The past four years have been a time of great trial, turmoil and transition for the state of Mississippi. The state has weathered a pandemic, grappled with its longstanding health care crises, grimly confronted a water crisis in its capital city and set the nation up for the downfall of the landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade. A lot has happened, and not a lot of it has been good. As the state draws closer to our next statewide election on Nov. 7, voters have a lot on their minds.
The next era of administration in Mississippi’s executive office will require strong leadership. Our next governor should be someone who will wield the power of the office with integrity. It demands a candidate who is willing to address issues on the hearts and minds of all Mississippians with urgency, concern and care. It is the opinion of The Daily Mississippian’s editorial board that this person is Brandon Presley, public service commissioner for the northern district of Mississippi and Democratic candidate for governor.
He brings more than just the Presley name to the table. He has a wealth of political experience and a backstory that Mississippians can relate to. Since graduating from college in 2001, he has been in office nonstop, working his way from mayor of Nettleton, Miss., to being the state’s highest-ranking Democratic official when he was elected as public service commissioner for the northern district in 2007. He grew up in a single-parent household in rural Mississippi, attending Itawamba Community College and Mississippi State University.
Presley has been clear that he is running on the foundation of four distinct pillars – one of which is his health care agenda. Throughout his campaign and explicitly on his website, he lays out a plan which outlines health care fixes such as expanding Medicaid to 220,000 Mississippians, creating a website for residents to compare the cost of medicine, appointing a director of Medicaid who has a background in health care and starting a drug pricing affordability board.
Under Gov. Reeves, Mississippi remains one of only 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid. According to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, one-third of Mississippi’s hospitals are in danger of closing in the next three years.
Gov. Tate Reeves has taken marginal steps to mitigate Mississippi’s healthcare crisis, namely signing a bill which created the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant Program – the purpose of this program being to financially support state hospitals in any amount ranging from $250,000 to $1 million.
Presley’s campaign, however, promises to take more impactful and tangible action to mitigate the Mississippi’s health crisis.
One of Presley’s other pillars is education. This entails fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which services Mississippi’s public schools. It has been underfunded every year since 2008.
One disappointing aspect of Presley’s campaign has been his position on a number of LGBTQ+ issues, especially with regard to gender-affirming health care for minors.
Earlier this year, Gov. Reeves signed into law legislation that banned medical professionals from prescribing hormones, performing surgeries and otherwise administering gender-affirming care to minors. Gender-affirming care is defined as age-appropriate medical procedures that help one transition from their sex assigned at birth to the gender that they wish to be identified as.
Though the Mississippi Democratic Party issued a swift condemnation of the new law, Presley has stated that he would not reverse the legislation and, generally, that he does not support such procedures for minors. Presley has also stated that he does not support “boys playing girl’s sports.”
This and like positions are stances that both the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor have maintained.
Gov. Reeves has accomplished certain feats one might deem agreeable, such as his initiative to widen and rehabilitate Mississippi’s highways and improve transportation and the state’s record low unemployment rates under his leadership. However, we do not support his overall campaign, and the values therein. These values include his continuous demonstration of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric, the signing of HB 1020 in April 2023, which created a separate judicial district in Jackson.
Under a potential Brandon Presley administration, there are great expectations not only from our editorial board but also from Mississippians across the state. What we need is for Presley to approach critical issues like health care, the economy, corruption, education and development with a sense of urgency and initiative.
We want to see more designated health care available for women across the state which we lack so greatly.
We want a more detailed look into government officials’ behavior and motivations in order to increase transparency and discourage the alleged corruption that has been a major hit to credibility and public perception in recent years. We need Presley to stand on his pledge to “sanitize our state government that is infected with corruption.”
We want our capital city to stop being treated as an afterthought as the Jackson water crisis continues and industry has fled from the area over recent decades. Understanding that, it is just as important for Presley to continue focusing on the state as a whole, much like he has done in his campaign by visiting every county in the state. If he continues to focus on overlooked areas, our state will be much stronger as a whole.
More than all, we want a Mississippi where people, young and old, are empowered and free. We want our universities to be held up. Students should have the freedom of choice to pick a discipline — whether it be education, engineering or gender studies — and those programs deserve to be supported.
Can Brandon Presley change the world? A task too tall, perhaps. But we believe he has the tools, capabilities and drive to change Mississippi for the better.
