Mississippi is the reddest state in the Union, but there are still some Democrats who serve in their state legislature. And until recently, there were enough of those Democrats to stop Republicans from having a supermajority in both branches of their state Legislature.
But not any more. Incumbent Democrat Blaine Eaton ran against Republican Mark Tullos. It was a close race. So close, in fact, that the certified results yielded a tie -- each candidate had 4,589 votes.
Under Mississippi law, a tie is broken by drawing straws. Yes, I know. It's a bizarre way to settle a tie, but there it is. Eaton drew the long straw, and that's where the story should have ended.
But this is a Republican state, and it's governed by greedy Republicans. (As an aside, it's also one of the poorest states in the Union. Is there a correlation there?) They wanted their supermajority, and by God, they were going to get it.
On Tuesday, the Republican majority tossed out five provisional ballots in an election where the counts had already been certified in order to award the seat to Mark Tullos and complete their supermajority.
Mr. Eaton wasn't especially happy with the outcome. The New York Times report says that "he said that his fate reminded him of a neighbor’s dog who had been named Lucky despite many misfortunes that had left the creature disfigured."
Fortune had nothing to do with it. They just abided by the old maxim so many Republicans embrace. If they can't win it, they steal it.
(h/t Governing)
