involved in some way to try to make a difference and try to push back on
these rollbacks that we're all seeing happen every day.

435
00:39:39,868 --> 00:39:41,569
That starts with your vote.

436
00:39:41,569 --> 00:39:47,514
So if you haven't voted, I'm just reminding you again, you only have until March 3rd.

437
00:39:47,804 --> 00:39:54,667
to in the primary and you only have till March, May 5th to vote in the general election.

438
00:39:54,667 --> 00:39:58,319
So most of our candidates don't have competitors, we won't have a primary.

439
00:39:58,319 --> 00:40:06,202
So you need to vote by, you need to register by May 5th to be able to vote for our
candidates that are on the ballot.

440
00:40:06,202 --> 00:40:16,236
So I just encourage you to do so and I just remind you that you do matter, that your voice
does matter and that your vote does matter.

441
00:40:17,452 --> 00:40:18,592
Thank you so much, Dr.

442
00:40:18,592 --> 00:40:20,593
Williams, for being with us today.

443
00:40:20,593 --> 00:40:26,475
Thank you so much for your passion and thank you for the information that you shared with
us today.

444
00:40:26,476 --> 00:40:28,536
Jim, you have anything to add?

445
00:40:28,777 --> 00:40:29,897
I don't think so.

446
00:40:29,897 --> 00:40:30,717
Okay.

447
00:40:30,717 --> 00:40:32,393
I do want to close.

448
00:40:32,393 --> 00:40:32,786
of you.

449
00:40:32,786 --> 00:40:34,020
appreciate it.

450
00:40:35,164 --> 00:40:36,746
Thank you, thank you so much.

451
00:40:36,746 --> 00:40:51,131
And I do want to close with this, this, and that it's a wish and it's a hope that may we
never be indifferent to the suffering of others.

452
00:40:51,131 --> 00:40:53,032
So thank you, Dr.

453
00:40:53,032 --> 00:40:54,033
Williams.

454
00:40:54,214 --> 00:40:55,254
We appreciate it.

455
00:40:55,254 --> 00:40:57,737
And thank you so much.

456
00:40:57,998 --> 00:40:58,808
Okay.