Candidates invoke race in Jackson mayoral election
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JACKSON, Tenn. — A noticeable change has crept into the campaign for Jackson city mayor as candidates shift the focus of their ads from talking about themselves to talking about the alleged faults of the others. A flyer from the Gist campaign and a radio ad from Finney’s campaign have taken a racial tone, and voters are paying attention. “The whole campaign has gotten kind of screwed to the negative, and I don’t really like that from either of them,” said Jackson resident Sethicica Tate. A mailer sent out by Jerry Gist shows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on one side and states Lowe Finney voted to take money away from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. “We have his vote on where he rejected funding for that particular museum,” Mayor Gist said. “I voted not to strip the funding,” Finney said. “I voted against the very amendment he’s talking about.” Positioned right under the quote, the Gist flyer referenced Senate Bill 3468, a bill focused on impaired driving. Campaign representatives later said it was a typo and meant to reference Senate Bill 3768. “The vote he references there has nothing to do with the verbiage on the flyer, which I think is a testament to how little effort he put into putting out the facts,” Finney said. Finney also appeared to levy race in a radio ad where narration states, “As crime rises and we hold our children closer, what‘s Mayor Gist‘s answer? To blame us. That‘s right — instead of taking responsibility, Mayor Gist blamed the black community for rising crime.” Finney said he bases the claims on a November 12, 2013 newspaper article where Gist is quoted as saying, “It is going to take the black community as a whole to come together and say enough is enough.” “We have some great, educated voters in this city,” Gist said. “They’re able to read through that.” Mayoral candidate Charlie Motton responded to the topic by saying, “A man’s color should be left out of the race. He should be rated by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.” Mayoral candidate Tim York said, “It’s petty fighting between Mayor Gist and Finney. They’re the same people. One’s just younger, but they have the same philosophies.” Calls to Mayoral candidate James Baxter went unanswered.
