14-02-2025
A Jackson mayoral candidate is suing after being disqualified from the upcoming election
A special judge has been appointed to hear defense arguments for a 2025 Jackson mayoral candidate whose qualification to run in the upcoming election was denied by the Jackson Democratic Executive Committee on Monday.
The candidacy of Ali M. ShamsidDeen, a former Jackson municipal judge, was denied by the committee on Monday due to residential qualifications. ShamsidDeen is now suing the committee, asking a Hinds County court to reverse the decision.
On Friday, the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed retired Circuit Judge Forrest A. Johnson of Natchez as a special judge to hear ShamsidDeen's case, according to a press release. A trial date has yet to be announced.
ShamsidDeen is asking for a review of residential qualifications, saying the committee's citing of a Mississippi code that requires mayoral candidates to have lived in the city for at least two years is incorrect.
But according to the Mississippi Secretary of State's website, mayoral candidates "shall be residents of the municipality for at least two years prior to the general election; however, this does not apply to municipalities with a population of less than 1,000." Jackson's population was estimated at 140,613 as of 2024.
ShamsidDeen points to a Mississippi House Bill 1896, which he says states there is only a 1-year residency requirement for municipal candidates, according to his court appeal.
The Clarion Ledger searched for House Bill 1896 using the Mississippi Legislature's bill look-up tool, which allows you to look up past bills all the way back to the 2016 session. Only one House Bill 1896 was found, filed during the legislature's 2024 session. That bill said nothing about municipal candidate residency requirements, but it called for an appropriation to the Institutions of Higher Learning. The bill ultimately died.
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There was a bill filed during the Legislature's current 2025 session, House Bill 483, that revises "the residency requirement for candidates for municipal, county or county district offices from two years to one year." But that bill also died during this year's session.
Last week, ShamsidDeen spoke to the committee at Jackson City Hall in an effort to reassure that he lives in Jackson. ShamsidDeen argued that he moved to Byram in 2007, but moved back to Jackson three years ago. He said he lives with his fiancee at 367 Elms Court Circle and carried with him the deed to the property that his fiancee signed over to him. Additionally, ShamsidDeen brought with him past utility bills in his name he had been paying at the residence.
As far as his house in Byram, he said he still owns it but uses it as a farm to keep his animals.
ShamsidDeen is one of two Democratic candidates whose qualification was denied by the committee.
Keyshia Sanders' candidacy was also denied, with the committee citing her 2023 conviction for wire fraud while she served as the City of Jackson's constituent services manager.
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Sanders pleaded guilty to embezzling city grant funds. She is now serving a 5-year probation sentence and was ordered to pay back $54,000.
According to Mississippi law, convicted felons cannot run for or hold public office.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS mayor candidate sues after being disqualified from race
