Tag: Mississippi Senate District 50

State Senator Tommy Gollott Formally Endorses Scott DeLano

State Senator Tommy Gollott Announces Endorsement of Scott DeLano
Republican Candidate for Senate District 50

Biloxi, MS- Longtime Senator Tommy Gollott announces his endorsement of Scott DeLano, who is running for the seat being vacated by the Senator. Senator Gollott has represented the coast in the State Legislature for 52 years and announced earlier this year that he will not seek re-election.

Senator Gollott’s announcement:

“During my 52-year tenure in the State Capitol, I’ve worked with a number of legislators. I firmly believe that Scott DeLano would represent the 50th District well and has our community’s best interest at heart. I feel that he has what it takes to support the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Jackson. That said, I am honored to endorse the candidacy of Scott DeLano for State Senator and ask that you vote for him on August 6, 2019.”

Scott DeLano was elected to the MS House of Representatives in 2009. During his term in office, he has served as Chairman of Constitution, Chairman of Technology and Sub-Committee Chairman of Appropriations.

Understanding Mississipppi Senate District 50: Follow the Money

This is the second of a series of posts on the upcoming primary elections. Slabbed starts with District 50 covering the northern and eastern parts of Harrison County including part of Biloxi and D’Iberville. This particular race is striking because it too has seen a fair amount of mudslinging. This is former State Senator Tommy Gollott’s old seat. The race features former Representative Scott DeLano  and Biloxi City Councilwoman Dixie Newman.

Ms. Newman, besides being young is reminiscent of Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni in another way as both share a name change before entering public service. Critics of both contend the new nom de guerres originated with political considerations in mind. The name change, which is pretty well known in Biloxi, has not thus far hindered Ms. Newman’s political ascent.

This post required a bit more legwork than others in the series because of a hiccup Ms. Newman had with her May finance report where she initially listed a $50,000 contribution from Jackson Metro area businessman Chris Gouras. She amended the May report to show the money as a loan from herself to her campaign. Slabbed contacted the Newman Campaign about the amendment. The campaign produced the loan documents for Slabbed which showed that Ms. Newman borrowed the money, lending it to her own campaign.

Two things that stood out to me in this race is how evenly matched the two major candidates are in terms of fundraising, including the loan Ms. Newman to her campaign. A distinguishing quality between the reports would be that DeLano uses a third party to type his while Ms. Newman’s are handwritten, with July’s report ostensibly missing page three of the campaign receipts.  Both are currently running TV ads. DeLano’s July report lists a contribution from outgoing State Senator Tommy Gollott but to my knowledge the Senator has not otherwise publicly endorsed DeLano.

Slabbed will keep this post stuck to the front page so supporters of either candidate can make their case. First up is Dixie Newman: Continue reading “Understanding Mississipppi Senate District 50: Follow the Money”