Representatives Margaret Rogers and Russ Nowell announced that they were switching to the Republican Party today. Of course both of them had been voting with Republicans all along, including votes for Jeff Smith in the Speaker's race. Interestingly, Nowell voted for Smith after giving Speaker Billy McCoy his word that he'd support McCoy, which prevented Nowell from being effective in any way for his district over the last 3 years.
In reality, this is no big deal, as neither held any great power. Reaction from elected Democrats seems to be a collective yawn. Steve Holland, in a comment that typified the mood around the Capitol said, "It's good for them to finally embrace who they are."
Predictably, Majority in Mississippi, a Republican blog, has a post up that fixates on race. But are we surprised by that? Surely not.