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Civil Rights

Mississippi Civil Rights Sites Vie to Become National Park

It is hard to choose which site of civil-rights trauma in Mississippi should be a national park, but the effort is under way and controversial, even among some family members …

Music

Silent G’s 2013 Album Marathon

My mission in 2013 was to listen to as many new releases as possible and to document them. I listened to 60 albums and ranked them; here are my top …

Health Care

In the Statehouse and the Courtroom, Mental Health is Embattled

Research in the psychology and psychiatry fields show little to no evidence that hospitals and residential treatment centers are effective in helping a person with mental-health needs.

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What to do When Debt Takes Over

Fifty years later, the idealistic Pell Grant system has dissipated with rising tuition costs and higher-ed institutions hiking prices on virtually everything.

World

Private Lives are Exposed as WikiLeaks Spills its Secrets

WikiLeaks' global crusade to expose government secrets is causing collateral damage to the privacy of hundreds of innocent people, including survivors of sexual abuse, sick children and the mentally ill, …

Music

Indigo Girls: Lost Days, Found

For nearly three decades, folk musicians Emily Saliers and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls have been near-household names for their work in the music industry and in activism.

City & County

What’s Behind the Airport ‘Takeover’?

Since the news broke in January that the Senate was about to wage a "hostile takeover" of Jackson's airport, many Jacksonians wonder if it's about more than who controls operations …

Art

Reviving the Urban Wall

A flock of rainbow-colored birds suddenly appears on the left side of the street when you round the bend on East Amite Street, heading toward the intersection of West Capitol …

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Artists to Watch

In a short time, Deez Notez has already created a solid fan base with its ever-adapting set list.

May 5, 2013 | 18 comments

FACTCHECK/UPDATED: Jonathan Lee Backers Gave More Than $1.2 Million to Republicans

By Donna Ladd

Note: This story has been updated with a total donation figure that Lee's backers gave to federal Republican candidates since 2008. The new paragraph is bolded down below.

In the WAPT-Clarion-Ledger debate, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. alluded to the fact that he is a real Democrat when he unloaded on opponent Jonathan Lee in his closing statement. This is clearly a continuation of some Jacksonians' belief that Lee is a "Rankin County Republican," a meme we've heard off and on for months now.

We have factchecked both parts of that allegation to the best of our ability and will address them both below.

First, Rankin County

Lee's campaign materials make him sound like a life-long Jacksonian. His website states:

Jonathan was born, grew up and lives in Jackson. Jonathan was born and raised in Jackson into a family with deep ties throughout the community. The son of two Lanier graduates and part of a family whose roots span three generations in Jackson’s Georgetown community, Jonathan learned early what it meant to be proud of one’s city.

Jonathan called all of Jackson home – from growing up on Meadow Lane to getting picked up by his grandmother (“Big Mama”) after school who lived in Georgetown. After graduating from high school, Jonathan attended Mississippi State University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s in Business Administration.

The part that is left out of that description is that Lee's family moved to Rankin County in 1988 when he was 11. He later graduated from Northwest Rankin High School and did not live in Jackson again until 2009 when records show that Lee and his wife moved into Jackson from Rankin County. When asked, he does not deny that he has lived less than four years in Jackson as an adult.

Lee, who is 35 now, took over as president of his father's company when he was 24, according to his campaign materials. He told the Jackson Free Press that he stepped down from the company, which he never owned, in December 2011, meaning that he ran it for about 10 years.

Candidate Lee ran into a Rankin-related controversy last year after a commenter posted on the Jackson Free Press site that he was still driving a Maroon SUV with a Rankin County plate. In response to an Aug. 10, 2012, query about it, Lee emailed the Jackson Free Press:

This particular rumor has been shopped around various media outlets all week. The vehicle I assume that they are referring to is my company vehicle. My personal vehicle is registered in Hinds County, a fact easily verified.

MPI is owned by an entity chartered and located in Rankin County. It was where our distribution company was originally located. In fact, MPI has only been located in Jackson for 19 years. For those 19 years MPI has paid property taxes, inventory taxes, and school taxes in Jackson, Miss. The parent company is still located in Rankin county …

Frank Melton

Melton in Meridian Courtroom, Again

Read the original breaking JFP story here.

Business

Jackson's Young Influentials

A new class of young and talented influential men and women is rising in Jackson, who have a vision for themselves and their city, and work daily to move closer …

Business

A Work In Progress

When Ira Murray moved to Jackson from Nashville four years ago, he knew the city was poised for metamorphosis.

Jackblog

Red Hot Tamales and Kool-Aid Pickles

Here are two wide-eyed articles, by New York reporters, about enigmatic Delta dishes: the Kool-Aid Dill by John T. Edge of the New York Times and the Red-Hot, Pork-Stuffed, Corn-Wrapped, …

Politics

[Just In] Barbour's State of the State Address

[verbatim] Lieutenant Governor; Mr. Speaker; Fellow State officials, Members of

It is a humbling honor to come before you tonight for the first time as your Governor. I want to start by saying to my colleagues in the Legislature: many …

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[verbatim] Lieutenant Governor; Mr. Speaker; Fellow State officials, Members of

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