The Mississippi and Michigan open primaries are today, and candidates on both sides of the political spectrum were out Monday campaigning in anticipation of the election.
Republican candidate Donald Trump hosted a rally in a Madison high school, his second visit to the Magnolia state since his January trip to Biloxi.
Republican Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in Florence Monday. (Photo by: Associated Press)
The high school basketball stadium at which he spoke was packed with hundreds of fans and an overflow crowd of 7,000 people were watching a live-stream of the event on the football field.
Julie Wronski, UM political science professor, attended Trump’s rally Monday at Madison Central High School. She said early primaries are important to narrow down large fields of candidates.
“You have to get a certain number of delegates to get the nomination but there’s also a process of momentum,” Wronski said. “Winning the early primaries show that you’re still a viable candidate, that people are interested in you and that you’re sticking around.”
At the conclusion of Super Saturday, Republican candidates need 1,237 delegates to win. Donald Trump is in the lead with 384 delegates, Ted Cruz is following with 300 and Marco Rubio with 151. Democrats need 2,383 delegates. Hillary Clinton has taken the lead with 1,130 and Bernie Sanders is trailing behind with 499.
Republican candidate Ted Cruz made a short-notice appearance early Monday afternoon in Florence after canceling his original appearance, scheduled in Ellisville, Mississippi.
State Senator Chris McDaniel serves as the statewide chairman for Cruz’s campaign and announced Cruz’s decision to cancel his Monday event at Jones County Junior College in a Facebook post Sunday.
“Ted Cruz will not be in Mississippi tomorrow, as he evidently does not feel well. This is difficult news to deliver, but we trust that God has a plan for the campaign and for Mississippi,” McDaniel said in a Facebook post Sunday.
Ronnie Moses from Brandon volunteers at the Trump Rally in Madison Monday. Moses graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1972 and played football with Archie Manning. (Photo by: Cady Herring)
Cruz said he wasn’t feeling well during his speech in Florence, but wanted to speak to his Mississippi supporters.
Republican candidates Marco Rubio and John Kasich did not host any large events Monday in Mississippi. Kasich has visited the state twice in the last month.
Rubio has not campaigned a single time in Mississippi and has placed his focus elsewhere; he attended a rally Monday evening in Tampa, Florida.
Wronski said she thinks Rubio has a narrow path to winning the nomination and is making strategic choices in his campaign right now.
“He knows what potential to do well in, like his home state of Florida,” Wronski said. “For him, coming in third in Mississippi and getting the proportion of whatever votes we have, that’s not necessarily worth his time and effort to the same extent as winning Florida, which is a winner-take-all state for delegates.”
Both leading Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, were in Michigan Monday to campaign the day after the Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan.
Wronski said political rallies boost morale around specific candidates and bring together like-minded people.
“It’s more like a team spirit thing. You’re not going to get a material benefit like money, it’s all these psychological feel-good things,” Wronski said. “For them, it’s the camaraderie that builds their enthusiasm for the entire political process.”
Elizabeth Ervin, an integrated marketing communications major said, they have talked a lot about Trump in their political campaigns class which sparked her interest in attending the rally in Jackson.
”I wanted to see it purely for historical sake,” Ervin said. “This presidential election is unique and no matter who I vote for in the primary, it’ll be cool to say, ‘I was there. I went to one of his rallies.’”
Wronski said younger voters can feel intimated that their vote doesn’t count or they don’t believe that they can influence the political process.
“Just vote. Vote. Voting is better than not voting,” Wronski said. “Regardless of the outcome, regardless that Mississippi is a red state, people should go to vote because it’s a habit-forming practice once you vote. It becomes part of your routine and you do that every two years, every four years.”
– Lana Ferguson
