Rep. Brandon Jones' dad weighs in on Charles Busby's slime

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) benefits from having one of the most highly-respected members of the Pascagoula community for his father. Charles Busby, an Alabama businessman running to oust Rep. Jones from the House, has unleashed some rather vicious lies about Rep. Jones as Busby sees the race slipping away.

That got under Rep. Jones' father's skin, and the elder Jones sent out an email response today taking the bark off of Busby for his slimeball tactics. Here it is:

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your friendship and support over the years.

As you know, our son, Brandon, is running for reelection to continue to represent District 111 in the Mississippi House of Representatives. It has been wonderful to see many of you as we have campaigned across the district.

While much of the campaign has been exciting, Mary and I have been utterly appalled at the willingness of Brandon's opponent to assault the character of our son. Although Brandon told us months ago to be “prayed up” because he expected a ruthless campaign, he understated the negativity that has followed.

In one of the latest mail assaults, Brandon has been accused of not doing everything he can to protect Mississippi’s children. In a year of outrageous attacks, this may be the most outrageous one of them all. Brandon is the father of two children and I can assure you that he will do whatever it takes to protect his children and yours. He has been a champion for children throughout his time in the legislature, authoring laws to protect young people from internet predators and working to include children in Mississippi’s domestic violence statutes. In fact, the bill in question actually refers to a measure that Brandon spoke out against because ministers and doctors were concerned that it would have prevented them from counseling vulnerable young women in their time of need.

Although they have handled themselves beautifully in recent days, I know that these false attacks have hurt Laurie and Brandon and I am thankful that their impressionable children are too young to comprehend the lies being told about their wonderful father.

When Brandon ran for office, we were warned that his would be a tough and mine-filled journey. This campaign has been all of that and more. Even so, in recent days Brandon has demonstrated those characteristics that have made him such an effective leader in Jackson. Despite the negativity, Brandon has been campaigning hard, listening to voters, and trying to turn the conversation back to those things that inspired him to run in the first place like lowering insurance costs, protecting families, and creating jobs for Jackson County.

As a father, I’m angered and appalled at the irresponsible false attacks aimed at my son. As a constituent of House District 111, I am proud of our representative and more convinced than ever that he is the leader we need.

In these final days of the campaign, I urge you to talk to your friends and family about voting for Brandon on Tuesday. With your help, we can send a clear message that we want to keep honest and effective leadership working for us in Jackson.

Thank you for your time,

Ed Jones

Republican lookalike mailers appear

Some folks on the other side have been having fun pointing out the similarities between Democratic legislative candidates' mailers.  Well, take a look at these mailers from Dorothy Wilcox (running against David Baria in Bay St. Louis) and Charles Busby (the Alabama businessman running against Rep. Brandon Jones in Pascagoula):

Here's Busby's:

And now Wilcox's:

Interesting, huh?

Did Y'all Politics uncover vote-buying by Rep. Jeff Smith? ***Updated***

It's fairly common knowledge that, when running for Speaker, one does not promise committee chairmanships to folks in exchange for votes.  Well, apparently Jeff Smith didn't know that.  Here's what Frank Corder of Y'all Politics recently wrote in a story attacking Rep. Brandon Jones:

I heard that had Rep. Jeff Smith won the Speaker vote in 2007, Smith would have appointed Jackson County representatives Rep. Hank Zuber and Rep. John Reed as House committee chairs. Zuber would have been given the reigns of Transportation and Reed would have chaired Public Health. This would have given Jackson County and the Coast tremendous influence on two vital committees.

I verified this with Rep. Jeff Smith. When asked about this scenario, Smith said, "It is true. John is my best friend in the Legislature and Zuber had paid his dues and deserved a Chair and would have gotten one, just as they both will if I become Speaker this time."

Well, here's the thing.  When you're promising people chairmanships of committees, you put them in a situation where they have a direct pecuniary interest in voting a certain way as a legislator.  That's because committee chairmen get extra salary for the time they have to spend working on issues before their committees.

Of course, there's another problem with what Corder wrote about Jeff Smith.  It's probably not true.  One of the reasons Jeff Smith had trouble getting the votes he needed to become Speaker is because he'd promised everything to everyone.  And what we've got in this Y'all Politics article is another instance of Jeff Smith telling someone who doesn't know any better whatever they want to hear. (The guy is on his third political party this year, after all.)

