The Mississippi Circuit Court of Calhoun County will hold oral arguments on Friday, April 27, in Dale v Mississippi Democratic Party. This is the interesting case over whether a party has the right to exclude a candidate from its primary, because he or she endorsed another party’s candidate in a previous election. George Dale, Mississippi’s Insurance Commissioner since 1975, and a Democrat, was not allowed to file in this year’s Democratic primary because he endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2004. No state law gives a Mississippi party any authority to exclude candidates based on their endorsements, but the state party has a Bylaw that authorizes such exclusions. Thanks to Steve Rankin for this news.
The case will be heard in Hinds County (Jackson), where the suit was filed. The Supreme Court appointed a circuit judge from Calhoun County to preside.
The Democrats say that the party rule under which they refused to certify Commissioner Dale has been pre-cleared by the U. S. Department of Justice.
Notably, Dale also named Ike Brown of Noxubee County in the suit. Brown, of course, is the defendant in the first-ever suit brought under the Voting Rights Act alleging discrmination against white voters.