Jackson Free Press

The budget for Jonathan Lee's campaign to become next mayor of Jackson has officially topped $400,000 since the start of 2013.

In a report filed Tuesday, May 14, 2013, with the City Clerk's office, the treasurer for Jonathan Lee's political action committee "Friends of Jonathan Lee" says the Lee campaign raised $66,459 since April 11, putting his calendar year-to-date total at $401,019.12.

The report says Lee has also spent $372, 762.08 total, and $65,815.41 of it since April 11, 2013.

The report, which you can read here, shows that Lee received several large donations in the past month, including a $2,500 donation from Guy H. White of Ridgeland and a $2,000 donation from Emmerson Asset Management, LLC. He also received $1,000 donations from The District Land Development Company, Bennchmark Construction Corp., Fondren Place Apartments LLC, Integrated Management Services and private citizens Susan McNease of Jackson, Steven Speights of Jackson, Samuel Lane of Jackson and Deshun Martin of Jackson.

Lee's opponent in the May 21 runoff, Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, also filed his report on time (yay!). His report indicates that his campaign has just topped the $100,000-mark, year-to-date, with $31,957 of that coming after April 11, 2013.

Lumumba has received large contributions in the past month, including a $5,000 from Adekuule Adekuubi (trust me, we are digging trying to figure out who these people are), $2,000 from Burk-Kleinpeter Inc. (an engineering company out of Baton Rouge, La.), $1,500 from himself, $1,300 from New England Contractors LLC (a Jackson business) and $1,000 donations from Adam Shakoor of Detroit, Mich., Herbert Irvin of Jackson, Mississippi Boys Hoops Inc. of Jackson, attorney John Walker of Jackson, J&J Wholesale of Clinton and attorney Winston Thompson of Jackson.

Ward 4 City Council hopeful De'Keither Stamps also filed a report, which you can read here.

Stamps report says he received a total of $4,940 between April 28 and May 11, 2013, from himself, coffee roastery engineer Nikdra Ford and Honeysucker and Honeysucker Inc. He spent $1,931 at A2Z Printing, and split the rest of his spending between Wal Mart, Raceway, Spaceage Marketing and Printing and Poll Watchers. He reports $277 cash-on-hand.

See, it's not hard to follow the law.

During the run-up to the Democratic primary, the main whisper campaign, coming from several candidates, seemed to be about who had—gasp!—voted Republican in the past. Now, it's over who is Christian enough to be mayor.

Mayoral candidate Chokwe Lumumba is pounding the same drum that President Barack Obama had to beat in order to protect his Christian credentials. Since Lumumba came in second in Jackson Democratic primary for mayor, the whispers from opponents about his not being Christian—and perhaps presumably Muslim?—have gotten louder and more insistent.

Lumumba responded to critics on his Facebook himself (or at least someone did on his behalf), writing:

I am a man who respects all people and their right to believe as they choose regarding faith. However, I AM a CHRISTIAN. In fact, I have ALWAYS BEEN A CHRISTIAN. I was raised in Church. My mother was a member of a Christian Women's Association in Detroit to combat prejudice in the Church. When I moved to Mississippi in the late 80s, I continued to attend Church. My late wife Nubia Lumumba, was a member of the Church Choir until her death in 2003. My children have been raised Christian. My daughter, Rukia Lumumba worked in the children's church and the church nursery throughout middle school and high school. My son often gives the message (sermon) at his current Church. GOD and Christianity is a part of who I am. #I AM A CHRISTIAN MAN, WITH AN AFRICAN NAME. #electlumumbamayor for Mayor on May 21st. #together we can make #jacksonrise

Today, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia released a statement joining other journalism organizations in protesting the U.S. Department of Justice's over-reaching subpoena of The Associated Press' phone records. The JFP joins other media organizations who have signed onto this letter by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It reads in part:

The scope of this action calls into question the very integrity of Department of Justice policies toward the press and its ability to balance, on its own, its police powers against the First Amendment rights of the news media and the public’s interest in reporting on all manner of government conduct, including matters touching on national security which lie at the heart of this case.