Voters in Mississippi will take to the polls in less than a week. While the presidential election is at the forefront of most people’s minds, two state Supreme Court seats could end up carrying weight as challengers line up to shake up the court of last resort.
As four of the nine seats on the Mississippi Supreme Court will be on the Nov. 5 ballot, two are contested with one of those being largely contested. Justice Jim Kitchens, an incumbent seeking a third eight-year term, is being challenged by four people for the third position in District 1 which encompasses central Mississippi including the capital of Jackson. While Kitchens has referred to his challengers – Jennifer Branning, Byron Carter, Ceola James, and Abby Robinson – as “nice people,” the veteran judge believes his work on the state’s highest court is second to none.
“My platform is honesty, integrity, [and] dependability. I intend to continue doing just as I’ve been doing for almost 16 years on the Supreme Court,” said Kitchens, who has a record that includes 40 years of private practice and nine years as a district attorney for Copiah, Lincoln, Pike, and Walthall counties.
“I work hard. Nobody has ever said that I’m not doing a good job. Nobody has said that I’m not qualified,” he continued. “My experience, I know is one of my greatest assets.”
Kitchens noted that running a Supreme Court race in Mississippi has its own trials. Outside of being an elected judgeship, differing from appointed positions on the U.S. Supreme Court, those seeking office are restricted from saying how they would rule on hypothetical or impending cases as candidates would then be forming an opinion about a situation without knowing all the facts, also known as prejudging. Additionally, those seeking office are supposed to be nonpartisan based on a state law enacted in 1995.
But that hasn’t stopped one of Kitchens’ challengers from placing the race on or at least near the traditional left-right political scale.
Jennifer Branning, a three-term Republican state senator from Neshoba County, was recently endorsed by the Mississippi Republican Party