It was a symbolic fight by some young hotshots, and when the bloodletting was over I was lucky to have a parking space and a desk. Moments after taking office in January of 1984, I lined up on the wrong side of House Speaker Buddie Newman. Growing up in Mississippi, I was painfully aware that my state was the only one without a kindergarten system. I was upset because the legislature placed so little emphasis on education. The second reason, the only one of real substance, was frustration. I was soon on the ropes, defending the $500 gift and wishing I could send it back. Jere’s office was in the same Jackson building with the only known gay rights advocate in the state, and it wasn’t long before my opponent linked things together. One of the first campaign contributions was mailed in by Jere Nash, then an operative with some semi-shadowy do-gooder outfit that was preaching responsible government and progressive policies. I spent $5,000 and knocked on 3,000 doors and won easily. The gentleman who’d represented my corner of DeSoto County had served in the House of Representatives long enough, and I was confident I could take him out. The first was very practical-I knew I could win. I ran for a seat in the legislature for two reasons. Once elected, in 1983 at the age of twenty-eight, I never warmed up to the job. My career in Mississippi politics was practically over before it began, and you’d need to dust the state capitol for fingerprints to find anything I left behind. Mississippi Politics Explodes-Again, 2007–2008 Conclusion The State Flag and Congressional Reapportionment, 2000–2001 The Politics of Reapportionment, 1992–1993 Republicans Gain the Governor’s Mansion, 1991 Liquor and Gambling in Mississippi, 1989–1990 The Campaign to Succeed John Stennis, 1988 Highways, Buddie Newman, and Ray Mabus, 1987 The Allain/Bramlett Campaign and William Winter’s Legacy, 1983 The Origins of Reapportionment, 1890–1979 Ronald Reagan and Jon Hinson, 1980–1981 Education Transforms the Legislature, 1982 The Campaign to Succeed Jim Eastland, 1977–1978 ĭemocrats Win One and Republicans Lose One, 1979 History of Mississippi Democrats, 1948–1975 History of Mississippi Republicans, 1955–1975 P r e fac e to t h e s e c o n d e d i t i o n F345.N373 2009 976.2’063-dc22 2009010837 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data availableĪnd In memory of my dad, who taught me to think for myself F ro m An dy Power (Social sciences)-Mississippi-History. Mississippi-Politics and government-1951– 2. Includes bibliographical references and index. Mississippi politics: the struggle for power, 1976–2008 / Jere Nash and Andy Taggart Foreword by John Grisham. Copyright © 2009 by University Press of Mississippi All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing 2009 ` Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nash, Jere. The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses. U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s o f M i s s i s s i pp i Jackson Mississippi Politics The Struggle for Power, 1976–2008 second edition
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