Brandon Presley, a Democrat running for the highest office in Mississippi, where a Republican occupies every statewide position, feels good about his chances on Nov. 7.
“We got a poll back about two weeks ago that indicated a dead heat in this race,” Presley said after a speech to local supporters Thursday at Southwest Mississippi Community College. “There are a lot of disgruntled Republicans here in Mississippi and I think that’s reflected in our polling.
“And, personally, I welcome building coalitions with those from across the aisle. We may not agree on everything, all of the particulars, but we can agree that this state is moving in the wrong direction.”
Thursday’s event, hosted by two Democrats — Sen. Kelvin Butler and Rep. Daryl Porter Jr. — was the candidate’s first campaign stop in Pike County.
Just prior to the event, Presley also appeared at a private fundraiser at Butler’s home.
At the college, Presley, a longtime Public Service Commissioner from north Mississippi and former mayor of Nettleton, assailed Reeves’ record.
“Where is Tate Reeves?” he said. “He’s nowhere to be seen and he refuses to debate me. I think he’s running scared and knows that dissatisfied Republicans and independents are joining with Democrats to put him on the unemployment line.”
Presley also made the case for the ballot initiative option to be restored, to fully fund public education and eliminate the 7% sales tax on groceries in Mississippi, which is the highest in the nation.
The welfare scandal that rocked that state and made national headlines was also on Presley’s mind.
“Too many handouts for frivolous things with fleeced tax monies meant for the poorest among us. That will end under my watch when I’m governor,” he said.
He tried to link Reeves, the first-term governor who has held statewide offices for the past 20 years, to the scandal, mentioning text messages exchanged between Reeves’ brother and State Auditor Shad White regarding the repayment of the funds by former NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
Before beginning his talk, Presley took the time to acknowledge Wayne Dowdy, who was in attendance as “the man who gave me my start in state politics and your former mayor of McComb and congressman for this district.”
Presley went on to focus most of his remarks on criticizing Reeves’ continued refusal to expand Medicaid.
“We have serious problems in this state that Tate Reeves doesn’t want to face,” he said. “We have a dangerous situation in Mississippi regarding our health care and the survival of our hospitals.
“Just last week, four hospitals ended inpatient care, which means you can only stay a maximum of 24 hours,” Presley said. “Other hospitals are laying off large numbers of employees, including North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, the area I hail from, just laid off over 100 employees.
“It’s an issue statewide. And this governor simply doesn’t care. It hurts our working-class people and it hurts our economy. Forty states have expanded Medicaid, including very conservative states like Oklahoma and North Dakota. On Day 1, as governor, I will sign Medicaid expansion into law.”
Presley went on to cite negative statistics that he said are the result of the lack of Medicaid expansion.
“We’re turning down 1 billion dollars a year that could be the difference between life and death for thousands of our citizens and it’s all because of politics and retaining power,” he said. “Tate Reeves won’t expand Medicaid in the poorest state in the nation because a Democratic president passed the Affordable Care Act.”
Promising to avoid partisan politics if elected, Presley also vowed to help working men and women of the state.
Part of that promise also hinges on Medicaid expansion, which Presley said would create 16,000 new health care jobs.
“If any industry trying to locate in Mississippi promised those kinds of numbers, you’d have legislators falling over themselves to give them incentives to come here. This is not only an economics issue, it’s a moral issue,” he said.
Presley said cleaning up corruption would also be a top priority.
“I’m from Nettleton, Mississippi, and we have a common saying there that applies to our situation today in Mississippi: ‘It’s time to stop cleaning cobwebs and time to start killing spiders,’ ” he said to applause. “I will end the days of bought-and-sold government. I will fight for average, hard working Mississippians, and I will change the system.”
Presley also pledged to have an administration and a state government that looks like Mississippi.
“For too long, Mississippians have been purposefully divided along racial lines for two reasons: money and power. I seek to end that with a bi-partisan, biracial coalition who know the current system is broken and want to fix it,” he said. “And that coalition exists in my campaign and will continue to exist when I’m elected.”
In an interview after his speech, Presley committed to having the entire state represented in his administration, including Southwest Mississippi.
“And economically, I would implement an 82-county economic program to go in-depth and get down in the weeds with local officials to determine what needs exist and how partnerships can be formed,” he said. “And I will work with all counties, not just the ones that go my way in the election.”
Presley also said he was impressed with the number of independents and Republicans who are supporting him.
Presley is the second major Democratic challenger running for the governor’s office in as many election cycles. Former Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat who served in statewide office for 16 years, lost the governor’s race to Reeves four years ago.
Presley said he likes his chances, noting that he’s raised more money than any other Democrat to ever seek the office.
“I think I’m going to win this election,” he said. “People are ready to move on and I think on Nov. 7th, we’re going to see record turnout.”
