Announcement in Covington County Mississippi

This is the text I used in the announcement that I placed in Covington County News Commercial.


My name is Cliff Brown. I am a Sunday School teacher in a small rural Baptist church. I am retired from the Mississippi Air National Guard. My wife and I own and operate a small retail store in Magee. I am a candidate for State Senate District 35.

District 35 is a strangely gerrymandered district that snakes its way from Richland in Rankin County all the way to Collins in Covington County. It has parts of four counties but all of none. It has a single voting box in Copiah County near Crystal Springs. It contains all of the north half of Simpson County but very little of the south half of Simpson County. It has the north half of Covington County and there is a little connector around the east of Magee that connects Covington County to the rest of the district.

As many of you know, we had a census last year and it was the job of our state legislature to draw a new map of house and senate districts. The two chambers were supposed to draw their own maps and make them balanced by population and as compact as possible. After drawing the maps, the two chambers should have voted to approve each others maps. The senate drew a map that heavily favored incumbents of both major parties but at least it was more compact than the current map. The house made a total mockery of the whole process and drew a map that looked more like wrestling spiders than a serious map of house districts. The house map was so obviously messed up that the senate was forced to reject it and in retaliation the house rejected the senate map. Now time has run out on the process and we are forced to hold elections using the maps that were drawn after the census ten years ago. It is needless to say that the old map gives a big advantage to the old incumbents. The fact that the challengers were kept in the dark about the district boundaries we are attempting to campaign in gives another advantage to incumbents, but properly informed voters can still send a message.

There are still a lot of unknown things about this election for legislative offices, including the length of the term. Most likely it will be for a single year term and there will probably be a special election next year for a three year term. Voters have a unique opportunity to send a new group of legislators to Jackson with a clear mandate to do the two things that the incumbents failed to do, which are to make a balanced budget and to draw fair district lines.

I, Cliff Brown, am a hard core, no nonsense TEA Party conservative. I have a reputation for being tough and uncompromising. Some people even say that I am mean. If you are trying to steal from me I am mean. If you are trying to scam me I am uncompromising. If you have a logical disagreement with me and can show me a better way I will listen and take your advice. If I win this senate office and someone asks me to use my position to grant a personal favor I will say no, but if someone asks me for something that is good for the whole state I will do what ever I can to make it happen. I believe that welfare is a necessary crutch for some who need help but I also believe that people who abuse the welfare system should be weaned. I believe if you do a crime you should do the time. I believe that marriage should be a Godly union between a man and a woman. I believe that abortion kills a living human.

If you agree with my beliefs, or if you just want to send a message that we should change the incumbent protection system that we currently have, please vote for me in the Republican Primary for State Senate District 35. I understand that Covington County is a traditional Democrat county. I know that many of you want to vote in the Democrat primary for local and county offices but vote for Republicans in state and national elections. That will not work in this race. District 35 is drawn so that only a Republican can win. No Democrats are even running this year. The winner of the Republican Primary wins the seat. If you wait for the general election you will miss your chance to vote. The question is not Republican or Democrat but which Republican. Will you vote to elect a conservative or will you allow an establishment incumbent to win a third term?