An email is circulating Jackson asking voters to write in the name of Ward 1 Councilman and lobbyist Quentin Whitwell, a Republican, for mayor in the June 4 general election.
The email implores supporters to back Whitwell but to keep it on the low, meaning not to spread the news via the Internet and social media.
The message, which someone forwarded to the Jackson Free Press, states:
"We need your help! A week from today we have one last chance to vote in a mayor that will work for us! We need each of you to text, send emails, to at least 20-30 people in Jackson to go write in vote Tuesday June 4th for Quentin Whitwell! We believe that the turn out for Chuckwe [sic] will not be huge, due to the fact he thinks he already has won. We have to keep this off Facebook, and on the low until the actual day June 4th! That day we need as many volunteers, to help get out the vote for Quentin. We need each of you to tell your neighborhood associations to send out an email, go door to door Monday and Tuesday. We will need signs made to hold up in ridgewood , Old Canton , and anywhere else. I truly believe if we all can do our part we can pull this off! Please let me know if you are willing to help in anyway!"
We left a message with Whitwell to get his response.
The entertainment value of tonight's city council meeting just skyrocketed.
Stay tuned.
Editor's Update: The Clarion-Ledger stooped to new levels of bad journalism when one of its reporters tried to denigate R.L. Nave's coverage of this effort. Read all about it at http://www.jfp.ms/brianeason">http://www.jfp.ms/brianeason
Comments
msnative1943 10 years, 10 months ago
of course, this is joke, right? it's the best GOTV that Mr. Lumumba could have!
tyler.cleveland 10 years, 10 months ago
Quentin Whitwell on Lumumba, from a May 22 Clarion-Ledger story by Therese Apel:
“He understands the value of the wards and how each ward represents their population, and I think he is more open to communicating between council members,” he said. “Those are some of the things I’m looking for to see what a Mayor Lumumba’s administration is going to do. I’ve been sitting in the council chair next to him for the last three years; these are the things he tells me are important.”
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
msnative, it sure didn't like a joke -- considering how many northeast Jackson folks are begging us not to print that they forwarded it to their friends. We're still trying to trace it to the original source. All, if you got it, feel free to email to: [email protected] to help us sort it out.
And I suspect you're right: This will likely be quite the GOTV tool for "Chuckwe."
(Seriously, folks, Chokwe has six letters. Y'all can spell it. We believe in you.)
ryannave 10 years, 10 months ago
Whitwell denied involvement with the write-in campaign effort. He wrote on his public Facebook page:
"I am flattered by the suggestion that I should run for Mayor. However, I had nothing to do with the email sent around. If I were mayor I would focus on cultivating business in Jackson, curbing crime and getting everyone working together for all Jackson... However, as a current council member, I plan to use my voice over the next four years working with whomever the public elects."
Summernmiss 10 years, 10 months ago
Boy all I have to say is, I am glad I do not believe everything I see circulating on Facebook! There is absolutely no truth to councilman Whitwell running for mayor- the guy is not even in town, he is on a rafting trip with his daughter! I really wish you people would re-evaluate your sources and not got off of Facebook!
ryannave 10 years, 10 months ago
Two sources, a Jackson deputy city clerk and a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Secretary of State, say that state law does not recognize write-in candidates except in certain instances. Mississippi Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-365 (2013) § 23-15-365 addresses write-ins, and states:
(1) There shall be left on each ballot one (1) blank space under the title of each office to be voted for, and in the event of the death, resignation, withdrawal or removal of any candidate whose name shall have been printed on the official ballot, the name of the candidate duly substituted in the place of such candidate may be written in such blank space by the voter.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to elections conducted under the Nonpartisan Judicial Election Act.
Look for updates as we find out more.
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
summer, we didn't get it off Facebook. The email was forwarded to us from several people who got it, including email addresses of who forwarded it before them. Note that they didn't want it on Facebook. Read it closer. And we've spoken to people who have confirmed they forwarded it on, but said they don't know who sent it (and one who called and said she did, but wouldn't tell us, saying it was a "joke"). I'm not sure I see the relevance of Whitwell being on a rafting trip. People can start, and apparently did, a secret write-in campaign for him while he's out of town.
