WEST POINT — The four Republican candidates for lieutenant governor spoke to a packed house at a forum at the Ritz Theater in West Point Monday night. Conversation ranged from teacher pay raises to redistricting to combating the forces of “global Marxism” infiltrating the state.
The candidate forum was put on by the Mississippi State University College Republicans, Oktibbeha-Clay County Republican Women and the Oktibbeha County Republican Party.
Democratic candidate D. Ryan Grover did not participate.
Incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Tiffany Longino, District 42 state Sen. Chris McDaniel and Shane Quick were each given 10 minutes to introduce themselves and lay out their platform.
Hosemann, who led off the night, previously served as secretary of state, and is completing his first term as lieutenant governor.
He noted a laundry list of the accomplishments of the last legislative session, including passing an equal pay amendment and a ban on gender-affirming care for children.
He said the state passed legislation to make adoption easier, including standing up a task force on foster care and adoption.
“We passed bills to allow for adoption, and I think that’s so critical now that Roe vs. Wade (is overturned),” he said. “We need to be able to take care of the kids that are here. The thousands of children who are going to be born here need to have the same rights you have.”
Hosemann touted teacher pay raises as vital to the state. The largest pay raise in Mississippi history was passed in 2022.
“They are teaching the future of this state,” he said. “We’ve got to have good teachers, and they’ve got to make that decision (to become teachers) not based on economics, but because they love our children.”
Hosemann said under his leadership the state cut its own workforce.
“We have reduced the size of government by 3,000 employees,” he said. “That’s hard to do in Mississippi, but we did it. We also paid down $550 million in debt.”
The state also saw the biggest infrastructure package in its history, he said.
“It was $700 million this year, $2 billion in our four years, that goes to paying for roads and bridges in Mississippi,” Hosemann said. “The way you get your commerce, the way you continue to expand the Golden Triangle, comes from the fact that they have access to roads, bridges and safe access to the water. It’s very critical to Mississippi.”
Longino: Education is the way forward
Longino is a resident of Brandon. She is a professor of English and technology education and a PhD candidate at MSU in instructional systems and workforce development.
She said Mississippi is at the bottom nationally in education, health care and economic development, and the best way to attack those problems is with education.
“Education is the foundation to every problem,” she said. “It decreases poverty and crime. It boosts morale and the economy. If you have a strong, progressive, robust education system then you will have a strong state.”
The state should enact performance pay for educators, she said.
“Those teachers who reach objectives and goals for state standardized tests deserve an incentive,” she said. “If we can’t afford pay raises year after year, let’s have districts allocate (federal) funds and give performance pay based on performance of students.”
The state needs more accountability in its health care system, she said.
“One in every three people can’t afford health care, and one in four in the state can’t afford their medicine,” she said. “… I will ensure transparency, and that clinics and hospitals post their costs. If I want to go out and buy some shoes, I want to know how much it is. If I go to the doctor’s office, I need to see how much the service is and how much I need to budget.”
McDaniel: Don’t be bipartisan
McDaniel, who has been in the legislature since 2008, said the country is “degraded.”
“In the last 20 years we’ve seen our cultural institutions degraded, our fiscal institutions degraded, Washington is absolutely incorrigible,” he said. “I never thought I would see it happen like this, and I certainly never thought it would happen that quickly.”
McDaniel attacked Hosemann’s record in the Senate, starting with his efforts to be bipartisan.
“There are 16 Democrats in the Senate,” he said. “Why did he appoint 13 of those 16 to be chairmen of powerful committees? The Democratic Party is the problem I’ve seen in my lifetime. … Why empower them? Why reach across the aisle?”
He also accused Hosemann of protecting Democrats during redistricting.
“We had the chance to redraw those lines to protect Republican lawmakers,” McDaniel said. “… Instead he protected every single one of the Democrats, and that’s inexcusable. He expanded (U.S. Second District Congressman) Bennie Thompson’s district. He gave (Thompson) a majority percentage African-American votes, guaranteeing his re-election for the rest of my life.”
When redistricting, government bodies, federal, state or local, must follow certain guidelines. One of those is not diluting minority voting strength.
McDaniel attacked Hosemann for not helping to eliminate the state’s income tax.
“We had the choice to eliminate the income tax,” he said. “Gov. Tate Reeves was for it, the House was for it. Lt. Gov. Hosemann did nothing. We had the votes to pass it, and he did nothing.”
Quick: Fight global Marxism
Quick is a lifelong resident of DeSoto County. He is a 20-year veteran of the health care industry.
On Monday, he lashed out at “woke culture.”
“The will of the people was usurped a while ago,” he said, brandishing a cap with the now-former state flag on it, a flag that included the Confederate battle emblem. “… Foreign cultural Marxism, global Marxism, is infiltrating our state a little at a time. Removing our flag is woke, and that means hoisting it is anti-woke.”
Quick said “global Marxism” was attacking “every facet” of American life, “… whether it’s the books in schools indoctrinating our children or excessive taxation and rules and regulations that prevent us from earning our wage. All this stuff’s got to go.”
He urged voters, no matter who they vote for, to put new blood in office.
“You want someone in this fight who will put on the heavy burden of that 1894 flag and charge forth and burst into battle,” he said. “For me, vote non-incumbent. Even if you ignore the name Quick, vote non-incumbent. If you vote non-incumbent this year, you can replace 60 percent of the legislature with constitutional conservatives or those who will work with them.”
Quick referred to himself as a “flag-bearer” and urged voters to line up behind him.
“I’m one of the last flag-bearers,” he said. “If I can put that heavy weight on my head and charge forward into battle against cultural Marxism, at least rally behind me like in ‘Braveheart.’ Vote constitutional conservative and let’s win this battle.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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