It’s been almost two weeks since Kabir Karriem was sworn into the Mississippi House of Representatives.
And while the state legislature has yet to get down to the business of crafting laws, the first weeks have been busy for District 41’s newest legislator.
“It’s been a busy week,” Karriem said recently as he drove back to Jackson. “It’s been really interesting, learning the house rules and building relationships with new members and some of the veteran members of the House, just getting acquainted with how things operate. It’s totally different from serving on the city council, even though both are legislative bodies. Here, there is a lot of decorum and a lot of rules that I’m just learning about.”
Karriem, 42, a two-term Columbus city councilman, was elected to the House in November, taking the place of long-time representative Esther Harrison, who died in June. Karriem defeated a pair of write-in candidates to secure the House 41 seat, which is located entirely in Lowndes County.
Although he is a newcomer to the House, he is no stranger to state and national-level politics.
His father-in-law, Bennie Thompson, has been in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993 while his sister-in-law, Angela Turner of West Point, has served in the Mississippi Senate since 2013, taking the seat of her father, Bennie Turner, who died in 2012 after 20 years in the state senate.
“I know quite a few people in the Legislature, which helps the transition, I think,” Karriem said. “I’ve known Tyrone Ellis (who has represented Starkville in the House since 1979) all my life and, obviously, I know Angela on the House side. I’ve also served on the state Democratic committee, so I’ve come to know a lot of people through that, too.”
Karriem is one of 25 new legislators to take office this year and arrives in the House at a time when the Republican Party has gained an overwhelming majority in both chambers.
“I can see the impact of that, even in my short tenure,” Karriem said. “The Republicans have their own agenda, obviously, and they don’t need Democratic votes to achieve it. But with that comes the fact that they’re going to have to live with the results. It’s on them.
“In the meantime, I think this is a chance for the Democratic Party to reorganize, to rebuild our infrastructure and build some lasting relationships. I hate to say it, but the playbook we have been using is outdated. We’ve got do to some things that make our party more inclusive.”
Although he says there are issues that are likely to be presented in this year’s session that he has a great interest in, his first term may be more about learning than legislating.
“It’s like my mother always says, ‘The dumbest question is the question that was never asked,'” he said. “I have some strong feelings about issues, but my main focusing now is learning how the Legislature works and building relationships.”
The first week has also meant a lot of driving.
“I haven’t spent the night in Jackson since the session started,” he said. “I really do want to be in Columbus as much as possible. I think it’s important for people there to be able to put their hands on me and not be an absentee representative. So I plan to be in Columbus as much as possible. That means I’ll be making this drive a lot between now and April.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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