Summernmiss 10 years, 10 months ago
You did get it off Facebook - it was forwarded from a inboxed Facebook link. The relevance of Mr Whitwell being on a rafting trip would be that if he intended to "run" for mayor- you would think he would be taking it more seriously and be in town campaigning! I think this is a joke of "so-called" news and makes your JFP look less credible than it previously did. Having said that, it would do wonders for Jackson if it were true because Councilman Whitwell would be our Saving Grace so to speak but sadly it's not.
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
Huh, Summer. You seem to know more about this email than we do. No, we did NOT get it off Facebook. A woman who received from someone else who got it from someone else emailed it to us (along with several others). I would post the whole thread including all the emails that forwarded it, but some folks called today practically begging us not to.
And being that you seem so clear about knowing where it originated, I'm guessing that disputes the comments on Mr. Whitwell's Facebook page blaming it on Lumumba supporters trying to drum up votes for him, eh?
As for your defensive attack on the JFP, I assume you know little about the news business. It is NEWS with a capital N when this many people are forwarding around an email with specifics on how they're going to write in a candidate and to keep it quiet so that the voters for the other candidate don't know it or turn out. That's not exactly calling for voter participation, is it? It's calling for trickery in order to defeat someone who has been democratically nominated.
Now, if as you say, it was just a joke, then 'fess up to who did it as said joke, and we'll interview them and do a piece about a joke turned sour.
You're up to bat.
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
And you know, I just read it again. There's one problem with it being a "joke": It's not funny. And if it is a joke by Whitwell's friends, it sure backfired on him. Y'all should apologize to him.
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
Update: I asked Councilman Whitwell (who is apparently on vacation) on his Facebook if he knew who sent this email out originally. He says he does not know who sent this email:
Official Statement: I appreciate all supporters for me as mayor of this great city we call home - Jackson! But, as I have stated I am running for council again, I'm appreciative to those that support for me for other offices... at the same time - I know nothing about this email or who sent it. When I run for the Mayoral Office, it will be taken it seriously and I won’t use Shenanigans to get elected. ... As I mentioned. I intend to be the voice for whomever is elected as the mayor of Jackson, MS - for the purpose of making Jackson, MS a better city!
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
Also, in the event that this a real effort, as the email indicated, the folks doing it need to realize that if they spent money on signs and the like for Whitwell, they need to have registered with the city clerk's office as a PAC and file campaign-finance reports on what they're spending.
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
A little bit ago, businessman Jeff Good (who supported Jonathan Lee) posted this response to the write-in campaign email on his Facebook page:
LidellSimpson 10 years, 10 months ago
My impression is that Whitwell did not. But surely some friends of his or a bored kid on the internet is making up. (Of course! EVERYTHING you read on the internet is true!) really! If Whitwell is really serious about being a write-in, he certainly would not be going to say "pass this on the sly". That be a bad political move. He would do it openly. Take it for what it is. A joke. May a joke to catch his eye and poke him to run. Whatever, I wouldn't take much stock on it like hunting for campaign signs that really endorsed neither candidates....
donnaladd 10 years, 10 months ago
Lidell, I agree that it would be a dumb political move on Whitwell's part. But it is proving to be very true that people passing it around want to see it to happen. (Of course, now that it's no longer stealthy, I'm not sure how they expect to make it happen.) SMH.
SusanM 10 years, 10 months ago
It doesn't much matter if the person who started the email intended it to be a joke. A really strange sort of joke, but if you squint real hard you can see how a humor-challenged person might imagine this constitutes a joke.
But I assure you that most of the people forwarding it around don't consider it a joke. They may not really believe it would work, but from what I hear, there are plenty of people who consider it their last hope before the boogeyman of their racist childhood dreams seizes control and they have to abandon everything and run screaming into the white suburbs. (From whence they will write letters to the Clarion-Ledger about how Jackson has gotten so bad they are afraid to come into the city limits to shop or go to restaurants. Lather, rinse, repeat.)