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topicnews · August 26, 2024

Mike Espy and Gregg Harper from Mississippi debate presidential candidates

Mike Espy and Gregg Harper from Mississippi debate presidential candidates

Harris overtakes Trump in polls after DNC

Former Mississippi U.S. House Representatives Mike Espy (D-2nd District) and Gregg Harper (D-3rd District) stuck to their political stances during a recent debate over which presidential candidate would best represent Mississippi.

During a Stennis luncheon on August 12 at Hal and Mal’s in downtown Jackson, the two former House members agreed that Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump would likely win Mississippi’s electoral votes in the November 5 election.

This may have been the only agreement they had.

Although Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris has now risen in the polls following her ascension to the nomination and the Democratic National Convention, it is unlikely that this momentum will carry over to Mississippi, where only one Democrat, U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson of the 2nd District, currently represents Mississippi in Washington, DC.

The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won the Magnolia State was in 1976, when Jimmy Carter captured much of the Deep South.

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Espy, the first black Mississippian elected to Congress since the 19th century and a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said Harris would be a great president and would benefit states like Mississippi, where federal aid and programs have helped with infrastructure over the past four years. That help came in the form of the American Rescue Plan Act as well as a huge, bipartisan infrastructure package that provided funding for roads and other improvements in Mississippi.

“If Mississippi is a chain, we need to strengthen the weaker link,” Espy said. “Those are the very low-income recipients, those whose hospitals are closing, those without Medicaid expansion, those without health insurance, those whose bridges are falling down, those who aren’t paid minimum wage. They need someone at the presidential level to help them aspire to a certain level of status and wealth. … If she did that as vice president, I believe she would do even more as president.”

Harper, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years and left in 2019, said he believes Harris will continue her upward trajectory in the polls until the next presidential debate, where she will finally prove herself in a debate against Trump. Earlier this year, Trump’s debate against incumbent President Joe Biden sparked highly influential doubts about Biden’s physical and mental fitness, leading to his decision to drop out and endorse Harris in his place.

“She can’t run away from what happened when she replaced Biden, she’s going to have to talk about it,” Harper said. “Who talked about the 25th Amendment when that happened in the discussion with Biden, who went from ‘Only the Lord God Almighty can make me leave’ to ‘I’m going to (drop out).’ I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but I’m sure it was very traumatic for the people who were involved in it.”

Harper said Trump would easily win the Magnolia State, but he believes the former president will need to act in a “presidential” rather than seditious manner if he wants a clear victory against Harris.

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“It’s going to be a little more difficult until the election, if we look at how things stand then,” Harper said. “I think Trump will prevail in the end if he can act like a president for a couple of months. Don’t call people names. Don’t fight where you don’t have to. He shouldn’t attack Governor Kemp of Georgia, for example.”

Harper said Trump will remain tough on his border and economic policies, which Harper said will benefit the American people and Mississippi in general. He also attacked the Biden administration’s rewrite of border policy and what he said are failed economic initiatives.

According to polling data from fivethirtyeight.com, Harris is more than three percentage points ahead of Trump as of Monday at 47.1%, while Trump is at 43.7%.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. Reach him at [email protected] or 972-571-2335.

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