Run Off Election's

I know that there is not a lot of elections locally tomorrow, however I hope you will still go to the polls tomorrow and vote.

The runoff in the senate and for State treasure are two important positions and your voice needs to be heard. So don't forget polls are open from 7 am to 7 pm, so go vote. I will.

Election Results

Well I lost. But you know what? That is ok. You see an election does not define me. God has blessed me with a wonderful family, great friends and a fantastic church.

I so much enjoyed this campaign. I believe that I ran a good, clean, honest race. I put forth issues and answers to those issues.

The great thing about America is that we get to elect our leaders. We are not told who to vote for, or ran by the military. That my friends is one great thing.

I want to thank all of you who voted, weather you voted for me or not. Many a brave soul has fought and died for that freedom we enjoy. Also a BIG THANK YOU, to those who prayed, for and supported me. It is those prayers that got me through. Also I can not say enough about Brother Micheal Smith, my pastor. He prayed for me at the beginning of the race, during the race and after it was over. I love you brother.

So now I will redouble my efforts in making Monticello the greatest Town in Mississippi.

Again thanks and may God bless you and the great state of Mississippi.

Compare the candidates

As we close on Election Day, I thought you might want to compare the candidates. We all have two things in common. The first is we are all running for the Senate. And the second is I believe we all are good people.

But that is where it ends. When you compare the three of us, you will quickly see, I am the only candidate with the experience needed to be your next Senator. Being a small business owner and over 14 years as Mayor has uniquely prepared me to represent you the fine people of District 39. I am the only candidate that has a plan to help create jobs. I have actively been involved with that in Southwest Mississippi over the last 18 years. I am the only candidate with a plan to improve education. I also have been involved with early education for 8 years, being on the Board of Directors for the local head start agency and the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club after school program. I also have a plan to better transportation and to battle crime. Recently at one of the many forums we have attended, a question was asked by a firefighter about State Rebate monies that come back to cities and counties. One of the others in the race did not even know what that was.

For the last 14 years I have worked to make Mississippi better. As Mayor of Monticello I have balanced 14 straight budgets, reduced the general fund debt to less than $60,000.00, increased services and have helped to bring jobs to the area. I have been a member of the Mississippi Municipal Leagues Legislative committee. I have been at the capitol introducing legislation to make our lives better. Now I would enjoy the opportunity to represent you as your next Senator. The other two in the race, have been Lawyers. Let’s send someone with the experience and qualifications to be a Senator to Jackson to represent the citizens of District 39. 

My Campaign

Well folks it has been a while since I have blogged. To be very honest, I just have not had the time. I am making the time to do this right now.

Between my job as Mayor and running a campaign for the District 39 Senate seat, I have been quite busy. But let me say that I have enjoyed every minute of it. Even getting ran off a mans property with his hammer. There was one gentleman that when I told him I was running as a republican told me to get off his property and proceeded to wave his hammer. I left and told him to have a good day.

You know that encounter got me to thinking. That is part of what is wrong with our country today. Instead of talking about our differences and finding out where we might find common ground we want to blame the other party. Well I believe that has to stop. We are all supposed to be working to make Mississippi better. And that is one thing I believe that I can do if elected. I believe that I can reach across party lines and help to move Mississippi forward.

I have had five current Mayors endorse my campaign and one very recently retired Mayor endorse me also. Out of these five current Mayors and one former Mayors, three are Democrats and one is African American. I have also just finished a term as President of the Pine Belt Mayors Association. I was elected to this position with 100% percent of the vote by both Republican and Democratic Mayors from all over south Mississippi. It is this type of bridge building and leadership qualifications I will take to Jackson if elected as your next Senator in District 39.

I have enjoyed this campaign and hope to meet you all before it is over. May God bless you and the great state of Mississippi.  

Marshall Ramsey Event

This Thursday Marshall Ramsey will broadcast live from the Lawrence County Civic Center and Regional History Museum. Following his broadcast he will be making a presentation inside the auditorium. Also the State Agriculture candidates and the Senate 39 Candidates will be speaking.

I hope you have got your tickets. They are on sale at Many Expressions and Farm Bureau in Monticello.
We need to have a good crowd for this. We need to be an educated voting public and this will be one way in which to this.

Last week the Lawrence County Republican party held an event and only about 35 people showed up. If we are going to move Mississippi forward we need to know who and what we are voting for. This program is a step in the right direction.

If you can't make this event there will be one at Fox pizza in Brookhaven on July 7th and one sponsored by the Lawrence County Emergency Management association on July 22nd at the Lawrence County Civic Center.

I can tell you first hand it is very hard to get to see each and every person. That is why these events are so important. No matter how hard I try to see people individually, I know I will miss some. However these events will allow you to see where we the candidates stand on the issues.

Hope to see you soon.

Dave.

Senate District 39

Well the judges have made their ruling. Senate District 39 will remain for now Lincoln, Lawrence and Simpson counties. I for one am glad to have the issue settled.

To those of you in Simpson county that I have already had the chance to meet, I thank you for the warm reception you have shown me. For those of you who I have not had the pleasure to meet yet, I look forward to the opportunity to meet you soon. I truly desire to hear from you on what you believe the issues are.