So allow me to take Frank Corder to school on Jeff Smith for a second.  To begin with, Rep. Zuber was appointed Vice Chair of Transportation by Speaker Billy McCoy in 2004. However, there were four other members of the Transportation committee who were in contention to be Chairman of Transportation under a Jeff Smith speakership: Rep. Bobby Shows (R-Ellisville), Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon), Rep. Jerry Turner (R-Baldwyn) and Rep. Mark Formby (R-Picayune). Formby and Shows both had more seniority than Zuber. And the word was all over the state that Shows would get the chair as a result of being one of the (at the time) Democrats who had agreed to vote for Smith. Turner was in the running because northeast Mississippi wanted the chairmanship, since Rep. Bill Miles was retiring and since highways are so important in that part of the state. At the time the Speaker's vote was taken, Shows was the unquestioned frontrunner.

Now let's look at this stuff about the Public Health Committee. First, Corder misspelled Rep. John Read's name (he had it "Reed"). While Read (R-Gautier) was a member of Public Health, the clear frontrunner at the time was Dr. Sid Bondurant (R-Grenada). Once again, Smith was giving it to Bondurant as a Democrat voting for him, and Smith could justify it because Bondurant is a medical doctor. Also in the running was the more senior Bobby Howell (R-Kilmichael), a pharmacist. John Read wasn't getting the Chairmanship of Public Health, period.

Now, this tells us a few things. First, it tells us that Corder didn't know enough about what went down in late 2007 and early 2008 to be writing this piece. Second, Jeff Smith knew that, and thought he could hoodwink Corder into believing this nonsense. Finally, it tells us that Corder doesn't do his homework. Why, you ask? Well, Corder makes the following claim in his piece:

When the legislature convened in January 2007, Jones was a decisive vote that handed McCoy the Speaker's gavel. For his vote, he picked up a vice-chairmanship on the Insurance Committee.

No other Jackson County representatives received any consideration for chairs or vice chairs. Why? Because these true conservatives all supported the conservative choice for Speaker that year - then-Democrat, now Republican Rep. Jeff Smith. (Emphasis mine.)

Well, the aforementioned Rep. Hank Zuber (R-Ocean Springs) was appointed vice chair of Marine Resources in 2008 by Speaker McCoy, which is kind of a big deal on the Gulf Coast. Even better? Jackson County's own Rep. Billy Broomfield was appointed the chairman of Ports, Harbors, and Airports.

***UPDATE 10/24/11 at 9 a.m.*** - It somehow slipped my mind that Rep. Frank Hamilton (R-Hurley) was appointed vice chair of Military Affairs.  So, in actuality, even though Corder claims "No other Jackson County representatives (aside from Rep. Brandon Jones) received any consideration for chairs or vice chairs," we see that, in truth and in fact, of the 6 Jackson County members of the House, only two aren't a chairman or vice chairman. (Reps. John Read and Jeff Guice).  And Read would have a hard time knocking his committee assignments, as he was appointed to the powerful Appropriations committee. Guice is finishing his first term, and is assigned to several committees, including the Select Committee on the Gulf Coast Disaster and Marine Resources.

For the sake of thoroughness, Rep. Deryk Parker (D-Lucedale) has a district (107) that encompasses a portion of northern Jackson County.  I don't count him as a "Jackson County" member, though since he lives in George County.  Rep. Parker is vice chair of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

Charles Busby goes negative on Rep. Brandon Jones, and lies in doing so

Word had begun to spread that this week would mark the beginning of coordinated Republican attack ads across Mississippi, and that word has proven to be at least partially true. Charles Busby is running against Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula), and he unveiled the first negative mail piece. In it he says Rep. Jones was derelict in his legislative duties because he wasn't around to vote on a bill that would "increase accountability in education", bills that would have protected "restaurants and health care providers from lawsuit abuse", and a bill that would have blocked "Obama's stimulus money from coming to Mississippi."

Well, that's all fine and good to make those claims. Heck, Busby even went so far as to footnote the danged thing, almost daring the public to go look it up. Well, if you do actually go look it up, guess what you find out?

Rep. Brandon Jones was there every...single...last...time.

So, Charles Busby lies to the public, after he decided that they'd be too lazy to figure it out. Honestly, I'm not sure which is worse.

Here's Rep. Jones' response at electbrandonjones.com.

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) adds another impressive endorsement

In the summer, Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) was able to roll out some stout and meaningful endorsements. Well, over the weekend, he announced another. The Mississippi Police Benevolent Association has endorsed Rep. Jones in his bid for reelection in House District 111. Not a bad get at all.

