by Mark C. Eades
Mississippi has a democratic socialist running for Congress in 2020. Antonia Eliason, a professor at the University of Mississippi law school, is running against incumbent Republican Trent Kelly to represent Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District.
“It’s time to elect progressives in Mississippi,” Eliason said in a January press statement announcing her candidacy, “As a Democratic socialist, I intend to bring new energy to the political landscape of Northeast Mississippi and to our Democratic Party.” Trent Kelly, in contrast, is a typical member of the Tea Party-Trump wing of the GOP, with a solid hard-right voting record on every issue that comes before Congress.
This Northeast Mississippi district is considered a solid Republican district (Cook PVI: R+16). After winning with 70% of the vote in a 2015 special election, Trent Kelly went on to win re-election with 69% of the vote in 2016 and 67% in 2018. Unseating him therefore seems to be a long shot. However, the district includes Memphis-area suburbs where a Democrat unseated an incumbent Republican in a state legislative election last year; the college town of Oxford, where the University of Mississippi is located and the mayor is a Democrat; and cities such as Tupelo and Columbus that also have Democratic mayors. The district borders Mississippi’s only Democratic congressional district (MS-02, D+14), represented by Bennie Thompson.
It is refreshing to see a Democrat running for office in a red state without going Blue Dog, given the failures of the Blue-Dog strategy. Eliason aligns herself fully with the Bernie Sanders/AOC wing of the Democratic Party, and pledges to focus her campaign on “environmental justice, universal health care, and workers’ rights.” Eliason also has an impressive professional background: Before taking up her current position at the University of Mississippi with a specialty in international trade law, Eliason practiced law in London and Hong Kong, interned with the World Trade Organization, and clerked at the European Court of Justice.
Perhaps a candidate like Antonia Eliason can help to re-awaken the spirit of Southern progressivism that has been submerged since the Civil Rights Era. She deserves the support of Democrats in Mississippi and across the United States.
For more information: Campaign website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.