Brandon Presley announces ethics platform, says it will be top priority on day one as gov.

From the steps of the Mississippi State Capitol on Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley declared that if he is elected, his administration would start a "war on corruption."

Presley, who criticized incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for not doing more to push through ethics changes in his first term, said he would call a special session to force the Legislature to consider a number of proposals he outlined in his speech Tuesday.

"We're going to see where the House and Senate members stand. We're going to see where they stand when it comes to cleaning up this system and saying no to their lobbyist buddies," Presley said. "We're going to make sure Mississippians come first."

Presley said if elected his ethics package would include banning unlimited gifts from lobbyists, requiring weekly gift and lobbying disclosures and placing limits on campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees. He also said he would ban direct contributions from corporations, prohibit candidates from accepting money while the Legislature is in session and institute a requirement that government employees go at least one-year before becoming lobbyists, and that lobbyists do the same before becoming government employees. Presley further said he would push for the reauthorization of the state's public records law — which is set to expire next year — and for the Legislature to be subject to the open meetings law.

"We're going to send a message, in the tune of that old Willie Nelson song, 'shut out the lights, the party's over.' Shut out the lights, the party is over. Mississippians have seen what is going on this system, and they're sick of it," Presley said. "We're going to make big campaign check writers mad. We're going to make lobbyists mad. We're going to make special interest people mad. Because they've had their day in Mississippi long enough, and we see what it's benefited us, nothing."

Presley later addressed a question about his own campaign fundraising, which included some of the corporate donations he is advocating for banning.

"Our proposal is to ban direct corporate contributions, to limit PAC contributions, to limit individual contributions," Presley said. "The rules of the road are what the rules of the road are today. They're wrong, and they should be fixed."

Presley, who trailed Reeves in fundraising during the January-April filing period, said he is proud that his filing for that period showed record-breaking fundraising for contributions under $200.

If Presley were to defeat Reeves in November and become the state's first Democratic governor since early 2004, he would likely govern with Republican supermajorities in the Legislature. Even if Democrats were to win every seat they are contesting this year, they would fail to take control of either the House or Senate.

Presley said he believes he could pass his ethics proposals through a capitol controlled by the opposite party, and that it is important to put lawmakers on the record by bringing these issues up for a vote. Presley also indicated, earlier in his remarks, that his ethics package may have opponents within his own party, but that he believes it is important to stand up to them as well.

"When we win in November it will be a mandate from the people," Presley said. "I think that no matter if you're in the House or Senate, whether you're in a ruby red Republican district or a deep blue district, we're going to send a message through this campaign that we're going to clean this mess up."

In a statement shared with members of the media Tuesday, the Presley campaign compiled a list of lobbyist gifts Reeves has received throughout his political career, as reported to and published by the secretary of state. The statement highlights about $10,000 in gifts, including a trip to the Kentucky Derby in 2013 when Reeves was lieutenant governor. According to the secretary of state's lobbyist recipient search, Churchill Downs Inc. provided gifts worth more than $4,800 for that trip, including paying for Reeves' travel, hotel and ticket to the race. Overall, in disclosures dating back to a 2010 dinner, Reeves has received gifts worth $21,977.11, according to the lobbyist recipient search results.

Presley, meanwhile, has taken gifts worth $167.59, all from the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, from five gifts between 2018 and 2022.

Reeves Campaign Manager Elliott Husbands said in a statement Tuesday that Presley has received campaign contributions from large donors.

"Brandon Presley is a classic Democrat — accusing every Republican of corruption while pocketing big money from liberal donors and hiding the ball on his leftwing positions," Husbands said. "Why won't he explain his views on crime measures his biggest supporters call racist, leftwing gender theory in schools, and eliminating the income tax? It's because he is just a product of the national liberal machine using more of their pre-written talking points."

The primaries will take place in August, with the general election coming on Nov. 7. Mississippi is one of three states with off-year gubernatorial elections this year. The other two are Louisiana and Kentucky, both of which are typically red states that currently have Democratic governors.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: See what Brandon Presley said on ethics and corruption in Mississippi