The agency also had a reputation as a top–heavy bureaucracy. The commercials used during Mike Espy's campaigns for the 1986 and 1988 U.S. congressional elections in District 2 of Mississippi, Democratic Party. ... And uh II can remember studying here that her white patients will go to the front door and my mother and I had to wait in the garage and I … Mike Espy speaks to media after his debate against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith inside the Farm Bureau Federation auditorium Tuesday, November 20, 2018. "...Obamacare, which has been a disaster for health care, ruined rural America.". Yet Espy also embraced some conservative positions on social issues: For instance, he was in favor of school prayer and advocated the death penalty for those who committed drug–related crimes. If elected, Medicaid expansion will be his "signature issue," Espy said. "I want to repeal Obamacare. Espy said he was 5 or 6 years old in the mid-1950s when an asthma attack left him unconscious, and there was no ambulance service in the Black neighborhood. Shyteria Shardae "Shy" Shoemaker died that night, leaving behind an infant daughter, who also has asthma. History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “ESPY, Alphonso Michael (Mike),” https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/E/ESPY,-Alphonso-Michael-(Mike)-(E000218)/ The ambulance wasn't close. Republicans hold most major offices in Mississippi, which hasn't had a Democrat in the U.S. Senate since 1989. ... Mike Espy, left, and Jaime Harrison. Receiving neither, Espy reportedly sent the President–elect a memo with the top 10 reasons he should head the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).30 Clinton offered him the post, and Espy resigned from Congress on January 22, 1993, to begin his new position. In 1986, the U.S. Justice Department supervised the redrawing of district lines to include more black voters in response to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which called for higher black percentages in single districts.6 The new Mississippi district, with its slight black majority, was the most impoverished in the country; 42 percent of its residents lived below the national poverty line and five counties had an unemployment rate of at least 20 percent.7 Studying the 1984 election, Espy believed he could improve on Clark’s campaign.8 Narrowly avoiding a runoff election, Espy won a 50 percent plurality in the Democratic primary against runner–up Paul B. Johnson, a grandson of a former Mississippi governor, and Hiram Eastland, a cousin of the late segregationist U.S. (March 13, 2021), Office of the HistorianOffice of Art and Archives DAIBER, Steven J., 48, of Riverview. Mike Espy attended a local parochial school through his first two years of high school. He earned a J.D. He was acquitted in 1998. The collection is closed pending processing. He, too, suffered from asthma and said he almost died as a young boy because of it. Though Yazoo City was located in an impoverished section of the Mississippi River Delta, the Espy family was affluent. The ER was closed. Espy’s opponent, Republican attorney Jack Coleman, accused him of supporting the “radical left” and insinuated that Espy had defaced his home with racial epithets in order to elicit sympathy from voters.21 In Espy’s next two election campaigns in 1990 and 1992, he defeated Republican Dorothy Bedford with 84 and 76 percent of the vote, respectively.22, Espy attributed his electoral success to his focus on constituent service.23 As a freshman, he sponsored the Lower Mississippi River Valley Delta Development Act, enlisting the aid of fellow Mississippi Democrat and powerful Appropriations Committee Chairman Jamie Whitten, who helped secure $3 million to fund the project.24 The bill established a nine–member panel to study the region’s widespread poverty and created a plan for economic development along the banks of the Mississippi River. 3 min read. His Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, has also touted her work for rural health care, including support for telehealth and prioritizing rural health facilities for COVID-19 relief money. 19Quoted in Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone.”. Espy directed several noteworthy achievements at the USDA, including improved meat inspections after an outbreak of illness caused by the bacterium E. coli in fast–food hamburgers. Huddleston had one child with … He said he grabbed the Bible his recently deceased mother had left him, dropped it on the table and would use whatever Scripture the Bible landed on. Toledo Huddleston - mother of Dr. Luke Helm of Chicago, IL Willie Jean Huddleston, (October 22, 1914—September 1985) mother of Carrie Jean Espy, Henry Espy, Thomas Espy, LaVerne Espy, Joyce Espy, Mike Espy and Michelle Espy. Although he was indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges, Espy was acquitted.31 He returned to Jackson, Mississippi, to practice law.32. Survivors include his daughters, Tiffany and Stephanie Daiber; mother, Judith Espy; brother, Mike (Susan) Daiber; sisters, Laura (Godfired) Theimer and Carol (Steve) Weinmann. But what separates Hyde-Smith and Espy most is expanding Medicaid coverage to more low-income Mississippians. Independent Counsel; References JACKSON, Miss. By the time he turned 12, Espy said he got better medicine and was able to manage his asthma, but he never forgot how a lack of access to health care nearly killed him. In 1984, black state legislator Robert Clark came close to unseating white