The update is that we're in the process of switching from PAO Social to PAO Blog this week. The design hasn't been completed so they're still working on that, and that's what the delay is. I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend, and here's to a great September as we continue to do all we can do to get President Trump back into the White House so the cleanup can begin!
Our state has a lot of elections. We hold our federal elections for house, senate and POTUS every 2 years just like all states. We hold our state and county elections in one of the middle years between federal election years and we hold some of our municipal elections in the other middle year. Doing that causes us to be able to vote for or against something or someone every year.
Our normal scheduled elections are usually a 5 stage process. 4 of the stages are open and the other is secret. There is a primary and if necessary a primary run off. There is a general and if necessary a general run off. Those 4 stages are held in public. The secret one is when the executive committees of the parties decide who they will support and who they will shun during the primary races.
This is not a normal year and those 5 stages we are used to do not apply. I already did my best to explain the source of some of the confusion in a different post. Thad Cochran resigned to cause an open seat which was filled domino style. Someone was pulled from a cabinet level position to fill Cochran's seat and someone was pulled from the legislature to fill that cabinet seat. That is what set up the special elections. Cochran timed his resignation so it would be passed the deadline for candidates to qualify, so the special election for the house seat that I ran in had to be held after the regular primary race for federal house and senate.
Here are some more causes of confusion. Most of us know that the US senate is divided into 3 classes in a way that no state elects both of its senators in the same year. The only exception to that rule is what is going on this year. We are electing both in the same year but in totally different kinds of elections. Nearly everyone in our state knows that Chris McDaniel is a candidate in one of those senate races but it seems that almost nobody knows which one.
Chris McDaniel signed up to run in the regular scheduled election against RINO Roger Wicker. Just after he qualified for that race Cochran resigned. McDaniel dropped out of the race against Wicker and filled his petition to run as an independent in the special election for the vacant seat. The primary race for the regular scheduled senate race has already happened and the incumbent easily won. In November there will be the regular general election for senate and on the same day the special election for the other senate seat. Three weeks later if necessary there will be a run off to decide who represents our state in DC.
Confused enough already? Here is where it gets even more strange. Some of you may have heard that Cindy Hyde-Smith was a Democrat in the state legislature with a less than conservative voting record. Some of you may even know that she admitted to voting for Obama and for Clinton. She saw a chance to run for state commissioner of ag and commerce but knew she had no chance to win a statewide election in a red state if she admitted she is really a Democrat, so she ran as Republican and won. That Democrat is who our "Republican" governor appointed to fill the empty seat until a special election could be held. He then waited all the way to November to schedule the special election even though he could have done it the same time as the special election for the state legislator race. We have a special election and regular election on the same day.
The rules for special elections are different. There is no primary. All candidates are required to run as independent. Regardless of how many run they are all on the same ballot. There are several who self identify as Republicans and some who identify themselves as Democrats. The only 2 candidates the press is using ink on and the only 2 with a reasonable chance of winning are Chris and Cindy.
Clear as mud? I think that confusion is something the left and establishment GOP is banking on. If you are still confused just comment on this post and I will try to answer.
Voter confusion and voter apathy are both tools of the establishment swamp. Yes, we conservatives really could ban together and take any low turn out election we want if we knew we had the power to actually do it. Another tool of the establishment is their constant preaching that there is something great about incumbency.