TUPELO — Residents of Mississippi District 16 will get a chance to have their voices heard with a special election to decide their state House Representative.
Democrat Brady Davis is hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat Rickey Thompson with the upcoming special election primary for Mississippi House District 16, set for Aug. 5. Thompson first took the seat in 2019.
District 16 encompasses Chickasaw, Lee, Monroe and Pontotoc counties and includes portions of Tupelo, Verona and Shannon. Following recent redistricting, District 16 took in much of southwest Pontotoc County, northwest Chickasaw County and expanded further south of Monroe County.
This redistricting caused the special election.
Thompson defeated former State Rep. Steve Holland for his first election and ran unopposed in his second term, which was interrupted by the redistricting special election.
Because the race features neither Republican nor third-party candidates, the position will be decided through the August primary.
The Daily Journal recently met with both candidates to ask about their plans, if elected. Both spoke on the importance of health care and education, and both said they’ve enjoyed canvassing the district and speaking with potential voters.
Davis sees position as progression of lifelong civil service
While not a Mississippi native, Davis, who was born in Nashville, said he immediately fell in love with the state when he moved to it while studying at the University of Southern Mississippi for his master’s degree.
A job with the Chickasaw Nation as an archaeologist and historian brought him to Tupelo. In 2019, Davis became the CEO of the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with the tribal nation to preserve First American history in the Chickasaw homeland.
“I look at this opportunity running for office as being the culmination of years of developing relationships and learning about people, understanding people,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to be of service in Tupelo, and this is an opportunity to be of service to a larger community.”
Davis’ platform is broken into five points: education and workforce development, health care, community development, accessibility of local officials and tourism. He said individuals often get locked into just the concepts in his points without thinking of ways to work on solutions.
“I do not like buzzwords. Roads, bridges, education and health care,” he said. “Buzzwords are useful when there’s substance that comes behind it … When someone creates a platform, it is a set of ideas that someone wants to implement or to at least work on.”
Education, Davis said, was important to him, noting that his wife, Cristina, is a public school teacher. He said he wants to look into ways to increase funding to school districts throughout the state and in the area, develop more adult education opportunities, and better support students. Davis pointed to a Mississippi Economic Council study that showed only 12% of Mississippi employers strongly agreed that our education system prepares students for the workforce. He also noted that while the state ranks highly among states with high school students who move on to college, its postsecondary education retention rate typically falls behind most states.
While test schools are important, Davis said, it is crucial the curriculum focus on teaching skills and building knowledge rather than “teaching to a test,” meaning preparing students for a test rather than teaching them material. He said it is the responsibility of a child’s family to teach ideals, but it is also the school system’s responsibility to do more than create an academic person.
“My wife has been teaching in the public school system for 13 years … I spend a lot of time listening to teachers,” Davis said. “I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a number of people in the education system across the board and in workforce development about not only the need for better academic education but also life skills, critical thinking, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence and these things.”
On health care, Davis said his goal would be to create a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in the state. PACE is an offshoot program of Medicare and Medicaid the states surrounding Mississippi have already adopted.
Along with a PACE program, he said he wants the state to invest more in rural and mental health care.
“When I put my mind to something, and I want to learn something, I do it,” he said. “I am a trained researcher; I am a trained critical thinker; I am a trained problem solver; I am a trained communicator. All those skills I acquired through my education and my 14 years of experience of work in the government and nonprofit sector.”
Community and accessibility go hand-in-hand, Davis said, noting that he will prioritize being reachable to his constituents. He noted he already does this through a host of volunteering and civic clubs, including the Rotary Club, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Mississippi board, the Link Centre board and the executive board of Heale Counseling.
“Public service is not new to me,” he said. “Helping other people has always been important … I’ve got about 14 years of experience working with tribal, federal, state and local governments in addition to nonprofits across the spectrum.”
Thompson runs on record, continued progress
Thompson, a nurse, was born in Shannon and has lived in Northeast Mississippi his entire life. He said he has always been interested in politics and is proud to have been elected twice previously.
To Thompson, education and health care are his biggest concerns for the district, noting that improving both will improve other aspects of the district, both in quality of life and economically. He also said community safety was an issue, noting the potential changes to retirement systems and pay scale for officers.
“I have served almost six years, and I want to continue what I’m doing,” he said. “You can look at my track record as far as making sure I’m casting the votes for the people in my district … I have done a lot of things in the background (that) the community is not aware of, like infrastructure (and) grant money.”
This discussion of expanded educational and health care services is underpinned by the recent move pushed by Gov. Tate Reeves to phase out the state’s income tax, reduce its grocery tax, and raise both its gas and special fuels taxes. On a federal level, the Trump Administration has made significant cuts to education through the Department of Government Efficiency and the potential dismantlement of the Department of Education.
“On a state level, we are top-heavy on federal funds, so there is going to be a shortfall,” he said. “The thing we’ve got to look at (is) … where are they going to get the money from. Education is something we are going to have to pay attention to.”
Thompson said with the recent redistricting, it was important that he speak with residents who live within the new district lines so he can understand their needs.
“You have to get with the community, see exactly what I can bring from Jackson to make things do well,” he said. “We’ve got grants out there they may not be aware of, and (I’m) working with my other legislators to bring things back to north Mississippi.”
In Chickasaw County, he said, one goal he has for his portion of the county will be to facilitate the expansion of broadband in rural towns. This can be done, he said, through coordinating with municipalities and power cooperatives that are already establishing fiber optics in unincorporated areas of counties.
Over the past term-and-a-half, Thompson said, he has built relationships with other legislators and elected officials both locally and in Jackson, adding he was proud of what he has accomplished in that time.
In the last legislative session, the state approved a 3% restaurant tax levy for Verona to use on tourism and recreation in the city. Thompson was listed as a co-author of a bill that allowed an assessment for convictions in Lee County. The state will appropriate money based on the number of convictions to use for renovations of the old Lee County Courthouse.
The previous session included multiple actions Thompson spearheaded, including a bill to expand gas distribution in Shannon and a bill to create a fentanyl abuse education, prevention and cessation program.
As for Lee County, he said there needs to be a focus on the south end of the county to accommodate growth.
“Lee County is the hub, but you have these small towns like Verona and Shannon. They are too close (to Tupelo) to not see some of the benefits of a thriving community,” Thompson said. “From the years I’ve been there, I can see progress on the southern end compared to the northern end. It’s been a slow process, but as we know, things don’t happen overnight.”
Thompson said he’s proud of the work he’s done, but he knows there’s much left to do.
“We’re still working on a lot of things to bring the community forward. It is an ongoing process,” he said. “I’m going to continue to work on issues that I’ve always been working on … It’s been a progressive move all the way.”