By Billy Davis

Panola’s County’s arm of the Democratic Party grilled local candidates about their allegiance to the political party at a March 24 meeting in Batesville, said candidates who were unhappy about the meet.

At least two Democratic candidates said the Democratic Executive Committee also produced voting records that revealed those candidates had voted in Republican primaries.

Mississippi has a so-called open primary, meaning registered voters can cast a ballot in either a Democrat or Republican primary. The two political parties oversee their respective primaries.

“They asked me why I voted for Republicans,” said Kelly Morris, a District 4 supervisor who is seeking re-election this year.  

“I told them because I’m conservative,” he said. “I don’t feel I should have to answer for a personal vote like that. This is still America.”   

The second candidate, Brad Baker, said he was “shocked and surprised” when asked why he voted in the 2008 Republican Primary. That ballot included a highly competitive presidential race.

“I didn’t feel at ease at all with that type of questioning,” said Baker.

Baker is running for tax assessor/collector, a county office held by longtime incumbent David Garner, also a Democrat.  

A search of 2008 voting records by The Panolian showed Garner voted in the Democratic Primary that year.

A third county candidate also related to a reporter that Morris and Baker were asked about their primary votes.

Several candidates described receiving a list of 2011 Democrat nominees running for governor and other public offices, and said they were instructed to circle “yes” or “no” to indicate support for the nominees.

“I wrote ‘no’ at first but changed all those to ‘yes.’ I didn’t want them to kick me out,” said a supervisor candidate.

“I wasn’t too wild about that,” he said. “Some of them I know and won’t support, and the ones I don’t know — you ought to know them before you support them.”

The meeting and questioning of Democratic candidates followed statutory requirements for party nominees, said Mona Pittman, a member of the Panola County Democratic Executive Committee.

Democrat candidates running in the primary are required to prove their qualifications and pledge their support for Democrat nominees, said Pittman, who also serves as secretary for the Mississippi Democratic Party.

Candidates said they received a formal letter in the mail from the Panola County Democratic Party asking them to attend the meeting, which was held at the county courthouse in Batesville.

Some candidates said the letter was unclear about the purpose of the meeting and candidates felt obligated to attend.

Attendees said some incumbent Democrats did not attend the meeting, including Garner and Sheriff Otis Griffin.  

Attending candidates said Pittman led the meeting last week, though Pittman said Rufus Manley is overseeing the county executive committee due to her obligations with the state party.

Manley said candidates were asked to prove their qualifications, such as being a U.S. citizen, though he failed to mention the loyalty questions until a reporter asked about them.

“We didn’t know what to do,” he said of the meeting. “We didn’t know what to ask or what not to ask.”

Manley also said the Democratic candidates have not been certified to run in the August 8 primary. Their certification will follow a May 9 training session in Jackson for Manley and others, he said.

State Democrats are overseeing the training, said Manley.

Asked if he believed all of the county candidates will be certified by the county Democratic Party, Manley said, “That’s nobody’s concern but the candidates.”

Manley, in a phone interview, refused to name other members of the Democratic Executive Committee.