I already know that education must be addressed. And by this I'm not advocating more money into education, at least not yet. First we have to find out why the system is not working in all schools. We are teaching less students today than we did 20 years ago yet spending a staggering sum of money and the product is not improving, we have to ask ourselves WHY? We must also do all we can to help local communities attract JOBS. We can do this by a gradual reduction of the inventory tax, giving business and industry more reasons to locate here in Mississippi. We must address our TRANSPORTATION system. Everything from Rails to ports  to highways must be improved. We must also tackle CRIME in a real way. we need to give our local officers the tools and resources they need to fight crime.

These are only four issues and I know there are many more. That is why I hope to meet you to hear firsthand what is important to you the people. After all Government is supposed to "be for the people by the people" and that is what I plan to bring to the Mississippi State Senate, YOUR VOICE.

A few ramblings

Yesterday, Monday the 9th I had the chance to help send a young man to Boys State. As president of the Exchange Club we are sponsoring Lake Davis to attend. My son David was able to go and he met young men that he is friends with to this day. Also he learned many valuable lessons about the role of Government in our lives. I am happy that we in the Exchange Club were able to do this.

Also I had the honor to read the Proclamation at the Lawrence County Civic Center honoring our most valuable resource our Senior Citizens. What a joy to see their faces as they released balloons. You need to make a point to stop by a nursing home and say hello to these treasured people soon.

One other thing that is on my mind is political signs. I have already had some stolen. Now I am sure that I am not the only one. But here is what I want you to see. Those signs cost us money. So you see it truly is theft when you take them. Please keep in mind that those of us seeking public office usually spend our hard earned dollar to get our names out in front of you the voter. So please don't take our signs. we would be happy to give you one.

Lincoln County Meet & Greet

Last night, I participated in a Political Meet and Greet at the Lincoln Civic Center. The event was sponsored by Q-102- Super Talk, Lincoln County Teenage Republicans and the the Southwest MS Tea Party.
I would like to thank all the sponsors who made this event happen.

There were several state wide candidates there as well as local and regional candidates. After listening to the speeches of the state wide candidates, I can assure you it will be a interesting summer in Mississippi politics.

I would like to take this chance to encourage you the voters to make an attempt to attend these events where we the candidates will be speaking. I know I will do everything I can to visit you personally, but I also know that inevitably I will miss some. These events are a good way to hear where we stand on the issues. What our qualifications are and why we want to represent you the voter.

With that said. I will be at the Lincoln County Firefighters Hogwild Bar B Q cook off next week in Brookhaven, and I sure hope to see you there.

Recent Storms

We dodged the big storms that hit Mississippi and Alabama. However are neighbors to the north were not quite so lucky.

I am proud of the people here in Southwest Mississippi that have come together to help those in need. This reminds me of Hurrican Katrina. We had people from not only Mississippi help but from all over the nation and the world. It feels good knowing that we are now returning the favor.

That is one of the best things about living here. When someone is really hurting and in need, we as Mississippians come together and fill that need.

I am proud to be from MISSISSIPPI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend coming and goings

This past weekend was pretty good for me and pretty disappointing as well. But I guess life is like that sometimes.

First I got to play in a golf tournament in Meridian with an old college friend. We were invited to play for a team that was raising money for Relay for Life. I actually played pretty well and enjoyed my visit with my old college friend. I then got home in time to take my wife to the movie. We saw Soul Surfer. What a great movie. Not a single cuss word, no sexual overtones and a great inspiring message. And the film work was outstanding as well. I highly recommend you go see this movie. You will be moved and you will probably cry so take some tissues with you.

Sunday we heard a great message from Brother Michael Smith. We are looking at the road to the cross. Then more golf as my son asked me to come to Co-Lin and play with him. Yes he beat me, but that was to be expected. Then it was back home to take the youth to a concert at the Multi Purpose building. We saw and heard from 33 Miles, Jonny Diaz and Finding Favor. All three bands were fantastic. If you missed it you missed a great night in Lawrence County.

So what was disappointing about the weekend? The fact that most of you missed this great concert. One of the biggest complaints in Monticello and Lawrence County is that there is nothing for the young people to do. Here was a great night of music and fellowship and hardly anyone showed up. Here is something that was a positive event, uplifting for the whole family and only a handful of people show up. When local events are not supported it makes the people who put them on very hesitant to put on another. I know that some had a previous commitment and that is understandable. But with a county of nearly 13,000 people and less then 200 shows up for national recording acts, it's hard to say there is nothing to do.

A big thank you to those of you who did show up and those of you that put this together, it was great. I know I was there.

P.S. my spell check is not working, sorry if there are any words spelled wrong.

Recycling

Ok I have a question for you. I will also put up a poll about this. But here goes. Would you be willing to recycle your paper, aluminum cans, and plastic. You would not have to separate it and it would only cost you one to two dollars more per month on your garbage bill. This would be in cities and towns only. It would also create an industry in Southwest Mississippi that would create 25 to 30 jobs.

