Nearly a third of all states’ primary elections were held this past Tuesday, March 5, hence the moniker “Super Tuesday.” Mississippi’s primary election, though, takes place next Tuesday, March 12, and there are a handful of topics voters need to understand before hitting the polls next week.
Primary elections select the official candidates for each political party in the general election. Thus, the upcoming primaries will determine who will be on the ballot in November, as if there was some uncertainty about the outcome. In reality, Americans have little doubt about who the candidates will be.
With 2024 being a contentious election year, there has been extensive coverage surrounding the validity of a leading candidate for the Republicans: 45th President Donald J. Trump. The former president has been under intense scrutiny in recent months due to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol Building, leading some states like Colorado to attempt to remove him from the ballot.
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court released a decision right in time for the primary elections being held the following day. With a unanimous ruling, rare for a group with such varying political views, the Supreme Court asserted that Colorado, the state that first declared Trump ineligible to contend for the presidency, overstepped their privileges as a state and did so on the wrong grounds by using a rarely invoked interpretation of the 14th amendment.
The Supreme Court did not entertain the question of whether or not Trump summoned or encouraged the mob that attacked the country’s Capitol Building on Jan. 6, leaving the door open for a number of ongoing court cases the former president is named in.
So, while this decision is a win for Trump and his camp, he still has some distance to go before a second term is genuinely attainable. This reality does not sit well with many Americans and especially the voting majority here in Mississippi.
To these individuals, I ask why you would re-elect a treasonous individual shrouded in legal controversy. By participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump looked to silence the American vote. The Supreme Court has ceded important ground to supporters of the former president by not directly commenting on Trump’s role in the riot.
Nevertheless, Trump has secured the Republican nomination in several states and looks to do the same here in Mississippi come Tuesday.
The leading Democratic party candidate is incumbent President Joe Biden. November is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. This is like when a bad movie somehow gets a worse sequel.
President Biden is not without his missteps, or above criticism. His enabling of the violence in the West Bank and Gaza has caused his favorability to plummet among the young voters critical to his success in 2020. Many even assert that Biden is complicit in genocide by allowing the bloodshed to continue.
Biden has also failed to deliver on many of his campaign promises. Though his administration has canceled nearly $140 billion in student loan debt, over $1 trillion of debt still dangles above Americans’ heads.
While I am optimistic that lawmakers and interpreters will do the right thing, I understand that this outlook is becoming increasingly naive. Come November, expect conservatives to do everything in their power to ensure Trump is on the ballot. This means either the expedition or delay of the former president’s court cases, which will ultimately determine the legality of another Trump presidency.
Regarding President Biden, his perceived mishandling of international affairs will alienate many of the voters he once counted on, making this election by no means a certain victory for the Democrats.
While it may not be ideal for the health of our union, or the two elderly men leading the race, the contentious 2024 presidential election will likely make history, just like the 2020 election before it.
Mississippi must elect and nominate politicians who are concerned with the well-being and development of the state. We must do away with image politics, which have unfortunately emerged as the chief determinant in our political races. We must evaluate candidates holistically and look beyond the promises made in front of a camera. Candidates should be posed the question, “What have you done for Mississippi?” instead of, “What makes you right for Mississippi?”
Regardless, the primary election does not only determine presidential candidates. Candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives also seek nominations during primaries.
Ty Pinkins is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race for Mississippi. In the 2023 election, Pinkins ran an unsuccessful campaign for secretary of state of Mississippi against the incumbent, Republican Michael Watson.
Pinkins has several Republican challengers seeking their party’s nomination. Incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker, Rep. Dan Eubanks and Ghannon Burton will all compete in next Tuesday’s primary for a place on the November ballot.
Senators serve six-year terms and are considered the upper house of the legislative branch of the federal government. Ensuring that competent senators are elected is paramount to the country’s success. For example, senators are granted the powers to approve the appointment of cabinet secretaries and federal judges.
There are four Democratic candidates across three of the four Mississippi congressional districts participating in the race for seats in the House of Representatives. Candidates Diane Black and Michael Williams are competing for the nomination for representative of Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District.
Incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson will run unopposed for the nomination in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District. The longtime congressman will face whoever wins the Republican nomination in November.
Craig Elliot Raybon will also run unopposed in Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District primary race and will face the winner of the Republican primary.
Rep. Trent Kelly is unopposed in the primary this year for the U.S. House of Representatives 1st District and will compete against whoever wins the Democratic Primary.
Republican candidates Ronald Eller, Andrew S. Smith and Taylor Turcotte are all competing for the nomination in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District.
Incumbent Rep. Michael Guest is unopposed in the nomination for Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District and will face a Democratic challenger in November.
In the U.S. House of Representatives 4th District race, incumbent Rep. Mike Ezell will face two challengers, Carl Boyanton and Michael McGill, for a nomination.
Justice Rose is the opinion editor. He is a junior journalism major from Madison, Mississippi.
