STARKVILLE — Political analysts in Starkville are praising the campaign of Parker Wiseman, who won the Democratic mayoral runoff Tuesday against Matt Cox and earned his party”s nomination in the June 2 general election.
What made the difference in the runoff Tuesday, in the minds of many who follow Starkville politics, was the organization of Wiseman”s campaign, and his convincing victories in wards 6 and 7.
Wiseman, a 28-year-old lawyer and newcomer to the political arena, beat Cox 198 votes to 119 in Ward 6, and 206 to 120 in Ward 7. Wiseman also won Ward 3 by a count of 514 to 505, and Ward 4, 92 to 50.
The victories helped Wiseman secure a 1,649 to 1,570 victory over Cox. Meanwhile, Cox claimed victories in wards 1, 2 and 5.
Wiseman faces Republican Marnita Henderson in the general election.
Former Columbus Mayor Jeffrey Rupp, who now works at Mississippi State University, said the campaigns were two of the best he has ever witnessed.
“From the perspective of having gone through it a couple times in Columbus, I actually thought Matt ran a very nice campaign,” Rupp said. “I thought his materials looked good, his message, everything. It was a first-class campaign. Unfortunately, he ran into Parker, who was a juggernaut.”
“Parker had a very complete strategy,” Rupp continued. “He obviously was effective in the black community. I think he understood grassroots and organization. I think it was the best municipal campaign I ever saw in this area.”
Wiseman said Wednesday he has between 20 and 30 volunteers working with him. The team has campaigned in every corner of the city, he said, and will continue to do so until the general election.
“I cannot emphasize enough the efforts of our volunteers,” Wiseman said when asked about the key to his successful campaign. “We had people who believed in what we were trying to do, who collectively gave hundreds of hours of their time to take that message out into the neighborhoods of Starkville. I really do think that was the defining characteristic of our campaign. I think our message was good and we had people who were willing to go to the mat to deliver it.”
In Ward 6, Alderman and Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins supported Cox, but Wiseman still won by nearly 80 votes.
Sumner Davis, who serves as Ward 1 alderman and works at the Mississippi State University Center for Governmental Technology, felt Wiseman”s expansive network of volunteers, who went door-to-door in every ward, played a major part in the victory. Davis also felt wards 6 and 7 were pivotal to the election.
“What is interesting to me is, when you look at the vote totals in ward 6 and 7, which as you know are two of the heavily minority voting districts in the city, is how well Parker Wiseman did in those two wards, particularly when you have the mayor pro-tempore in his own ward endorsing Alderman Cox,” Davis said. “The fact that Wiseman was able to do so well in those wards, particularly Ward 6, is pretty dog-gone amazing. That goes back to the ground game.”
“They both had great campaigns,” Davis added. “If you look at it, Matt did everything textbook. He did everything right, but Parker was able to mobilize (wards) 6 and 7.”
Robbie Coblentz, a close follower of Starkville politics and founder of the Web site www.starkville-now.com, also felt Wiseman”s success in wards 6 and 7 were the deciding factors in the election.
“The bottom line is (Wiseman”s) mobilization in wards 6 and 7, his ground game, is what won it for him,” Coblentz said. “This will probably be the first time that (wards) 6 and 7 have elected a mayor in Starkville.”
Wiseman”s campaign hasn”t been without its share of criticism. He recently came out with a television commercial which some deemed a negative advertisement.
The commercial showed Cox”s voting record while serving on the city”s Board of Aldermen. But Wiseman said Wednesday he doesn”t believe the ad was negative at all.
“We didn”t view that as a negative ad,” Wiseman said. “Those were relevant issues in the campaign as we saw it. Any time you are facing an incumbent office holder, the record of that incumbent is squarely in the middle of the campaign. As a challenger, I believe you have a responsibility to point out aspects of an incumbent”s record that may not sit well with the public because, if you don”t do it, nobody else will.”
For Rupp, who said Cox”s campaign was the “second best” he ever saw, though Wiseman”s was the best, the TV ad was just another part of the political game.
“There was a little negative in his campaign, which a lot of folks say they don”t like, but it tends to work,” Rupp said. “He had it all. It was a big-league campaign on the municipal level.”
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