In 1964 a wealthy,
agricultural businessman came out of nowhere to win what was then the Fourth
Congressional District seat. Prentiss Walker, then 47, president of Walker Egg
Farms and owner of Walker’s Supermarket in rural Mize, won as a conservative on
the coattails of Barry Goldwater’s strong vote in Mississippi in 1963. Walker abandoned
his seat in 1966 to challenge long-time U.S. Sen. Jim Eastland, but lost
handily.
This year another
wealthy, agricultural businessman has come out of nowhere to run for Congress.
Perry Parker, 52, who now lives in rural Seminary where he helps manage brother
Ted’s cattle farm, made his money as a currency derivative trader for Goldman
Sachs in Chicago, New York, and London, as a managing director for a division
of Deutsche Bank, and as a partner managing the U.S. office in California for
London-based hedge fund Peloton Partners Capital Management. Parker wants to
win as a conservative on the coattails of Donald Trump – both wealthy
businessmen with no political experience who chose to mostly self-fund their
campaigns.
In 1966 a former
Mississippi State varsity basketball player with business and political
experience won the congressional seat. G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery, then 46, was
an insurance businessman and state senator from Meridian. He served for 30
years, becoming chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and a senior
member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee. Sonny used his persistent,
friend-building style to successfully champion veterans’ issues, help build the
all-volunteer Army, and improve the National Guard and Reserves.
This year another former
Mississippi State varsity basketball player with business and political
experience is in the race. Whit Hughes, 43, of Madison managed his own economic
development consulting firm, served as Deputy Director of the Mississippi
Development Authority, and until the campaign was Foundation President at
Mississippi Baptist Health Systems. He got early political experience working
for the Republican National Committee in Washington. He also served as finance director
for Elizabeth Dole's 2002 senate campaign in North Carolina and for Haley
Barbour's 2003 gubernatorial campaign. The outgoing Hughes wants to use his
experience and political connections to champion and improve economic
opportunities for middle class Mississippians.
In 2008 a Rankin County
prosecuting attorney and Baptist deacon won the congressional seat. Gregg
Harper, then 52, of Pearl has served for 10 years, becoming Chairman of the
House Committee on Administration in 2017. In January, the long-time Republican
Party activist and hard-fighting champion for the developmentally disabled
announced he would not seek re-election.
This year another Rankin
County prosecuting attorney and Baptist deacon is in the race. Michael Guest,
48, of Brandon, District Attorney for Madison and Rankin Counties, has 22 years
of prosecuting experience. Guest serves as President of the Foundation for
Rankin County Public Schools and on the Boards of the State and Central
Mississippi Crime Stoppers. His resume is filled with law enforcement activism
with Guest having served as a law enforcement instructor, aggressively pursued
drug forfeitures, and publicized “most wanted” criminals. Guest wants to transition
his fighting for victims of crime in courtrooms to fighting for Mississippi's
interests in the halls of Congress.
Yes, history may repeat
itself. But which history will voters prefer?
Crawford (crawfolk@gmail.com) is a
syndicated columnist from Meridian.
23 comments:
Whit Hughes ads are so unappealing and his roots in party politics so deep, he's lost my vote.
I am considering Micheal Guest.
That said, Hughes is a darling of the old Mississippi families with money and is campaigning to appeal to the ignorant voters who only need " buzz words" to be persuaded, so he may pull it off. He's doing " good ole boy" well.
I am willing to predict that MS won't send a woman to Washington. Keeping a woman close to home is ok, but won't have one in our Capitol.
The race for the 3rd has been exceptionally quite this campaign season. Very few people are talking about it except the political class. Some tv ads have been on but only by Hughes, Parker and Guest. Parker has the most money on hand but has run the least amount of advertisements. No one has done a mail out but I assume someone will. One candidate, Tate, never filed a FEC report and as far as anyone knows, raised zero dollars. Doty has been a bust. Raising little money and getting no traction in her home county of Lincoln. Word is, and I mean it's all but certain, Sally D. will have a viable opponent in next years State Senate race. A well known business man has been making calls. Dunn won't even win her own county in Simpson. Like Doty, her personal life has been a hindrance. No one knows what Perry will do. He is the outlier. Having not lived in Mississippi in over 30 years, he has the most money but most was loaned by himself to his campaign. Will he do a blitz the last couple weeks and get traction? Who knows? Hughes and Guest seem to be the odds on favorites to make the run off. Hughes having run ads since April and Guest being the elected DA for Madison/Rankin Counties which holds 40% of the total GOP vote in the 3rd's 24 counties. Can Whit win his home county of Madison? If he can do that he has a shot at beating Guest. If he fails at securing Madison County it's all but certain Guest is the next US Rep. 25 days left and 3 weeks of run-off after that. Tuesday, June 5 is the Primary.
Quietest open congressional race I've ever seen.
Just curious, does anyone think two Senate races are sucking up the money?
KF: Wicker already banked 4m plus long before so he isn't sucking up much money on the GOP side. Cindy Hyde isn't getting anyone excited in the GOP. She is raising money but not interfering with the other down raises in their fundraising. McD can't raise money in state for the simple fact his supporters don't have any. Since McD isn't polling well, that race is quite as well. No one seems interested, to a large degree this year,in any of the races. Maybe interest will pick up in the congressional race during the run off, but only if people think it will be a horse race. Have to wait and see about the General elections. Curious to see how the Dems do on fundraising. I suspect most of their money will come from out of state.
