Mississippi Tea Party Congratulates Victorious Candidates, Successfully “Moves the House”

The Mississippi Tea Party today issued congratulations to Tracy Arnold (Dist 3), Randy Boyd (Dist 19), Chris Brown (Dist 20) and Dennis DeBar (Dist 105) on winning election to the Mississippi House of Representatives. Ballot counting for another Tea Party endorsed candidate, Charles Busby (Dist 111), continues with Mr. Busby having a 57 vote lead as of the moment of this press release.

All were endorsed by the Mississippi Tea Party as part of its “Move the House” campaign. As a result, the Republican Party has won a majority in the Mississippi House of Representatives for the first time since the 1870’s. Importantly, this means the House can elect a new, conservative speaker who can then position Mississippi on a prosperous and freedom loving course that will benefit the State now and for decades to come. 

“Since the beginning of 2011, members of the Tea Party movement from around the State have focused their efforts on replacing Billy McCoy and his liberal House leadership with conservatives who better reflect the values of the people of Mississippi,” explained Move the House Committee Chairman Richard Wilbourn.  “The Committee chose conservative challengers in ten strategic districts which our computer analysis indicated could easily switch from liberal to conservative representation.  Each of our successful challengers ran fantastic campaigns, and we are proud to have partnered with them to achieve this victory.”

The Move the House Committee first began to impact the election during the battle for redistricting in March. Committee members effectively rallied conservatives in the Senate to vote down the Reynolds/McCoy redistricting scheme. When the NAACP sued to have a federal court impose the scheme, the Tea Party authored an amicus brief that helped convince that court to uphold the Mississippi Constitution and allow elections to proceed under the current districts.

The Committee then turned efforts to grading the voting records of all 122 House members over the last four years to determine which Representatives are liberal and which are conservative. It then analyzed historic election data from each district and determined which seats currently held by liberals were vulnerable to defeat by a conservative challenger. Finally, based on questionnaire results from each of the primary winners, the Committee chose ten challengers it found to be conservative, qualified, and electable in their districts. 

“Once we determined which races to target, we had to find ways to help our endorsed challengers as much as we could,” explained Wilbourn.  “We were able to provide each candidate with valuable candidate training, put them in contact with conservative Representatives, publicize their campaigns on statewide television and talk radio, and supply them with numerous resources through the Mississippi Tea Party’s website.” The Committee also raised funds to place targeted advertisements in each candidate’s district and organize a sign blitz in each district on Election Day. 

“Ultimately, this was a grassroots, volunteer effort by the members of the local Tea Parties who make up the Mississippi Tea Party and our generous donors,” said Wilbourn.  “We look forward to working with each newly elected Tea Party endorsed representative and the next Speaker of the House to move our State forward towards better and brighter days.”

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The Mississippi TEA Party is an independent statewide organization existing and organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi.  It is dedicated to the promotion of three political/economic philosophies: (1) constitutionally limited government; (2) government fiscal responsibility; and (3) free market enterprise.

We are pleased to announce that out of those ten, four our Tea Party challengers won outright and two more are still counting ballots.  The four that won outright are:

Dist 3 Tracy Arnold, Booneville, MS, defeated Jimmy Cadle.  This district includes parts of Alcorn and Prentiss Counties and was formerly held by BILLY McCOY!

Dist 19 Randy Boyd, Mantachie, MS, defeated incumbent Mark DuVall.  This district includes parts of Lee, Itawamba and Tishomingo Counties.

Dist 20 Chris Brown, Aberdeen, MS, defeated incumbent Jimmy Puckett.  This district includes most of Monroe County.

Dist 105 Dennis DeBar, Leakesville, MS, defeated Dale Kimble.  This district includes parts of Perry, George, Wayne and Forrest Counties.

Additionally, as noted, two races are so close they are still undecided. Those are:

Dist 45 Jay Mathis, Carthage, MS (vs. Bennett Malone).  This district covers parts of Rankin, Leake, Scott and Neshoba Counties.

