In a campaign war chest of more than $9 million, $8,500 is peanuts — worth less than one-tenth of 1% of the total.
With so little money at stake, it’s puzzling why Gov. Tate Reeves would not have distanced himself quickly from the comparatively modest donations he received from at least two individuals who have been convicted in the state’s massive welfare scandal.
In fact, he gave every indication he would.
After the scandal first broke with the indictments in 2020 of six individuals, including Greenwood native Nancy New and her son Zach New, Reeves treated their prior campaign donations to him — $2,500 from Nancy, $6,000 from Zach — as hot potatoes. He pledged to move those donations to a separate bank account, and that the money would either be given to the state or to charity. And he implied the transfer would be done rapidly.
“But I don’t want to hold onto that money for a second longer than we have to,” Reeves pronounced the day after the indictments came down.
More than three years later, according to this week’s reporting by at least two news outlets, there is no documentation that any of what Reeves said he would do has happened.
When asked about it, a campaign spokesperson indicated the governor has modified his promise and that the money will be donated at the “ultimate conclusion of the legal proceedings.” That could, however, be still years away.
Reeves’ initial instincts were right, both ethically and politically. The News used their political connections to get access to millions of dollars of welfare funds, some of which auditors say they converted to their own purposes or funneled to associates. Whatever money they donated to Reeves or anyone else running for office was tainted by the News’ criminal behavior.
By holding onto the money for now, Reeves has handed a gift to his Democratic opponent, Brandon Presley, who is trying his hardest to make the welfare scandal a political albatross for Reeves. So far, most of what’s been reported shows Reeves with a minor connection, at worst, to the misspending and the characters involved in it. Reeves should want to keep it that way.
But this latest revelation, on top of using old campaign footage shot at one of the schools formerly run by Nancy New, only serves to link the incumbent governor with the scandal. It’s odd that he either fails to see this or doesn’t care.