"Not making noise" is called QUIET, not QUITE. Where did most of the posts here, well at least half, learn such God awful grammar and spelling skills?
Watch your backs. The spelling police are in the room, and they do not make exceptions for typos.
10:25 - so Hughes, IYO, is great at using the "buzz words", that being so, what's your analysis of DA Guest's ads? Nothing but crime and punishment, which if that ain't buzz words I'm not sure what is. Perry Parker is not much better with the two great (never used of course, so they can't be 'buzz words') of "Not a Politician" and "I'm for Term Limits".
Not arguing with you about Hughes' ads, but obviously you are either a plant with one of the other camps and trying to tamp down Hughes, or you aren't paying any attention with your insightful analysis.
2:39 - Not limited to the comments. "Repeate"?
10:25, won’t vote for Hughes because he’s “his roots in party politics are deep”, yet he’s “thinking about Guest”. Lol. You knew you were voting for Guest before this was even posted. Guest has the backing of the Rankin County GOP Mafia, who have seen it their duty to tell the rest of the District who the next Representative will be.
All that said, Hughes or Guest both would make a fine Congressman. Don’t know much about Parker but his resume show he’s no village idiot.
Michael Evans is a Sonny Montgomery type of Democrat. He will do better than expected. I think the runoff will be between Guest and Hughes.
No Bill, Perry made his big money by being a member of the Lucky Sperm Club. Bill, surely you know that he’s an heir to the Tatum dynasty. Willmut Gas, Miss. Tank, Nordan Smith, timber, oil, etc. I’ll vote for him though since wealth isn’t a disqualifier. Smart guy. Not a GOP lackey who uses the sound bite of the day. The money he has put up is chump change to him. How ‘bout those Golden Eagles?
Good Lord a bloviating blowhard @ 10:26 who can't spell. This bloggerhood is going downhill as fast as Jackson.
A couple months ago a few friends and I had lunch with Perry Parker and we believe that he will be good for the post. He is a businessman, not a politician and is not looking for this to be a permanent job like many politicians.
10:25, not even a good attempt at trying to sound like an impartial and deciding voter. To label Hughes as being a part of the establishment GOP, and therefore you are voting for Guest is laughable.
I'm sure you know, because you were probably part of the New Years Eve cabel that directed the attempted coop of CD3 - to keep it not just in Rankin County's hands, but within the powerbroker group of Rankin County. Once they finished up and declared to the rest of the district who the chosen one was even many of the wannabes within Rankin were upset that they weren't considered.
They have now started work on step two, informing Madison County who has been ordained as the DA to take Guest's place, once the coronation is over.
Yes, you are now considering Guest because you don't want someone steeped in the GOP establishment. Go try to sell that line on Donner's site - even the slow ones here aren't about to fall for it.
6:38
You are all wet, Perry Parker is not a member of the Tatum clan. His older brother WAS married to a Tatum. Perry earned his money, no family money involved.
First and foremost, these races are an “everything’s fine, but in a different way—stay calm” P.R. effort in as much as the Republicans stand.
Perry Parker or Guest for that race. I cannot in good honesty pluck a name from the other. I know too much negative and not enough positive.
The fact is that MS has lost its senior Golden Goose(s). This may be but a growing pain, or it may be doom. Those of us that know math see the current trajectory of state leadership and wince, hoping it doesn’t overlap into representation in D.C.
(We don’t like taxes either, but yeah——their formula of default by proxy is a losing battle.)
All that's missing in the above posts is, "I ain't got a dog in this fight but here's the way I see it comin' down". Right. Liars all. Plants. Inside trackers with less than outside knowledge. Tico's eavesdroppers like Goober dropping his fork at the diner.
Or, Dee, we're missing ...
"I've been a Republican since the day my daddy's sperm crash landed in my momma's egg AND my grandfather secretly supported Abraham Lincoln's decision to free the slaves but this time I'm voting for Hood-Espy-Baria-Hughes-[insert Democrat here]!".
Senior Golden Goose(s)? That certainly doesn't include Harper.
Parker thinks NAFTA was great and we need more free trade. Yea it was so great this district and the entire state lost thousands of jobs.
Yea what a great idea.
Doty is the only candidate with any substantive experience and a legislative track record.
If you only had a transcript with no names, and excised the words "law and order" or "prosecutor" from their Koch debate last month, you wouldn't be able to tell who was who. None of them have any ideas, other than to repeat the same old phrases. "Conservative" "Support the military" "Low taxes" "Small government" Put the names in a hat and draw one. It won't make a difference whom you get.
10:26 is seemingly a Parker campaign insider. Thanks for the riveting analysis and base attack on the women candidates. How astute and infinitely valuable for voters.
The race is simple: Michael Guest ...selected crown prince successor of Greg Harper. Whit Hughes ... Haley Barbour’s guy, northeast Jackson, Prep alum, made himself an “economic developer and “consultant” by occupying a patronage job at MDA. Two fine boys with outstanding pedigrees! What a bench we have! Us simple citizens sure are a lucky to have such a fine rulin class in Miss-ippi. We a really goin places! 50th no more!
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