More than 50 Sunflower County Democrats gathered in the Courthouse Saturday to name delegates to their Congressional District and State Conventions and to elect local party leadership for the next four years.
Named as delegates to the April 13 Second Congressional District Convention in Vicksburg and the May 25 State Convention were:
Jeanette Knighten, Mae Nero, Betty Petty, Margaret Rushing, Barnett Sample Elder, Mattie Todd, Otis Anthony II, Marvin Elder, Steve Rosenthal, David Rushing, James Sample and Edward Thomas.
Named as alternates to the convention were:
Reagan Anthony, Hazel Barney, Annie Childs, Bettye Sims Hawkins, Annie Ruth Thomas, Sade Turnipseed, Colee Anthony, John Chandler, Eddie Childs, Steve Hayes, Charles Modley and David Stevenson.
During Saturday’s county Convention, local Democrats also elected members to the Sunflower County Democratic Executive Committee for the next four years. Among its major duties is to conduct Democratic primary elections, recruit and vet Democratic candidates and support its nominees in general elections.
Named to the committee were:
Supervisor District 1 — Amanda Guest, Jeanette Knighten, Mae Nero, Kenny Carpenter, Steve A. Hayes and James T. Sample;
Supervisor District 2 — Reagan Anthony, Bessie Gardner, Stacie Lynn, Colee Anthony, David Stevenson and Edward Thomas;
Supervisor District 3 — Bettye Sims Hawkins, Robin Rosenthal, Sade Turnipseed, Doug Card, Charles Modley and David Rushing;
Supervisor District 4 – Hazel Barney, Annie Bee Childs, Maude Triplett, Eddie Lee Childs Sr., Steve Holtz
and Ambrose McKinney;
Supervisor District 5 — Diane Byest, Hazel Harris, Marian L. Winters, Eugene Anderson, Harvey Burchfield and James Pointer.
The new executive committee will meet soon to elect its officers for the next four years.
The county convention also considered a wide range of issues and unanimously voted to propose the following to the CD and state conventions for possible inclusion into the State Democratic Platform:
• Better funding and required training/screening of police at all levels;
• Effective gun control;
• Adequate funding for infrastructure at all levels;
• Expand Medicaid and fully fund rural hospitals, wellness and health education;
• Set a statewide minimum wage to a livable level;
• Support HB 873 Purple Alert System for vulnerable people;
• Fully fund education;
• Establish mandatory kindergarten;
• Require non-censored civics and history education at the secondary level;
• Equal treatment of the Mississippi Delta in all state and regional development, funding and programs;
• Retain, expand and improve the Mississippi Penitentiary at Parchman and establish effective statewide inmate education, rehabilitation and anti-recidivism programs.
