Davis, Thompson qualify for District 16 special election
TUPELO — Incumbent Rep. Rickey Thompson, Democrat, has qualified for re-election to his seat in District 16 for the Mississippi House of Representatives, and he's picked up a challenger in Chickasaw Inkana Foundation CEO Brady Davis of Tupelo.
Both Davis and Thompson qualified to run for the seat Monday morning, the first day to qualify for the Nov. 4 special election, with primaries set for Aug. 5.
District 16 encompasses Chickasaw, Lee, Monroe and Pontotoc counties and includes portions of Tupelo, Verona and Shannon.
Following recent redistricting, District 16 took in much of southwest Pontotoc County, northwest Chickasaw County and expanded further south of Monroe County.
Thompson, 60, defeated independent candidate Steve Holland in 2019 and ran unopposed in 2023. Thompson said, if reelected, he will continue to focus on workforce development, economic growth and education.
'I am running on a record that I have represented the people of Northeast Mississippi. Communities want to see change,' he said. 'We have to get the people out to the polls to vote.'
From Shannon, Thompson serves as the vice chair of the Enrolled Bills committee and also serves on the Agriculture, Judiciary B and Public Health and Human Services committees. He sponsored House Bill 565, which amended state code to require law enforcement agencies to provide the board on law enforcement officer standards notifications on when an officer is fired or resigns from disciplinary action within 72 hours of termination. The bill passed and was signed into law on March 18.
This is Davis' first attempt at political office. However, he said he has worked closely with state and local officials in his work at the foundation and in his professional relationship with the Chickasaw Nation. He said, if elected, he wants to be present for the community and bring goodwill and do the right thing.
'What it boils down to is my campaign really is encapsulated by my slogan, 'Progress through unity, and unity through service,'' he said. 'That aims to achieve several critical objectives, which are all centered on the fundamental principle of bringing people together for the betterment of our community … True progress begins with understanding, and that means listening to everyone regardless of their background, beliefs or affiliations.'
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Property taxes, book bans and resolutions: Three Grand Forks lawmakers discuss recent session
Jun. 6—GRAND FORKS — Through an hour-long conversation looking back on the 2025 legislative session, three Grand Forks state lawmakers found moments of agreement and professed similar opinions on issues more than they disagreed. Rep. Nels Christianson, Rep. Erik Murphy and Rep. Zac Ista, all from Grand Forks, went through some of the topics from the session with different mindsets but familiar answers. For example, on the matter of property tax and Gov. Kelly Armstrong's bill — which expanded the primary tax credit to a maximum $1,600 and capped local-level tax increases to no more than 3% annually — Christianson said they found some common ground. Property tax was one of the several issues discussed during the legislative wrap-up, held at the Grand Forks County office building on Thursday, June 5. All 18 members of districts 17, 18, 19, 20, 42 and 43 were invited, but Ista, Murphy and Christianson were the only ones in attendance. Joel Heitkamp, host of KFGO News and Views and a former state senator, served as moderator. Some issues involved public funding to private schools, Medicaid, the North Dakota Republican Party and what bills the legislators worked on. Property tax was among the most newsworthy issues during the session. Armstrong discussed it prior to his November election and his bill, HB 1176, was not passed until May 2, near the end of the session. "Did we deliver relief? Yes," Christianson said. "Reform? Maybe not so much." Murphy said property taxes are typically something outside of the Legislature's lane, but that he begrudgingly supported Armstrong's property tax bill. "Property tax is part of the reality of living in a nation such as ours," he said. "Property tax, to me, is a local issue." Ista, the only Democrat among the three, said there will be a trade-off. Homeowners will get some tax relief, but political subdivisions will have to figure out how to continue to pay for things. 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Ista said that it was probably the darkest day of the session for him when the resolution came to the floor, and that he was caught "flat-footed" by it. He said he had thought everyone had moved beyond the issue of marriage equality. Murphy said it's not up to him to decide who any individual should love. He also said that during this recent school year, he knew of students who were transgender and transitioning. The resolution sends the wrong message to North Dakota residents and creates a division in the state, he said. As for HCR 3020, Murphy simply said "absolutely not" when Heitkamp asked if he thought North Dakota should be in the business of declaring that Christ is king. Ista said that the faith leaders in his life respected a foundational concept of no official religions in America, and that, while he respects the religion of his colleagues, the state should be accommodating to all religions and not place one above the others. 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Eleven candidates are vying to succeed Gov. Murphy — who is endorsing them?
