Conservative candidates needs to be daring. It’s the quickest technique to a voter’s thoughts and coronary heart.

As Republican candidates plan and put together their roadmap for victory in November, I encourage them to recollect campaigns should not at all times solely about politics; they’re additionally about coverage and beliefs. As one former Governor used to say, “good coverage is sweet politics.”

A profitable marketing campaign should have good group, sufficient funding, and a top quality candidate, however a daring message is the key weapon. Daring doesn’t should be difficult – it merely should concentrate on coverage beliefs that assist transfer your group and our state ahead. I promise you, a daring message will seize the eye of voters and motivates them to point out up on Election Day and examine the field for you. Belief me – message issues.

Mississippi was a one-party state for generations, and it was not till the elections of 2003 that the dam actually broke and conservative beliefs flowed freely within the Governor’s Mansion and the State Capitol.

During the last twenty years, three Republican Governors (Barbour, Bryant, Reeves) 4 Republican Lt. Governors (Tuck, Bryant, Reeves, Hosemann), one Republican Speaker of the Home (Gunn), and a litany of conservative leaders within the legislature have centered on coverage. Not each resolution was a transparent win – however to be daring generally means you stumble a bit.

Nonetheless, the excellent news for conservatives on the poll this November is the final twenty years Republicans have delivered numerous wins on the massive points that matter to Mississippi voters. Points comparable to training, decrease taxes, getting authorities out of the way in which, delivering extra and higher jobs, prioritizing enhancing infrastructure all through the state (not simply in just a few prime counties), defending the unborn, and lots of different vital points. 

Once I significantly began taking note of politics within the Nineteen Nineties, Democrats in Mississippi owned the training concern, and so they proudly and efficiently carried that possession. However Republicans within the legislature made it a precedence to concentrate on the features of the state’s training system they thought was damaged. They’d a plan to focus every legislative session on two or three critically vital coverage priorities – they knew they couldn’t repair the system in a single session – it was going to take a number of years.

With the assist of three consecutive Republican Governors (Barbour, Bryant, and Reeves), they’ve advocated for and handed laws centered on conservative training beliefs. The enlargement of constitution faculties was one of many first wins, and sure essentially the most debated and mentioned (that is the ten-year anniversary of this legislative win). Constitution faculties do greater than merely deliver competitors to native faculties which have a continued historical past of failing grades, they provide a approach out for the households who’re trapped in a zipper code that has failing faculties.

However past constitution faculties, Republicans fought for, and handed, the Third Grade Studying Gate. This can be a frequent sense ideally suited {that a} little one should know the way to learn earlier than they will transfer to fourth grade. This coverage ideally suited introduced forth the demand for literacy coaches in our faculties. These people, working along with our lecturers, have helped our scholar’s studying scores to climb.

Then there was the training scholarship program for special-needs youngsters. There have been too many special-needs children caught in a faculty that might not present the kind of studying setting they wanted. These children wanted choices, and this program supplied them a brand new possibility for achievement.

Lastly, and arguably most significantly, Republicans have delivered throughout a number of legislative classes on guarantees to considerably increase the pay of our lecturers. This culminated in 2022 with the biggest trainer pay increase in our state’s historical past which introduced our trainer’s beginning pay above the southeastern and nationwide common. 

As I laid out above, it’s not simply the training concern that Republicans have led on. Prior to now few years, management in Jackson has delivered two of the biggest tax cuts within the historical past of our state.

Governor Reeves efficiently managed by means of a worldwide pandemic – balancing well being considerations with financial considerations. He opened our state again up shortly, safely, and efficiently. He by no means turned his again on small companies or healthcare officers. And at the moment, Republican leaders are debating how greatest to proceed to speculate and prioritize document state revenues. It’s clear they’re centered on utilizing these {dollars} to enhance infrastructure and defend our hospitals who’re nonetheless struggling to recuperate from the monetary drag often known as COVID. 

To these of you operating this 12 months, or perhaps within the close to future, I hope you’ll keep in mind that coverage issues – and being daring is the quickest technique to a voter’s thoughts and coronary heart.

Discuss in regards to the successes over the previous 20 years and paint the image on your plan for the following 20 years – a plan that may actually enhance your group and our state.