2 former Mississippi congressmen debate presidential candidates. What they said

Former Mississippi U.S. House Reps. Mike Espy, D-Dist. 2, and Gregg Harper, R-Dist. 3, stuck to their political guns during a recent debate on which presidential candidate would be best for Mississippi.

During an Aug. 12 Stennis Luncheon at Hal and Mal's in downtown Jackson, both former House members agreed that Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump would likely carry Mississippi's electoral votes through the Nov. 5 election.

That might have been the only agreement they had.

Despite Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris now having seen a rise in polling following her ascent to the candidacy and the Democratic National Convention, it is unlikely that momentum will carry into Mississippi, where only one Democrat, Dist. 2 U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, currently represents Mississippi in Washington, D.C.

The last time a presidential candidate running as a Democrat took the magnolia state was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter swept much of the Deep South.

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"If Mississippi is a chain, we have to make the weaker link stronger," Espy said. "These are the very low-income recipients, the ones whose hospitals are closing, the ones without Medicaid expansion, the ones that are without health care, the ones whose bridges are falling, the ones who don't have minimum wage. They need somebody at the presidential level helping them to aspire to some degree of status and wealth. … If she did that as vice president, I believe that she would do more than that as president."

Espy, the first Black Mississippian elected to Congress since the 1800s and former U.S. agriculture secretary, said Harris would make a great president and benefit states such as Mississippi where federal aid and programs over the last four years have contributed to infrastructure. That aid has come in the form of the American Rescue Plan Act, as well a huge bi-partisan infrastructure package that has created funding for roads and other improvements in Mississippi.

Harper, who served in the U.S. House for 10 years and left in 2019, said he believes that Harris will continue an upward trend in the polls right up until the next presidential debate, where she will finally be tested in a debate against Trump. Earlier this year, Trump's debate against sitting President Joe Biden sparked highly influential doubts about Biden's physical and mental fitness, leading to his decision to bow out and support Harris in his place.

"She can't run from what happened on her replacing Biden, she's going to have to talk about it," Harper said. "Who was it that talked about the 25th amendment, if that happened in the discussion with Biden, who went from 'Only the Lord God Almighty can make me leave' to 'I'm going to (bow out).' I don't know what happened behind the scenes, but I'm sure it was very traumatic for folks that were involved in that."

Harper said while Trump will handily sweep the magnolia state, he thinks the former president needs to behave more "presidential" than inflammatory if he wants a strong victory against Harris.

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"By the time of the election, it's going to be a little bit more difficult as we look at where things are then," Harper said. "I do believe at the end of the day, Trump will prevail if he can just act presidential for a couple of months. Don't be calling people names. Don't be having battles where you don't have to have battles. He should not be attacking Gov. Kemp from Georgia, for instance."

Harper said that Trump will remain strict in his border and economic policies, which Harper said benefited the American people and Mississippi in general. He also attacked the Biden administration's rewrite of border policy and what he called failed economic initiatives.

According to polling data produced by fivethirtyeight.com , Harris as of Monday is leading Trump by more than three points, sitting at 47.1%, with Trump sitting at 43.7%.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 2 former Mississippi congressmen debate presidential candidates. What they said