freshman Republican incumbent Webb Franklin in a racially charged campaign. Stacey Abrams, on the May 29 fundraising call for Mike Espy: “I grew up in Mississippi. Hyde-Smith did not respond to a request for comment. For the next four years, Espy served as assistant secretary of state for the public lands division, in charge of enforcing a state law that set aside one of every 36 square miles for educational purposes. While much of the South has so far refused to expand Medicaid coverage, 38 states have done so. He and his twin, Althea Michelle, were the youngest of Henry and Willie Jean (Huddelston) Espy’s seven children. The young mother who passed in 2019 and Espy had the same problem — an asthma attack — nearly 60 years apart. Certification of the votes will be done within a … Espy began his political career working in several state government positions. Also, Espy drove a car leased with government funds on non–work–related visits to Mississippi. — Mike Espy from Howard University and a J.D. As an active member of the liberal Congressional Black Caucus, he generally disagreed with President Ronald W. Reagan’s focus on the Cold War military buildup and he supported abortion rights. Espy was indicted on felony bribery and fraud charges when it was discovered that various food companies had paid his way to sporting events and awarded his girlfriend a scholarship. Espy, a former U.S. representative and secretary of agriculture, said he could exert leverage as a senator by tying federal funding to Medicaid expansion, similar to how Congress encouraged states to raise the purchasing age of alcohol to 21. Mike Espy Alphonso Michael Espy was born in Yazoo City. Espy was acquitted, but the investigation ended in convictions of some associates and fines for the companies. He also trimmed the agency’s bureaucracy and provided relief for farming areas following devastating Mississippi River floods in 1993. 15Ingwerson, “In Deepest of Deep South, Black Lawmaker Wins Many Whites.”, 16Robin Toner, “Real–Life Politics in Deep South.”. Shy's story: The ER was closed. Voters in Oklahoma and Missouri passed ballot measures to expand Medicaid coverage after their elected leaders did not act on it. Huddleston had one … When a disease or illness forces them to go to a hospital for treatment, they can't pay and the hospital is left footing the bill. Educated (along with his wife) at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute, Henry Espy served as a county agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1930s.2 He later joined his father–in–law’s family–owned funeral home business. from Santa Clara University Law School, near San Jose, California, in 1978, and then returned to Mississippi to practice law. By Jackie Hampton, Publisher, U S Senate candidate Mike Espy (D) speaking at his Mississippi rally to become our next senator. She has also said ensuring that schools have sufficient resources to deal with mental health issuewill be a priority in her campaign. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. 11Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race–Conscious Mississippi.”. 9Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race–Conscious Mississippi.”. Mike Espy and Joseph O'Hern, Espy's campaign manager, watch returns coming in while at Joe Biden's watch party at Johnny T's in Jackson Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on November 30, 1953. Nationality: United States Executive summary: US Secretary of Agriculture, 1993-94. “Please sir, please ma’am, turn out, serve as a poll watcher or a driver or a food–fixer. When Mr. Espy was named Secretary of Agriculture in 1993, Mr. … A 23-year-old Mississippi mother suffered an asthma attack at … After years of declining billions of dollars in federal money, some Mississippi Republicans now support versions of Medicaid expansion designed to minimize any cost to state taxpayers. I am for free-market solutions," Hyde-Smith said in 2018. The Clarion Ledger interviewed Shoemaker's family weeks after her asthma attack as part of investigation into her death and how it could have been prevented. from Howard University and a J.D. To Espy, the story was deeply personal. Gov. Portia Ballard Espy Executive Director. Michael Espy describes the 1992 campaign, reforming the Department of Agriculture, Great Flood of 1993, global trade, and the gratuities scandal and resignation. Smaltz had Espy indicted and took the case to trial but Espy was acquitted on all counts. in political science from Howard University in Washington, DC, in 1975. 6Kenneth Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress: 1789–1989 (New York: Macmillan, 1989): 235–239; Almanac of American Politics, 1988 (Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1987): 655. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is endorsing Mike Espy in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race as the former agriculture secretary again tries to unseat Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican loyal to President Donald Trump. Mike Espy’s maternal grandfather, T. J. Huddleston, Sr., founded a chain of nursing homes and built the first black hospital in Mississippi in 1921. This election cycle, Hyde-Smith is running against Democratic challenger Mike Espy, a former congressman and U.S. agriculture secretary. "When think about me they're gonna think about health care and Medicaid expansion," Espy said. Mike Espy – “Separating children from their families is misguided… We can have secure borders WITHOUT punishing innocent children.” Cindy Hyde-Smith – “Distressing to me as a mother, but we cannot lose sight that US immigration laws must be enforced.” Recipient Jack H. Young Senior award Jackson chapter National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1984, award Yazoo Hometowners Club, 1984. Secretary, is Unveiled in Washington. Espy won 12 percent of the white turnout, while many other white voters stayed home in a show of de facto support.15 Espy took 52 percent of the total returns to Franklin’s 48 percent, winning his first elective office and becoming the only black Representative in the 100th Congress (1987–1989) to represent a rural district.16 Asked by a Washington Post reporter how he felt after his victory, Espy responded, “peaceful,” belying the frenzy of national attention. I just remember being cold and eating cheese curds. Related Stories; Comments (0) Related Stories. She previously served as Chief Administrative Office for Children’s Defense Fund Southern Regional Office and Assistant Director of the W.K. He earned a B.A. Espy endorsed the idea, noting that similar programs had been successful in developing countries such as Bangladesh and the Dominican Republic.29. Certification of the votes will be done within a … Both candidates realized that voter turnout would be key since the district’s population was evenly divided between blacks and whites—particularly in a state where race was still a significant dividing line.9 For example, Mississippi was the only state that still categorized drivers’ licenses by skin color, and blacks and whites coexisted in generally peaceful, but separate worlds. "It's what we've been advised to avoid by doctors at all levels, and I'm truly scared — scared for my mother and my son, who requires 24/7 care. Portrait of Mike Espy, Ex-Agriculture Dept. Political Organization. LeKearis Shoemaker, who called 911 when his cousin struggled to breath, explained that Shy Shoemaker's mother wants action — not talk. ... And uh II can remember studying here that her white patients will go to the front door and my mother and I had to wait in the garage and I … Bill Clinton; Mike Espy; Kenneth Starr. However, his career in the Clinton Cabinet ended prematurely when he resigned on December 31, 1994, after being charged with ethics violations. Espy believes he can do something to benefit the Shoemaker family — get Mississippi to expand Medicaid coverage. I raced out to—I took my kids back to their mother, to the home, raced out to the airport, and got a private plane. “But I’d always have a fight. But for all the progress we’ve made in those 60 years, we have failed our rural hospitals and our rural communities because we won’t expand Medicaid to guarantee affordable and accessible health care to every Mississippi. This will be my number one issue in the United States Senate.". "My father ran, literally ran, to the white hospital," Espy said. Born: 30-Nov-1953 Birthplace: Yazoo City, MS. The ambulance wasn't close. Social, civic, and educational institutions practiced an almost de facto segregation—black churches held services down the street from white churches; black lawyers served black clients and vice versa; and black children dominated the public schools down the road from the private schools that were mostly white.10 Combating black voters’ traditionally low turnout, Espy went door–to–door, calling on supporters to volunteer transportation and other services on Election Day. They moved to Wisconsin, which is where I was technically born. **** Hyde-Smith is now in the home stretch of her reelection campaign, a rematch of the contest held only two years ago against Democrat Mike Espy, a former Secretary of Agriculture and the first African American from Mississippi to win a seat in Congress since Reconstruction. A post shared by Mike Espy (@mikeespyms) on Nov 20, 2018 at 2:56pm PST Espy clearly recognized the opportunity in attacking Hyde-Smith over the … "... And he begged the hospital administrators for a canister of oxygen for his son.". a 2018 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Colorado School of Public Health found in 2017, A young mother died after asthma attack in rural MS. Why Mike Espy is sharing her story. On November 27, voters will head to the polls again to cast their ballot in the runoff election between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy. Shoemaker was an 8-minute drive from Trace Regional Hospital when she had an asthma attack in her Chickasaw County home. Toledo Huddleston - mother of Dr. Luke Helm of Chicago, IL; Willie Jean Huddleston, (October 22, 1914—September 1985) mother of Carrie Jean Espy, Henry Espy, Thomas Espy, LaVerne Espy, Joyce Espy, Mike Espy and Michelle Espy. "I want to solve this problem once and for all.”. 18Marshall Ingwerson, “Espy’s Mississippi Victory,” 22 December 1986, Christian Science Monitor: 1. Espy was the only black student, and he carried a stick to fend off racist attacks from fellow students.4 “Relative to the civil rights experiences of snarling dogs and whips and things it was pretty tame,” Espy recalled of his schooldays. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History & Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives. They gave his father a canister, Espy said, and his life was saved. Mississippi is one of an increasingly small number of states that has not opted to expand Medicaid coverage. When Mr. Espy was named Secretary of Agriculture in 1993, Mr. … His investigation Espy resulted in 14 indictments, this included 2 convictions (not against Espy), 3 guilty pleas, 4 acquittals, 3 companies fines. The teacher would leave the room, and then you’re among 35 in the classroom and they’d make racial jeers.”5 A year later, in 1970, Yazoo City High School was fully integrated, and Espy was elected president of the black student body in his senior year. 14Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race–Conscious Mississippi”; Marshall Ingwerson, “In Deepest of Deep South, Black Lawmaker Wins Many Whites,” 21 October 1988, Christian Science Monitor: NL7. But for all the progress we’ve made in those 60 years, we have failed our rural hospitals and our rural communities because we won’t expand Medicaid to guarantee affordable and accessible health care to every Mississippi. The answer is in your hands.”11 A lifelong Baptist campaigning in a religious area, Espy adopted the slogan, “Stand by Me, Pray for Me, Vote for Me.”12 Espy stepped across the deep racial divide to court white voters, too. A decade ago in his home state, he worked for a Congressman named Mike Espy on farm issues. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2008. The young mother who passed in 2019 and I had the same problem — an asthma attack — nearly 60 years apart. JACKSON, Miss. Mike Espy was sitting on his porch reading the Clarion Ledger last year when he saw a story that caused him to spill his coffee. Typically state legislatures vote to expand Medicaid coverage, though some states have enacted it via referendum. 31“The Dizzying Fall of Mike Espy,” 5 October 1994, Chicago Tribune: 20. Mike Espy, lawyer, former United States Secretary of Agriculture, former United State Representative from Mississippi. "Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy" in Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007. He also served on the Select Committee on Hunger. Attic, Thomas Jefferson BuildingWashington, D.C. 20515(202) 226-1300, Image courtesy of Mike Espy Collection, Congressional and Political Research Center, University Libraries, Mississippi State University. I grew up in Gulfport, 2020 South Street. Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health found in 2017 that hospitals were 84% less likely to close in states that expanded Medicaid. The campaign to elect Democrat Mike Espy to the U.S. Senate broke the record for the amount of money raised in one day for a Mississippi candidate for federal office this weekend. 7Current Biography, 1993: 185; James R. Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race–Conscious Mississippi,” 29 October 1986, Washington Post: A1. Espy also drew national attention within the Democratic Party when he served on the rules committee for the 1984 national convention. Members of the caucus announced their support for Espy… Mark Thomas Esper (born April 26, 1964) is an American politician, business executive, and defense strategist who served as the 27th United States secretary of defense from July 2019 to November 2020 and the 23rd secretary of the Army from November 2017 to July 2019. Having won a fourth term in Congress, Espy sought a promotion to chair an Agriculture subcommittee or a seat on the prestigious Appropriations Committee. This is how you die in rural Mississippi. When contacted this week about Espy and his campaign, the family declined an interview. While medicine has advanced greatly in the past half-century, Espy said her death shows much stayed the same since his boyhood in Yazoo City. Dithering on Medicaid expansion, Espy said, is having life-or-death consequences for many Mississippians like Shoemaker. Tate Reeves signs bill barring trans competition in women’s sports, but cites no examples. Gov. Following the 1980 Census—nearly 100 years after the last black Representative to serve Mississippi (John Roy Lynch) departed the House in 1883—a statewide redistricting effort created a majority–black congressional district that stretched along the Mississippi River on the western side of the state and encompassed the cities of Vicksburg and Greenville. Though Yazoo City was located in an impoverished section of the Mississippi River Delta, the Espy family was affluent. See, for example, Bill Miller, “Espy Acquitted in Gifts Case,” 3 December 1998, Washington Post: A1. Espy said expanding Medicaid would give poor Mississippians health insurance while also giving a financial lifeline to struggling hospitals — and there is research that backs him up. He and his twin, Althea Michelle, were the youngest of Henry and Willie Jean (Huddelston) Espy’s seven children. He married Sheila Bell and the couple had two children, Jamilia and Michael, before divorcing. Last month, a poll from the Tyson Group showed Espy behind by only one point, at 41% against her 40%, wiping out a 26-point deficit in March from the same pollster. Mike Espy will face off against incumbent U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mississippi Sen. Chris McDaniel in a special election on the same day as the national midterm elections on Nov. 6, … Mississippi Democratic Senate hopeful Mike Espy is going through moral questions over his work for a corporation that paid $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit regarding bribing of officers in a bid to attain profitable contracts with the state jail, the most recent revelation of … Too many low-income Mississippians are forgoing preventative health care because they lack insurance, he said. Titusville mother, boyfriend arrested after toddler drowns in pool, officers say. He sought huge federal grants for the thousand–acre