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'But for voters who are very engaged and rallied around a preferred candidate, an endorsement is not going to change their mind. It's not going to be a game-changer.' Engaged voters likely will be the only people who bother to vote in Tuesday's primaries, with a recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll showing most registered voters aren't even aware an election is approaching. A low turnout could give endorsements more weight than they'd otherwise have and narrow slim margins between candidates in toss-up races, said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. In the race to replace Gov. Phil Murphy, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is considered the front-runner of five candidates in the GOP primary, while the six-candidate Democratic race remains wide open. 'In a low-turnout primary, where a small number of votes can shape the electorate, every group of votes matters,' Rasmussen said. 'Low turnout magnifies the effects of real endorsements that actually drive votes.' Endorsements only drive votes if they're backed up with money and canvassing to publicize them and deliver voters to the ballot box, he said. Some groups have proven especially adept at both, he added. He pointed to the Vaad in Lakewood, an influential coalition of Orthodox Jewish rabbis whose mobilizing helped Assemblyman Avi Schnall topple a four-term incumbent in 2023. 'They have like a high-tech phone tree where they make sure everybody knows, and everybody votes. That is an endorsement that very much matters. There's no question that's going to translate into votes,' Rasmussen said. The Vaad endorsed Ciattarelli and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, for governor in the upcoming primaries. 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Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, Make the Road Action New Jersey, New Jersey Citizen Action, the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee Bramnick — The Philadelphia Inquirer, former House Speaker John Boehner Ciattarelli — The New Jersey State Retired Police and Firemen's Association Fulop — College Democrats of New Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Progressive Change Campaign Committee Gottheimer — Assemblyman Gary Schaer, guitarist Stevie Van Zandt Republican Mario Kranjac — Newt Gingrich and Curtis Sliwa (founder of the Guardian Angels) Sherrill — Former tennis star Billie Jean King, Sierra Club, Maine Gov. Janet Mills Republican Bill Spadea — Right to Life (state and national) Sweeney — Reps. Donald Norcross and Herb Conaway and about 25 union chapters SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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Race heats up to replace Connolly on powerful Oversight panel
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I'd have to go back a while to remember four horses trying to get out of the gate at the same time,' Mfume acknowledged. 'We've got some bright young members, some very distinguished and wise older members, and I think there's got to be a melding of those age groups and those thoughts and those priorities,' he continued. 'Because at the end of the day, we'll all either win together or we'll lose together.' At 76 years old, Mfume is the oldest candidate in the race, but not the most senior on the committee. That distinction goes to Lynch, 70, who has served as the interim ranking member since Connolly stepped back from the role in April. The elder statesmen are citing their long experience as an asset, while also vowing to tap the unique strengths of the newer members of the committee, who tend to have a better finger on the pulse of digital outreach and social media. 'I fully appreciate that the effectiveness of our Committee in presenting the truth to the American people is dependent on our ability to maximize and elevate the diversity of talent within our Democratic membership,' Lynch, a former ironworker and union leader, wrote recently to his fellow Democrats. Mfume, a former head of the NAACP, agreed, saying Democrats can't be effective without a united approach. 'It's important for the new ranking member to gather all the Democrats together on that committee, close the door and figure out what the agenda is going forward as a team,' he said. But the younger challengers see the Oversight vacancy as a rare opportunity to reimagine the Democratic brand and revive the party's image with new faces and fresh ideas. 'For me, it's about, how do we excite the base?' said Crockett, 44. 'And to be perfectly honest — while I can't put a poll in the field fast enough and get some answers — I can tell you that, tangentially, looking at the entire field, I am the type of member that potentially will inject a little bit of that energy that we're missing right now for our base. And I think that we have to take that into consideration.' Democratic leaders are well aware of the generational tensions, and are making clear their intent to stand aside and allow the process to play itself out ahead of a vote of the full caucus, which is scheduled for June 24. 'As we've said before, seniority and length of tenure is always a factor, but it is one of many factors that members consider,' Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters this week. 'Our job is to just make sure that it's done in a fair way.' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a prominent member of the CBC, downplayed the notion that the race — which features two CBC members in Mfume and Crockett — might lead to bad blood within the group. He noted that he had defeated former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who had once headed the CBC, for the Caucus chair position in 2018, and she remains 'a great friend and colleague.' 'Leadership, of course, remains aggressively neutral,' Jeffries added. 'We don't put our thumb on the scale.' With subpoena power and broad jurisdiction over virtually every facet of the federal government, the Oversight Committee ranks among Capitol Hill's most potent panels, making the ranking member spot a highly coveted position for ambitious lawmakers seeking a new level of national prominence. That's especially the case for the minority Democrats this year, when they're scrambling for an effective strategy to combat the norm-smashing actions of President Trump, who has used the early months of his second administration to dismantle many of the federal institutions the Democrats hold dear. Connolly, 75, in seeking the spot after last November's elections, had run into the same questions about age, image and passing the torch that are being raised now. He dismissed those concerns, citing a track-record of fierce advocacy for democratic traditions and the federal workers Trump has sought to purge. And he easily won the closed-ballot contest despite facing a formidable challenger in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), 35, an icon of the left with a huge national following. Ocasio-Cortez has since left the Oversight Committee, jumping to the powerful Energy and Commerce panel in January, and declined a bid to replace Connolly. Garcia, 47, was among the Oversight members who had waited to learn Ocasio-Cortez's intentions before announcing his own. With her out of the race, he quickly jumped in, touting his experience as the former mayor of Long Beach and his position in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He's also vowing to help the party disseminate its message more effectively with modern-age tools. 'Democrats are the party of working families — but we must meet people where they are,' he wrote in his pitch to colleagues. 'Traditional media isn't enough — to drive real policy wins, we must break through the noise, capture public attention, and energize people to act.' Crockett delivered a similar pitch, stressing the need for Democrats to highlight wins and make information accessible to voters. But she also noted the role is more than just communications. 'At the end of the day, I am a trial lawyer,' she said, noting her years as a public defender and her familiarity in 'dealing with criminals.' At the mention of the word, her mind turned to Trump. 'To be perfectly honest, there's probably only one person that the president does not want to head up Oversight, and I can tell you that it's me,' Crockett said. 'That alone should actually — hopefully — get my colleagues to say that's probably the one that we want, because I am the one that he's afraid of.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
