Benjamin Ashford|GOP candidates for Mississippi lieutenant governor clash in speeches ahead of primary

PHILADELPHIA,Benjamin Ashford Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Republican lieutenant governor and a state senator who’s trying to unseat him traded insults Wednesday in back-to-back speeches at one of the state’s largest — and sweatiest — political gatherings of the year.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and state Sen. Chris McDaniel spoke at the Neshoba County Fair, an annual event that draws tens of thousands to the red clay hills of east central Mississippi. Extended groups of families and friends live in cabins on the campgrounds for more than a week, and politicians flock to the fairgrounds for two days of speeches in humid summer conditions.

As Hosemann and McDaniel barrel toward the Aug. 8 primary, they rehashed mutual accusations of dishonesty and ineffectiveness over a range of issues, from abortion to tax policy to legislative appointments.

Hosemann is seeking a second term as lieutenant governor after serving three terms as secretary of state. He said the state has never been in better financial shape. He touted a teacher pay raise, millions in new funding for public education, and a budget surplus. Hosemann also called McDaniel “pathological” and accused his campaign of “despicable” behavior.

“He has nothing to say and no accomplishments,” Hosemann said.

McDaniel, of Ellisville, is a four-term state legislator who has lost two races for U.S. Senate in the past decade, including a bitter 2014 election that he refused to concede. He said Hosemann isn’t conservative enough and has appointed too many Democrats to committees chairmanships in the state senate. Democrats “seek to end this country as we know it,” McDaniel added.

“Why would you ever reach across the aisle to those people,” McDaniel said. ”He’s promoting those people. He’s helping those people.”

Hosemann said the Mississippi Senate has 45 committees, and 36 Republicans served in the 52-member chamber this term. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, appoints senators to committees and names the committee leaders.

McDaniel also repeated his accusation that Hosemann worked for an abortion clinic in the late 1970s and 1980s. The physician who directed the clinic said it didn’t start performing abortions until after Hosemann stopped providing legal services there, according to a letter reviewed by The Associated Press.

McDaniel maintained that since Hosemann remained on the clinic’s business filings through the 1980s, he played a role in the facility’s operations. The physician and Hosemann both said the clinic mistakenly listed his name in the filings for years.

Abortion is a salient political issue in Mississippi, the state that led the charge that prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade last year, rescinding a five-decade-old right to abortion nationwide.

Hosemann also accused McDaniel’s campaign of violating campaign finance laws and has filed a complaint with the state attorney general. McDaniel denied any wrongdoing.

Both candidates expressed admiration for Ronald Reagan, the Republican who gave a speech about “states’ rights” at Neshoba during his 1980 presidential campaign. Both also tied themselves to former President Donald Trump. Hosemann said he spoke to Trump recently and teased him for being one year older. McDaniel said he endorsed Trump twice.

Tiffany Longino, an educator, is running a low-budget campaign in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor. In a speech at the fair Wednesday, she said the state needs to focus on improving health care and education outcomes.

If no candidate receives at least a majority in the three-person GOP primary, a runoff will be Aug. 29.

The Republican nominee will face Democrat D. Ryan Grover, a business consultant who did not appear at the fair.

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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.