Dist 111 Charles Busby, Pascagoula, MS (vs. Brandon Jones).  This district covers part of Jackson County.

Of course, the Republicans need a net of eight seats to capture control of the House. Since it appears Republicans Russ Nowell (Dist 43) and Jim Ellington (Dist 73) both lost, the Republicans needed to capture a total of ten seats for a majority.

The good news is that in addition to the four Tea Party targeted seats listed above that the Republicans took from Democrats, separately the Republicans also captured the following seven seats currently held by Democrats:
Dist 13 Steve Massengill won this open seat held by retiring Jack Gadd.
Dist 10 Nolan Mettatal won this open seat held by retiring Warner McBride.
Dist 25 Gene Alday defeated incumbent John Mayo.

Dist 28 Tommy Taylor won this open seat held by retiring David Norquist.

Dist 93 Timmy Ladner defeated incumbent Dirk Dedeaux.

Dist 107 Doug McLeod won this open seat held by retiring Deryk Parker.

Dist 121 Carolyn Crawford defeated incumbent Dianne Peranich.

Thus, including the Tea Party’s four seats and not including Jay Mathis (Dist 45) or Charles Busby (Dist 111), the Republicans appear to have taken eleven seats and lost only two.  If correct, that means the Republicans have a majority (63 to 59) in the Mississippi House for the first time since the 1870's!

Congratulations to the Tea Party’s Move the House Committee and all the individual Tea Parties who joined together to Move the House!  We did it!

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Here is a little something that y'all might find interesting to keep up with...

Current List of President Obama's Executive Orders

Here is the bookmark for this page...you might wanna keep it on file, as they add to it when he adds a new executive order.

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Rep. George Flaggs Signs Mississippi Tea Party Taxpayer Protection Pledge

The Mississippi TEA Party announced today that Rep. George Flaggs (D) of Vicksburg has signed its Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which states, “I pledge to vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

Flaggs joins 16 State other legislators and legislative candidates who have pledged not to raise taxes. 

Although the Taxpayer Protection Pledge has already been signed by many conservative Republicans, Flaggs is the first Democrat and first Legislative Black Caucus member to pledge his commitment to prosperity in Mississippi based upon sound budgeting and spending restraint.  Flaggs is the influential Chairman of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee and has represented the 55^th House District since 1988.  

Rep. Flaggs recently spoke to the Vicksburg TEA Party and participated in a pledge-signing ceremony with President Carolyn Wallace.  He commented at the event that he had been advised not to attend the meeting.  

“For those folks who told me I shouldn't go speak, I say I'm going anywhere in this country and this state and speak on what I believe in," Flaggs told those in attendance.  

He expressed his belief that spending must be curbed at a time when many Mississippians are experiencing unemployment and dealing with a struggling economy. 

Richard Wilbourn, Chairman of The Mississippi TEA Party's “Move the House” effort, praised Flaggs for his stand. 

"The MSTP appreciates Rep. Flaggs’ leadership on this important issue and his willingness to work with Mississippians regardless of race or party," said Wilbourn. "We fully support his desire to make Mississippi a more prosperous and free place for us to work, worship, recreate and live. The TEA Party applauds Representative Flaggs’ stand for the hardworking taxpayers of our State who determine its growth and prosperity.” 

“With no end to government growth in sight, Mississippi taxpayers desperately need assurance that their taxes will not increase,” said MSTP President Roy Nicholson. “They are looking for leaders in Jackson who will make tough choices and who will refuse to add to our already heavy State and Federal tax burden.” 

Wilbourn challenged others seeking office this election year, particularly those running for the Legislature, to follow the lead of those who have already signed the Pledge. 

“The Taxpayer Protection Pledge lets voters know for certain where a candidate stands on the issues of limited government and a taxpayer getting to keep his own hard earned money,” he said.