Even as Republicans have steadily and increasingly dominated political office in Mississippi for the past couple of decades, the one position that has eluded them is attorney general.
That is most likely going to change this year, as Jim Hood, the lone statewide elected Democrat since 2008, gives up the job in hopes of securing an even bigger plum — the governorship.
With Hood’s departure, though, as the state’s chief legal officer, whichever of the three Republicans emerges with that party’s nomination will be heavily favored to defeat Democrat Jennifer Riley Collins, a retired U.S. Army colonel and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, in November’s general election.
All three Republican candidates — Mark Baker, Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart — have their strengths as lawyers and public officials. Baker has served in the Legislature for 16 years, including serving as chairman of two House judiciary committees. Fitch, who previously worked as an attorney in the AG’s Office, has plenty of experience as an agency administrator, most recently as state treasurer for the past two terms. And Taggart, a former gubernatorial chief of staff for a GOP icon, the late Kirk Fordice, has an excellent reputation in the state’s legal circles.
As lawyers, all three are competent enough to handle the job of attorney general. But we give Taggart the edge for his leadership qualities and his courage, including a willingness to take stands that would not poll high with the conservative Republican base.
For example, Taggart has been one of a handful of prominent GOP leaders to come out in favor of changing the state’s racially divisive flag, with its controversial Civil War emblem. He also has for the past seven years been on a noble crusade with his wife to educate Mississippians about drug addiction, having lost a college-age son to suicide because of the son’s feelings of despair in secretly battling that illness.
Taggart, if elected, says he would make it a priority to better balance the state’s approach to drugs from one that is now heavily based on enforcement to one that emphasizes treatment and rehabilitation for addicts. He is a big believer in drug courts and would push for their funding statewide, while also looking for other ways to get help for users while cracking down hard on sellers.
Taggart is a sensible conservative, one who is open to listening to people on the other side of the political aisle and to rethinking his party’s ideology and even his own when it doesn’t seem to work.
He would make a fine attorney general. We recommend him in Tuesday’s primary.
