Business leaders gathered in Jackson on Thursday to hear from various elected officials and candidates seeking political office at the Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob event.
Hobnob is intentionally scheduled just before an election to allow politicians to give Mississippians one last pitch before voters head to the ballot box. It also allows statewide officials not in the middle of the campaigning process to provide an update from their office and highlight achievements.
Here’s what the following political figures had to say:
Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson
Gipson painted a bleak picture of the current situation for farmers in Mississippi.
From a national trade deficit to Congress’ inability to pass legislation that would support agricultural producers and ensure hungry families have food on their table and the impacts of rampant inflation, Mississippi’s farmers have been challenged this year despite an uptick in production.
“We have everything up in terms of our production from farmers. From soybeans to cotton to corn, rice, and peanuts — all of it is up. But what’s also up is inflation,” Gipson said. “As you well know, inflation is affecting every aspect of our economy. There’s no one who is affected worse, no one who is affected in any greater way than the farmers of Mississippi and America.”
The agriculture commissioner also expressed fears that new environmental regulations could stymie farmers’ ability to cultivate crops if power rests in the wrong hands at the federal level.
Nonetheless, Gipson is hopeful that Mississippi’s abundant water supply will soon come in handy and offer farmers a golden opportunity to be the nation’s leader in food production.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney
Chaney unexpectedly created a sense of controversy when calling for his position to be moved from elected to appointed roughly two months ago. That recommendation received strong pushback from the Mississippi Public Service Commission, whose three members were of the belief that Chaney was also calling for their positions to become appointed.
The insurance commissioner clarified that he is only seeking to have his position switched to an appointed one. His rationale is to prevent an unqualified candidate looking