Miss. voters don't have choice about Legislature

After being in office for over a decade, Mississippi state Sen. Dean Kirby got challenged in the Republican primary. He won with 70% of the vote.

That was in 2003 — and it remains the last time Kirby faced an opponent. The longtime Jackson-area senator is on the ballot again this year without either a Democratic or Republican challenger.

While the length of Kirby's uncontested streak is unusual, his situation is not. More than four-fifths of Mississippi's legislative candidates will have no major-party opposition in the Nov. 7 general election. And more than half of this year's winners will have faced no other Republicans or Democrats in either the primary or the general election.

“I think people are happy with the state and the way things are going,” Kirby, Mississippi's Senate president pro tem, said in explaining the lack of challengers.

Though Mississippi represents an extreme example, it highlights a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. New research suggests the reasons are more complex than mere voter satisfaction with incumbents. It also raises questions about the ability of American voters to hold their elected representatives accountable.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mississippi-voters-choice-represents-legislature-104463691

I think the last sentence is particularly telling. We got our voter info sheets yesterday and didn't even know who some of our candidates were.