Plans for today

Push cards will be a go later today.

I will be trying to get the remaining video from WDAM to put it online.  They have not yet posted the interview clip that ran last night.

I will have people at Live at 5 in Hattiesburg, and the West Marion High School Homecoming festivities.

WDAM interview

Just wrapped the WDAM interview.  It will be airing at 6:00 pm today.  I hope that I was able to convey what I can offer the district.  Now we're just waiting for our voting guides, which are due any moment from FedEx.

What happened at 2:00 pm today at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Building

Delbert Hosemann gave a substantial talk regarding our coming election.  The Secretary of State asked all potential candidates to send qualifying affidavits to the Secretary of State's office.  This way, there will be an unofficial qualifying process.  The Secretary of State has promised to issue a press release for each qualifying affidavit or political committee formation statement.

A list of candidates will not be available from the circuit clerks.
Spelling of names need not be exact, but should be attempted.
Poll workers will be allowed to assist persons with arthritis to write in votes.

I asked Secretary of State Hosemann how the military voters will be contacted.  Mississippi has electronic ballots for the military, and some of them have already voted.  I pointed out that yesterday, when I called Camp Shelby and spoke with a non-com at the MOC, they were not aware that Judge Thomas had died, much less that there was going to be a write-in election.  Secretary Hosemann stated that they had notified the Adjutant General of the procedure yesterday.  Lou Ellen Adams, our Circuit Clerk, told us that she had personally emailed everyone who had requested an absentee ballot with the information on Friday.  I was pleased to hear that our service members will have the opportunity to cast a vote in this election.

I was not interviewed by WDAM on-site, but they told me to expect a call on Friday.  Also, I was listening to Sid Salter at 3:50 pm, and Sid had some question about the mechanics of the election.  I was privileged to call in and tell Sid what we had all learned at the meeting, how the election was going to proceed, and what the Secretary of State's office was going to do to educate the voter.  Sid asked me if I was running, and I said yes.  He let me make the announcement at the end of the 3 o'clock hour.

If I can get the audio for that, I will.

Thanks, Sid!

Jude Lackey refuses to stop write-in for 13th Circuit Court District

Although the 13th Circuit Court lawsuit has different facts than our election, this points to the write-in going forward down here, absent an expedited appeal and stay by the Mississippi Supreme Court.  Can't wait to ask Secretary of State Hosemann about this.

EDIT: More details from the Clarion Ledger.

What I Will Do as Chancellor

Many people have asked me what the difference between the candidates is, and one salient question is why I am a better candidate for chancellor than any other attorney who meets the legal qualifications.  I have three major distinctions from the other candidates, and two minor distinctions from them.

First, the minor distinctions: I am the youngest candidate by five years, and I have a luxurious beard.  These are cosmetic differences, but they are noticeable.

Now for the major distinctions:

The first major distinction is that I have been mentored by Judge Bridges both as his law clerk and now as a guardian-ad-litem in his court.  Judge Bridges has been temporarily appointed to Post One since July.  The reaction of attorneys and litigants in the district have been uniformly and overwhelmingly positive.  This man has taught me how a judge should think and act.  His record of service is unimpeachable, beginning with the United States Marine Corps and continuing through his service in Rankin County and finally at the Mississippi Court of Appeals, where I worked for him for 13 months.  He is a personal inspiration and a professional inspiration.  Whenever I have been fortunate to work with Judge Bridges, I have benefited, and my work has benefited.  I don't mean to imply that Judge Bridges in any way supports my candidacy or has any opinion about me as a potential judge.  I do mean to imply that I will conduct myself as Judge Bridges conducts himself, both temperamentally and professionally.

The second major distinction is my focus on accessibility.  Access to the courts is the most important way to preserve society.  Our courts have always been very accessible, but some changes could and should be made.  First, I would institute a system using Google Calendar, Facebook, and Twitter, that would notify attorneys and citizens where I am on a particular day.  Second, on term days I would stay in the particular county where the term is until 5:00 pm that day (barring unforeseen conflicts), so that attorneys and litigants seeking emergency relief would not be chasing me from courthouse to courthouse.  I have as an attorney wasted too much time in traveling around the district seeking a judge for emergency relief where even the court administrator could not tell me where the judge was.  When a judge is on the road in this day and age, he is unable to be contacted.  By staying in Poplarville, or New Augusta, or Columbia, or Purvis for the entire day, I will be able to better aid the District.  Third, I will set up a dedicated, secure email address for the presentment of proposed orders by counsel.  No more shuffling through the inbox for a piece of paper.

The third major distinction is continuity.  I have expressly pledged to retain Judge Thomas's staff, if they wish to remain. Barbie Parham and Patsy Ainsworth are two of the finest people I know, and they were a large part of Judge Thomas's success as our chancellor.  I don't have to displace them, because I don't have a secretary or any staff that have to come with me to the Court or lose their jobs.

My campaign's pledge to supporters and contributors

We will not spend a dime of contributions until after I learn tomorrow the answer to three questions I will ask Secretary of State Hosemann: first, how is the write-in affected by the Voting Rights Act, Section 5?  Second, how accurately do voters need to spell my name for the vote to count?  Third, who interprets the intent of the voter regarding the write-in vote?

If tomorrow Secretary Hosemann can promise us that the write-in is cleared or will be cleared by the Department of Justice, that there will be a uniform standard for evaluating the votes, and that the voter's intent in writing in the names will be accounted for, then we will being our campaign in earnest.  Tomorrow will be a busy day for this campaign.

Wednesday is D-Day

Wednesday morning there will be a hearing in Hinds County on the 13th Circuit Court District write-in election.  Then, at 2:00 p.m., Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann will hold a town hall meeting at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Building in Hattiesburg on Front Street to discuss the write-in election.

A busy day for the hustings

Bill and I will be out and about meeting with contributors and voters.  We've prepared a voter guide, business-card size.  5000 of them will be arriving on Wednesday.  Depending on what happens in the 13th Circuit Court District lawsuit, we'll be ready to move on Wednesday.

Our official website will be live this afternoon, with a full biography, my thoughts on the issues facing our district, and a guide to writing in a candidate with electronic voting machines.  I've been writing in Larry Gunn for one office or another since 2003, so I'm used to the system.  It's very similar to any other touchpad keyboard, except every letter is capitalized.