- Democratic Party of the State of Mississippi
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Democratic Party of the State of Mississippi Chairman Jamie Franks of Lee County Headquarters 832 North Congress Street, Jackson, Mississippi Ideology Modern American Liberalism Political position Centrist National affiliation Democratic Party Official colors Yellow (representing the state's many "Yellow Dog Democrats"), Blue Seats in the US Senate 0 / 2Seats in the US House 1 / 4Website http://www.mississippidemocrats.org/ The Democratic Party of the State of Mississippi is the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of Mississippi. Its headquarters is located in Jackson which is also the state capitol.
The party has members in all eighty-two counties of the state - each county having an executive committee and officers. The state executive committee is elected by congressional districts - twenty from each district.
Contents
History
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Established in April 1964, this branch of the Democratic Party in Mississippi aimed to challenge discrimination based on race in the electoral process. It consisted of mainly disenfranchised African-Americans, although its membership was open to all Mississippians. [1] In August of the same year, a bus of delegates arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City with the intention of asking to be seated as the Mississippi delegation[2] The party was formed out of collaborative efforts from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)[3].
Party leadership
A new state executive committee was elected in 2008 at the four Congressional District Conventions and the State Democratic Convention. A new set of party officers was later elected at the first meeting of this Executive Committee.
The officers of the Executive Committee are Jamie Franks of Tupelo (Chairman), Barbara Blackmon of Madison (Vice Chairwoman), Claude McInnis of Jackson (Executive Vice Chairman), Mona Pittman of Batesville (Secretary), Derek McCoy of Tupelo (Treasurer), and state Rep. Earle S. Banks of Jackson (Parliamentarian).
Past Party chairpersons have included former Congressman Wayne Dowdy of McComb, Rickey Cole of Ovette, Jon Levingston of Clarksdale and Johnnie Walls of Greenwood.
Mississippi has two representatives to the Democratic National Committee: Everett Sanders of Natchez and Johnnie Patton of Jackson. These positions, unlike the officers, are elected every four years at the State Democratic Convention. Both of these DNC members are serving their second four-year terms.
The executive director of the party is Rickey Lynn Cole. Past executive directors have included Sam R. Hall, Travis Brock, Rosalind Rawls, Keelan Sanders, Amy Harris, Morgan Shands, and Alice Skelton.
Auxiliary organizations
The party has several auxiliary organizations, including the Mississippi Federation of Democratic Women and the Young Democrats of Mississippi. The president of the Mississippi Federation of Democratic Women is Mary Katherine Brown of Warren County, and the president of the Young Democrats of Mississippi is Kate Jacobson of Jackson.
The state's older citizens are being organized to form the Senior Democrats of Mississippi.
The party is partly supported by the "Yellow Dog Democrats," who contribute to the party on a yearly or monthly basis.
Current Democratic officeholders
The Mississippi Democratic Party holds one of the eight statewide offices and holds a majority in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Democrats also hold one of the state's four U.S. House seats.
Member of Congress
U.S. House of Representatives
Statewide office
State legislative office
- Democrats currently hold 67 seats and held 68 before a party switch in the Mississippi House of Representatives and 24 seats in the Mississippi Senate. Please see the Mississippi Democratic Party website for information on each legislator. [4]
Changing face of the DP in Mississippi
With the February 2009 defection of Billy Nicholson, the majority of the Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives, for the first time in Mississippi history, are African-Americans.
See also
References
- ^ "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)". University of Southern Mississippi. http://www.usm.edu/crdp/html/cd/mfdp.htm. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Zietz, Joshua (July 2004). "Democratic Debacle.". American Heritage 55 (3). http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=3e16fe67-147b-4cb6-9a94-9b4dcce886b5%40sessionmgr114&vid=5&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=ahl&AN=13310757. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Zietz, Joshua (July 2004). "Democratic Debacle.". American Heritage 55 (3). http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=3e16fe67-147b-4cb6-9a94-9b4dcce886b5%40sessionmgr114&vid=5&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=ahl&AN=13310757. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "Legislative Democrats". http://www.mississippidemocrats.org/elected-officials/legislative-democrats/. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
External links
- Party Website: Democratic Party of the State of Mississippi
Categories:- Democratic Party (United States) by state
- Politics of Mississippi
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