Democratic Legislators Weigh In On The Future Of The Party

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Following Tuesday’s election, the Republican party now has a firm grip in the state capital.

Not only did the GOP complete a sweep of statewide offices, but they also expanded control in the Senate, and remain steady in the House.

Many are now left wondering what this means for the Democratic party.

“It just further shows that our Democratic party here in the state has to re-organize and we have to do some things a little differently,” said Kabir Karriem, District 41 State Representative.

Karriem believes members of the Democratic party have to go back to the drawing board to discuss new ideas, and figure out which changes need to be made to move the party forward.

He doesn’t think the recent GOP dominance marks the end of a once dominating party.

However, he does believe the party needs to build better relationships and coalitions.

“Everything is a teachable moment,” Karriem expressed. “We just need to get together those like minds and talk about where we are, and have an honest conversation about where we are, and how do we move forward from here. I don’t think all is lost. We’ve been here before. We just need to come together and see how we can be more progressive as a party.”

“The chronic problem that the Democratic party in Mississippi has is we are allowing other people to define us and we’re not defining ourselves,” said Hob Bryan, District 7 State Senator.

Bryan said the party supports the core beliefs of the people in Mississippi, such as improving infrastructure and fully funding education, but he admits, Democrats need to do a better job of getting that message out to voters.

The longtime Senator believes this one thing could help lead to more voters and better representation for the Democratic party in Jackson.

“We’ve got to explain to the voters that we’re down here fighting for public schools and the legislative leadership is fighting against them and they’re pressuring their members to vote against it,” said Bryan. “We’ve got to explain to the voters that we’re down here and believe in public roads. We’re trying to maintain the existing roads that we have, and the legislative leadership is fighting against that. If we could effectively explain that to the voters, they’d be with us, and again I’ll say, a bunch of people who consider themselves Republicans would be with us.”

When the legislative session begins in January 2020, of the 52 seats in the Senate, only 16 will be held by Democrats.

Out of the 122 seats in the House, less than half of them will be held by members of the Democratic party.