Sarita Simmons | |
---|---|
Member of the Mississippi Senate from the 13th district | |
Assumed office January 7, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Willie Lee Simmons |
Personal details | |
Born | Sarita Simmons May 14,1977 Cleveland,Mississippi,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Alcorn State University |
Sarita Simmons (born May 14,1977) is an American politician,serving in the Mississippi State Senate from the 13th district since 2020. [1]
Simmons was born in Cleveland,Mississippi. [1] Her father is Willie Lee Simmons,former Mississippi Senate member from the 13th district and current Central District Transportation Commissioner. [2] Her mother was the Bolivar County Circuit Clerk,the first African American since Reconstruction to serve that post. [2] Simmons attended Cleveland High School and graduated from Alcorn State University with a bachelor's in education and psychology. [1] [3]
Simmons has worked as the general manager for the family-owned restaurant,The Senator's Place,which is located in Cleveland,Mississippi. [2] [4] When her father didn't file for re-election for the 13th district,she decided to run. The district encompasses parts of Bolivar,Sunflower,and Tallahatchie counties. [5] She received 42.1% of the vote in the Democratic primary election and 65.1% in the general election;she assumed office on January 7,2020. [6]
In the Mississippi Senate,she serves as vice-chair for the Investigate State Offices Committee and is a member on the following committees:Agriculture;Appropriations;Corrections;Drug Policy;Environment Prot,Cons,and Water Res;Labor;Ports and Marine Resources;and State Library. [1]
Simmons,in partnership with Senator Walter Michel,authored a bill to allow wine sales in grocery stores;the bipartisan bill died in the Senate Finance Committee. [7]
In coordination with several Delta Legislators,Simmons created a multi-step plan to address conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Sunflower County,an infamous prison located in Simmon's 13th district. [8] [9] [10] This came after lawmakers proposed additional cuts for funding to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. [11]
She voted for changing the Mississippi state flag. [12]
She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority,NAACP,National Council of Negro Women,and the Bolivar County Democratic Executive Committee. [1] She is a Christian. [1]
Sunflower County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census,the population was 25,971. Its largest city and county seat is Indianola.
Bolivar County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census,the population was 30,985. Its county seats are Rosedale and Cleveland. The county is named in honor of Simón Bolívar,early 19th-century leader of the liberation of several South American territories from Spain.
Drew is a city in Sunflower County,Mississippi,United States. The population was 1,927 at the 2010 census. Drew is in the vicinity of several plantations and the Mississippi State Penitentiary,a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison for men. It is noted for being the site of several racist murders,including the lynching of Joe Pullen in 1923 and of Emmett Till in 1955.
Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County,Mississippi,United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is a state agency of Mississippi that operates prisons. It has its headquarters in Jackson. As of 2020 Burl Cain is the commissioner.
The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature,the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate,along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives,convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP),also known as Parchman Farm,is a maximum-security prison farm located in the unincorporated community of Parchman in Sunflower County,Mississippi,in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about 28 square miles (73 km2) of land,Parchman is the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi,and is the state's oldest prison.
The Sunflower County Consolidated School District (SCCSD),formerly the Sunflower County School District (SCSD),is a public school district with its headquarters in Indianola,Mississippi in the Mississippi Delta. The district serves all of Sunflower County.
The Drew School District was a public school district based in Drew,Mississippi. The school district's attendance boundary included Drew,Rome,and the employee residences of the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman),located in an unincorporated area. In July 2014,it was merged into the Sunflower County Consolidated School District.
Robert Montgomery Dearing was an American politician,educator,and businessman who served in the Mississippi Senate as a member of the Democratic Party.
Cleveland High School was a public high school that served students in grades 9–12,located in Cleveland,Mississippi. After it and East Side High were ordered to consolidate,it was renamed Cleveland Central High school,and East Side High was converted to Cleveland Central Middle School. It was a part of the Cleveland School District.
North Sunflower Academy is a private school,founded to provide a segregated education for white students in unincorporated Sunflower County,Mississippi,in the Mississippi Delta area,between Ruleville and Drew. The school has grades Kindergarten through 12. As of 2002,the school draws students from Doddsville,Drew,Merigold,Ruleville,Schlater,Tutwiler,and Webb.
Thomas E. Edwards,Sr. High School,formerly Ruleville Central High School (RCHS),is a public high school located in Ruleville,Mississippi,United States. It is a part of the Sunflower County Consolidated School District and had 381 students enrolled in Nov. 2012.
Sara Richardson Thomas is an American educator and politician from Indianola,Mississippi. She was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the 31st District,having first been elected in 1998 to succeed her nephew,Bill Richardson,who had died in office,and having retired in June 2018. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Derrick Terrell Simmons is an American politician and trial lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the Mississippi Senate for the 12th district since 2011. He is the Minority Leader of the Mississippi Senate,being elected in 2017.
Willie Lee Simmons is an American politician and former member of the Mississippi State Senate from the 13th District,where he served from 1993 to 2020. Simmons ran and won the election to the Mississippi Transportation Commission for the Central District. Prior to serving in the senate,he worked in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
George Washington Gayles was an American Baptist minister and state legislator in Mississippi. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1872 until 1875 and in the Mississippi Senate from 1878 until 1886. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1892,but received only 6% of the vote due to the voter suppression laws of that period. He was also a noted Baptist minister and was known as the "Father of the Convention" of African American Baptists in Mississippi.
Barbara Anita Blackmon is an American lawyer and politician who served in the Mississippi State Senate,representing the 21st district from 1992 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2024. She was also the Democratic Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2003,losing to Amy Tuck.
Kathy L. Chism is an American politician,serving in the Mississippi State Senate from the 3rd district since 2020.
Otis Bee Bennett was an American politician and farmer. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1968 to 1976.