In 2019, The States Project stepped up to invest in winning state legislative elections in Mississippi.

Representative Hester Jackson-McCray became the first Black woman in her county to be elected to the Mississippi state legislature. Representative Shanda Yates became a force within the Mississippi state legislature working across party lines to build support — and votes — for a new state flag, no longer made up of the confederate symbol. Senator Joseph Thomas, who fought against racial gerrymandering in the Mississippi courts, won a newly-created, majority-Black district.

Our endorsed candidates won by as few as 14 votes, but their victories, two in the House and one in the Senate, were critical to creating lasting change.

Their votes made it possible for the legislature to remove symbols of the Confederacy from the Mississippi state flag for the first time since 1861.

• In 2015, Hester Jackson McCray raised $839 for her campaign. In 2019, we drove over $80K into her district for canvassing, digital, and more. Turnout doubled, and she won by 14 votes.
• Three of our endorsed candidates won by fewer than 800 votes; two by fewer than 150 votes.
• The turnout surge in TSP districts was 25% higher than in non-TSP districts.