The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday it is investigating Democrat Sonya Williams Barnes’ campaign for Gulfport mayor after allegations that residents had received meal vouchers in exchange for voting.
In a letter addressed to Barnes, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said her office “has reason to believe” the candidate violated several state campaign finance laws.
Mike Hurst, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, said Wednesday he has asked District Attorney Crosby Parker and Fitch to investigate the alleged “vote buying.”
“This is something that strikes at the heart of our democracy,” he said in a news conference across the street from the Gulfport Police Department. “Votes should not be for sale.”
Barnes did not immediately return a phone call. The Rev. Eddie Hartwell Sr., a pastor at St. James Baptist Church, said the voucher idea was his. The group behind it is called All Souls to the Polls and members say they want to increase voter turnout. Hartwell said he is not a member of either mayoral campaign and denied the efforts were illegal.
“All we’re doing is saying, ‘Go and vote,’” he said. “As far as me telling somebody who to vote for? No, sir.”
The accusation of vote buying came less than a week before the election and intensified an already contentious race between Republican Hugh Keating and Democrat Sonya Williams Barnes. Mississippi Sen. Joel Carter of Biloxi alleged last month that “cronies” of Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who in 2018 nearly defeated Georgia’s Republican governor, were “highly involved” in the election. Barnes said she alone is responsible for running her campaign and called the statement divisive.
Hurst said he became aware of the allegations Monday night and believes vouchers are still being handed out to absentee voters.
The vouchers, according to photos provided by the Republican Party, give voters “one entry” to Ms. Audrey’s Southern Kitchen and Catering in Gulfport for a “special prepared meal now through June 3.”
Hurst also said he had asked state authorities to investigate an event on Saturday that was advertised by Barnes’ campaign. The event, called “Project 35’s Vote & Vibe,” encouraged voters to meet at City Hall then attend brunch together.
Mississippi law says it is illegal to try to influence absentee voters through money, rewards or any item of value. Anyone convicted of doing so can face fines between $500 and $5,000 and between one and five years in prison.
Hurst also said he believes the efforts violate a law that forbids offering money or “anything of substantial value” for a vote. Hartwell said the vouchers are worth about $10.
By Wednesday, city officials said they had received 805 absentee ballots. There were just 177 absentee voters in the last mayoral election four years ago, according to the city.
The Gulfport mayoral race has drawn some national attention and spending from outside interests, with Democrats seeing a chance to flip the seat leading the state’s second-largest city from red to blue and Republicans working to keep it.
Dirt Road Democrats, a PAC initially started by former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and now supported by former Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley, is helping Barnes and a separate Presley PAC has contributed to Barnes’ campaign. Barnes has also received endorsement by her childhood friend, national Democratic operative and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
State Republicans are fearful that Gulfport’s changing partisan makeup make it less a GOP stronghold than it was in years past, and worry about a low Republican voter turnout in a June general election.
Records show Mayor Billy Hewes, a Republican who is not running for office again, won the 2021 general election with 2,680 votes. Barnes won the Democratic primary this spring with 3,316 votes. Keating had no Republican opponent in the primary.
Keating has recently received endorsements and advertisement appearances by current and former state leaders, including former Gov. Haley Barbour, and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is headlining a rally for Keating.
The Sun Herald said this is a developing story and will be updated. To see updates, visit the Sun Herald here.
Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee and Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender contributed to this report.
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