pools to breed the fish and sponsored a resolution declaring June 25 National Catfish Day. Mother is ‘appalled’ that lawmakers drag Harper Grace’s bill into medical marijuana fight. Hyde-Smith was unopposed for the Republican … A post shared by Mike Espy (@mikeespyms) on Nov 20, 2018 at 2:56pm PST Espy clearly recognized the opportunity in attacking Hyde-Smith over the … Portia Ballard Espy is the Executive Director at the Institute. United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives, Origins & Development: From the Constitution to the Modern House, Joint Meetings, Joint Sessions, & Inaugurations, Presidents, Vice Presidents, & Coinciding Sessions of Congress, Foreign Leaders and Dignitaries Who Have Addressed the U.S. Congress, Individuals Who Have Lain in State or Honor, Calendars of the House of Representatives, Search Historical Highlights of the House, Chief Administrative Officers of the House, John W. McCormack Annual Award of Excellence to Congressional Employees, House Members Who Became U.S. Supreme Court Justices, House Members Who Received Electoral College Votes, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, Jeannette Rankin’s Historic Election: A Century of Women in Congress, Joseph H. Rainey: 150 Years of Black Americans Elected to Congress, Campaign Collectibles: Running for Congress, Electronic Technology in the House of Representatives, The People’s House: A Guide to Its History, Spaces, and Traditions, An Annual Outing: The Congressional Baseball Game, Florence Kahn: Congressional Widow to Trailblazing Lawmaker, Mace of the U.S. House of Represen- tatives, The Long Struggle for Representation: Oral Histories of African Americans in Congress, National History Day 2021: Communication in History, Time for a Tour: Visiting the People’s House, Researching the House: Other Primary Sources, http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/election.aspx, https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/E/ESPY,-Alphonso-Michael-(Mike)-(E000218)/, Community Development and Natural Resources - Chair, House Committee - Select Committee on Hunger, Joint Committee - Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction. Mike Espy says he wants to bring momentum to Mississippi. Gender: Male Religion: Christian Race or Ethnicity: Black Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Government Party Affiliation: Democratic. Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate in the spring of 2018 to temporarily succeed longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran after he resigned […] Huddleston, who died in the 1950s, was a local celebrity and one of the wealthiest black men in the South.3 The prosperous family business initially sheltered the Espy children from segregated public schools. (Bill) Clinton. Donations soared amid fears the state’s GOP incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, will vote to fill the now-vacant high court seat. He earned a B.A. 23Toner, “Real–Life Politics in Deep South.”. ... At the funeral in Chicago, Mamie Till Mobley, his mother, insisted that the coffin be left open so that everyone could see what those men did to her son. As one of the first Democratic lawmakers to endorse Clinton’s 1992 candidacy for President, Espy benefited from his election to the presidency. You May Also Like. "She don't wanna talk about it, period, unless it's benefiting the family," he said. He is associated with the Enterprise Corporation of the Willie Jones’ mother probably doesn’t think so. Y’all Politics asked each of the candidates for U.S. Senate in Mississippi for their responses to the following questions related to the 2020 race. 22“Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/election.aspx. According to Espy, the hospital had run out of oxygen canisters and nurses started to pray over his comatose body. Now, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate is talking more about his own narrow survival six decades ago — and the death of Shoemaker — as he hones his message on health care. Mother Jones … Mother is ‘appalled’ that lawmakers drag Harper Grace’s bill into medical marijuana fight. (WLBT) - Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was declared the unofficial winner over Democrat Mike Espy and Jimmy Edwards. Espy, a divorced mother of two, says that education policy was a major factor in her decision to run for the Maryland General Assembly. The violence against unarmed Black people — names we know, and names we don’t know — must end. Tate Reeves signs bill barring trans competition in women’s sports, but cites no examples. "It was hard playing mother and father and that's what happened," says Sheila Espy, 29, who met her husband when he was a first-year law student and she was a Santa Clara freshman. (WLBT) - Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was declared the unofficial winner over Democrat Mike Espy and Jimmy Edwards. In addition, Espy became a spokesman for the Mississippi Delta’s fastest–growing enterprise: catfish farming. Donald C. Smaltz is an American lawyer who was appointed as Independent Counsel to investigate charges that United States Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy had received improper gifts from companies with business before his department. Posted January 15th, 2018 by …
Abandoned Places In Solihull, The Child In The Grave, Robinson Memorial Hospital Jobs, Sensu Go Github, Spanish Inquisition Questions, Nedbank Branch Code Chatsworth, Point Pleasant Beach Houses For Rent, Venus Yacht Location,