2008 Woodie Awards
Political activist shares insight
Taggart discussed Miss. elections, politics in Union
Aubra Whitten
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: News
Political activist and author Andy Taggart spoke to students and faculty Wednesday about the upcoming state elections.
Taggart, a lawyer in Madison, served as chief of staff to former Gov. Kirk Fordice from 1991 to 1994. In 1984, he served as the executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party and was its political director in 1980 and 1981.
He started his own law practice in 2002 and was the president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance from 2002 to 2005.
In 2006, Taggart and campaign veteran Jere Nash co-wrote "Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2006," which discusses political campaigns and state Legislature struggles.
Taggart said he and Nash wrote the book because there had not been work written on the last 30 years of Mississippi politics.
"We felt like someone ought to capture the most recent era of Mississippi politics," Taggart said.
His primary focus during the MSU address was on the unusual nature of some of the state races.
"We went from thinking we were going to have no new races, that all the incumbents would run and be re-elected ... to having two Congressional races and a U.S. Senate race going on all at the same time in addition to other [races]," Taggart said.
After the 2007 elections, for the first time since Reconstruction, Republicans hold seven out of Mississippi's eight statewide elected offices, he said.
"That's really an extraordinary thing because as recently as the term between 1999 and 2003, one of the eight was a Republican," Taggart said.
He said it was remarkable that the power shift occurred rapidly over a short cycle of several election periods.
The same power shift did not occur in the Legislature, Taggart said. The Senate is split almost in half with 27 Democrats and 25 Republicans, while the House contains 75 Democrats and 47 Republicans.
The House numbers have not changed since before the 2007 election, he said.
Taggart, a lawyer in Madison, served as chief of staff to former Gov. Kirk Fordice from 1991 to 1994. In 1984, he served as the executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party and was its political director in 1980 and 1981.
He started his own law practice in 2002 and was the president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance from 2002 to 2005.
In 2006, Taggart and campaign veteran Jere Nash co-wrote "Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2006," which discusses political campaigns and state Legislature struggles.
Taggart said he and Nash wrote the book because there had not been work written on the last 30 years of Mississippi politics.
"We felt like someone ought to capture the most recent era of Mississippi politics," Taggart said.
His primary focus during the MSU address was on the unusual nature of some of the state races.
"We went from thinking we were going to have no new races, that all the incumbents would run and be re-elected ... to having two Congressional races and a U.S. Senate race going on all at the same time in addition to other [races]," Taggart said.
After the 2007 elections, for the first time since Reconstruction, Republicans hold seven out of Mississippi's eight statewide elected offices, he said.
"That's really an extraordinary thing because as recently as the term between 1999 and 2003, one of the eight was a Republican," Taggart said.
He said it was remarkable that the power shift occurred rapidly over a short cycle of several election periods.
The same power shift did not occur in the Legislature, Taggart said. The Senate is split almost in half with 27 Democrats and 25 Republicans, while the House contains 75 Democrats and 47 Republicans.
The House numbers have not changed since before the 2007 election, he said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
P. Simms
posted 2/02/08 @ 1:18 PM CST
I am one of the few registered Republicans in the area... I'm not thrilled with my choices in the primary so I've been talking to a lot of Democrats about the upcoming vote -- and I've personally converted at least 4 Hillary supporters to Obama. (Continued…)
Post a Comment