Game On: The Invitation for the August 25th Fundraiser for Rep. Brandon Jones

Here's the invite, with a very impressive host list on the second page:

Rep. Brandon Jones August 25 Fundraiser Invitation

Folks who know District 111 and Jackson County know how strong this showing of support is, and how difficult it is going to be to knock off an incumbent with this type of backing.

Majority in Mississippi does some digging on Rep. Brandon Jones' NRA endorsement

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) receiving the National Rifle Association's endorsement against his Republican opponent is something some Republicans are having a hard time swallowing.  In an effort to set everything straight, Majority in Mississippi posted a piece on it yesterday.  It's worth reading in its entirety, but the takeaway is that yes, this is indeed a general election endorsement of Brandon Jones over his Republican challenger in the general election.

The NRA endorsement letter for Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula)

As noted earlier, Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula), has received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in his bid for reelection. This is no doubt cause for concern amongst Republicans as their candidate, Charles Busby, is in need of some way to gain traction in this race. Click here to read the endorsement letter in its entirety.

In the last two weeks, Rep. Jones has now received endorsements from two staunchly conservative organizations, the Mississippi Association of Realtors (the state's largest business lobby) and the National Rifle Association.

***BREAKING*** Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) endorsed by NRA

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula), has just been endorsed by the National Rifle Association in his race against local cable TV hunting show host Charles Busby. Jones also received an "A" rating from the NRA for his legislative efforts.

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) picks up Realtors, Educators, and Hospital endorsements

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) announced three major endorsements today.  First, he received the endorsement of the Mississippi Association of Realtors, the state's largest pro-business organization.  Next, Jones was endorsed by the Mississippi Association of Educators, who cited Jones' “outstanding record in support of children and public education.” Finally, Jones has announced the support of the Mississippi Hospital Association. That is quite significant in District 111, as Singing River Hospital has over 2,700 employees and 300 physicians.

No matter how you cut it, those are three very significant endorsements.

Brandon Jones on creating jobs and cracking down on domestic violence

On February 9th, Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) emailed his constituents and updated them on his work at the Capitol. Here's what he had to say:

Dear Friend,

Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Act On Hold

Thursday is the deadline for the House and Senate to take floor action on bills that originated in those chambers. Among the bills I have presented to the House is the Mississippi Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act. This is an important bill that will help save thousands of Mississippi jobs and allow our state to capitalize on the national carbon sequestration movement.

The bill creates a regulatory framework that certifies a safe and established practice—injecting CO2 underground to extract oil and gas out of declining and dormant fields—also called “carbon sequestration” as recognized under new federal regulations. It also would encourage the long-term storage of industrial CO2, a greenhouse gas, in instances where there is no on-going oil and gas activity.

Benefits of this bill include preserving and creating a new generation of on-shore oil field jobs and producing millions of additional barrels of oil that otherwise would not be produced.

An amendment to the bill was offered earlier today and a point of order was raised that the amendment is not germane to the bill. This point of order will be ruled on tomorrow and discussion on the bill will continue.

Several important bills remain on the calendar

Bills still awaiting action before Thursday’s deadline include the Policyholders’ Bill of Rights, a bill that would allow for GPS tracking in some domestic violence cases, numerous measures to help law enforcement, and bills to assist some of our most important industries. I will keep you updated on these measures as we move through the process.

How to Contact Me

I invite you to call me on my cell phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx or e-mail me at bjones@house.ms.gov. For real time updates, you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

I will also be posting my updates and House related news on my website at www.brandoncjones.com. You can follow legislative proceedings by going to www.ls.state.ms.us. Please feel free to forward this report to folks in our district and let me know if I need to add someone to my list.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Brandon

Jones Named Chairman of the Mississippi Legislative Prayer Caucus

Rep. Brandon Jones addressing the Mississippi Association of Student Councils in 2010.

Rep. Brandon Jones (D-Pascagoula) has been named Chairman of the Mississippi Legislative Prayer Caucus by House Speaker Billy McCoy. The Caucus, established in Senate Concurrent Resolution 669, rotates chairmen on an annual basis with the House having its choice of chairman for 2011. The purpose of the Caucus is to provide legislators with a regular opportunity to join together in prayer.

Jones’ background makes him an excellent choice to lead the Caucus in the new year. A 2002 graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University, Jones served as a staff member for three churches prior to entering law school. He currently serves as a Sunday school teacher at his church, First Presbyterian Church of Pascagoula.

“This is a great honor,” Jones said upon learning of his appointment. “I believe it is crucial that we take time to call on God as we move through what promises to be a challenging legislative session.”