How to write-in a candidate

The touch screen voting machine you will use.

Where you go to vote.

Step three in the voting guide is the key: scroll to the Chancery Court section of the ballot, and identify place One by looking for Judge Thomas's name, James H.C. Thomas, Jr.  Directly below his name you will find the write-in block.  Select that block, and using the touch screen, type in Alexander Ignatiev.  Don't worry about being exact in spelling; I appreciate your support, and your best efforts.

What are the rules for this campaign?

All candidates for the write-in must meet the following qualifications: 26 years of age, five years as a practicing attorney, and five years a citizen of the state of Mississippi.  Miss. Const. of 1890, Art. VI, S. 154.

We cannot solicit public support or funds directly; our campaign committee must do that.  My campaign committee is called Friends of Alex Ignatiev.  My campaign manager is William J. Adcox.  His phone number is (601) 299-1091.  My Google Voice number is (601) 336-0629.  Please contact us with your questions.

The Secretary of State's Campaign Finance Guide

A crowded field, a muddled message

At present there are seven declared candidates by my count.  Five of us are from Forrest County; one from Pearl River County, and one from Marion County.  Already identity politics are contaminating the race.  The important question is whether a candidate will exercise sound judgment in equity for all who come before the court.  If you want the candidate with the most experience, that's an easy call to make.  If you want the candidate with the most sparkling resume, that's an easy choice, too.  But decades of experience and a sheen on your CV do not entitle you to be a judge.

So far, each declared candidate meets the legal requirements to serve as judge.  By law, they are all qualified.  Qualification is the threshold to seek this position.

How then do you choose your chancellor?  Deuteronomy 1:16-18 contains Moses's famous charge to the judges of Israel.  Kearney Travis reminded all of us at Judge Thomas's funeral about this charge:  "Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.  Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it."

Thomas Jefferson famously expounded on the jurisdiction of the courts of equity.  "These limitations are: 1. That it cannot take cognizance of any case wherein the Common Law can give a complete remedy.  2.  That it cannot interpose in any case against the express letter and intention of the Legislature.  3.  That it shall not interpose in any case which does not come within a general description, and admit of redress by a general and practicable rule."  Letter to Philip Mazzei, 1785.Chancery courts are dependent upon the sound judgment of the judges.

There are precious few cases wherein a jury can be found in chancery court.  The judge is called to take the facts, and apply the law to the facts, using his own judgment.  Above all, the court has a duty of humility in judgment; the judge cannot discriminate between the litigant in the thousand dollar suit and the litigant in the threadbare t-shirt.  Each litigant deserves the same consideration and discernment from the court.  This is my pledge to the voters of this district: I will treat each of you with the dignity and respect that all persons are due from their public servants.

A Write-In Candidacy for the 10th District

Hello, my friends. I am reopening this blog today. It was announced earlier this week by the State of Mississippi's Board of Election Commissioners that Judge Thomas's vacant post in the 10th Chancery District will be subject to a write-in election. While I and many of the attorneys in the district disagree with this decision, some of us feel the call to service strongly.

I am a candidate for Post One in District Ten. Four years ago, I ran in my first judicial election. It was an important professional and personal experience. Through the process, I met many new friends and learned a great deal about the challenges facing the 10th District. I have served hundreds of clients in the chancery courts since then. I have been appointed as a guardian ad litem in the chancery courts of the 10th and 19th Districts, and in the Youth Court of Forrest County. I am licensed in all courts, state and federal, in Mississippi, including the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

I am presently a member of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in McComb, and a member of the Holy Cross Mission of the Orthodox Church in America here in Hattiesburg. I serve as the secretary of the parish council at Christ the Saviour, and have done so for the past two years. From 2003 to 2004, I served as the secretary of the Hattiesburg Area Young Lawyer's Association.

I was blessed to marry Tina on May 25th, 2008. Marriage changes a man, and in my case, for the better. While we presently have no children, we have two cats and a dog.

The 10th Chancery District will have many qualified candidates in this election. I am the only candidate under 35 years of age, with a luxurious beard, and a Russian surname.

Thank you for your consideration.