Feel free to comment. Thanks.

Meet the Canidates

The Daily Leader hosted a meet the candidates event last night. They talked about how they could help with campaigns, advertising in the paper and more. They also discussed hosting a forum in the near future. All in all it was a informative meeting. I would like to thank the Daily Leader staff for hosting this event.

At the conclusion I had the opportunity to meet Bill Boerner and Micheal Smith. Let me say what a nice conservation we all had. I believe that this will be a great race and one in which we will focus on the issues. In four elections I have never ran a negative campaign and have no plans of doing so now. I say all this to encourage you the voters to seek out where we the candidates stand on the issues that are of importance to you. I have four main areas of importance, they are education, economic development (jobs), transportation and crime. However I know there are other things that are important also. And I would love to know what is important to you. I hate that I did not get the chance to meet Mrs. Sally Doty but she left before we had the chance to talk. I am sure that we will get that chance in the very near future.

Again please seek us out on issues that are important to you. You can leave a comment here if you would like. Just click on the comments section below and I will get it, and I will respond.

Back from Mexico

Well I am almost caught up. Almost. But I wnated to take a moment and thank you for your prayers why we were in Mexico on the mission trip. God answerd them. we all returned home safe.

Why we were in Mexico we built a church with four classrooms and an office. The foundation had already been poured and we built it from the ground up. Ther area we worked in did have some electricity and the pastor wanted to wirre the building, so we bought the sheetrock, but he and members of this church will hang the sheetrock. This church had been washed away be a flood sometime late last year. It is an amazing sight to see a building like this go up and see lost people being toughed by the hand og God.

We also had a medical team and a childrens ministry team. They saw over 600 people the five days we were there working. At last count around 62 professions of faith had been made. Glory to God for that.

Another neat thing was that the local government came by and welcomed us. This has never happen in the eight to nine years I have been going on this mission trip. But even bigger than that one of the ladies with the Secretay of Health and Human services came to know Jesus. Usally the government and its employees are not friendly to or receptive to Christians. This alone show you the nead we have to send messangers to a lost world.

Again thank you for your prayers.

Remember "Monticello, It just feels like Home."

Blogging

I will not have any new post up for the next week. I will be on a mission trip to Mexico. Please pray for our success and safety.

I am traveling with the Tri - county mission team with churches from Lawrence, Marion and Walthal counties. We will be doing evangelism, medical and building work during our time there. I ask for your prayers that Gods will, will be done and that you pray for our safety as well. This is a very troubled part of Mexico we will be working in and your prayers are welcomed and needed.

Remember, "Monticello it just feels like Home." 

New Senate District

Well the Mississippi Senate has released it's proposed new senate districts. In our district, Senate District 39
The portion of Simpson County has been removed and the Northwest corner of Marion County including Columbia has been put in.

I wonder what you the voters in District 39 think about this? Geographically Simpson County was directly above Lawrence County. Marion County does border us, but not to the degree Simpson does. Both counties are rural in nature, when Simpson was in neither Magee nor Mendenhall were part of the district. The new district does include Columbia.

In my opinion it's about a wash for District 39. Simpson and Lawrence county both lost population in the 2010 census and to keep the districts equally populated this was most likely the easiest way to it.

So I would love to hear your comments on it. Click on the comments button and the end of this post and let me hear your thoughts about it.

Remember "Monticello it just feels like Home."

Mississippi Muncipal League Youth Summit

I have had the honor of serving the Mississippi Municipal League (MML) as their youth committee chairman this year. Our first big event starts today March 4th at Delta State University. It is our MML Youth Summit.

This is the fourth year of the summit and it will be the best yet. DSU is a beautiful campus and the officials their have bent over backwards to help us. The City of Cleveland has also worked very hard to make this a successful summit.

We will begin this evening with a welcoming reception. Then on Saturday we will have a general opening session and then break out to smaller breakout sessions. I am proud to say that the breakout sessions are actually ran by youth themselves. And Monticello and Lawrence County can be proud to know that two of the sessions will be presented by youth from Lawrence County. We will have a session on TATU. Teens against Tobacco Use. Under the direction of Kasey Ward, Diamond Kelly and Mitch McCloud will conduct this session. Then we will have one presented by Kaleb Smith on Teen CERT (community emergency response team). It should be noted that Kaleb was to be aided by Rebbecca Smith, but she and sponsor Roshanda Alexander will be at the Big House cheering the Lady Cougars on to a a state championship.

In addition to the breakout sessions we will have two general sessions. Our keynote speaker is Patrick House. You may remember Patrick from the Biggest Looser T.V. show as he was last years winner. I am proud to say that for the first time in the history of the Youth Summit we will also give away a college scholarship to a senior in attendance. I know it will be a great weekend, and I am proud of our youth for stepping forward.

Remember "Monticello it just feels like Home." 

The Gala

Saturday was a big day in Monticello. We had baseball and softball at the high school and we had the Gala at the Civic Center.

There were plenty of people at both the Cougars home opener and the Lady Cougars home opener. The baseball team was able to squeeze out two wins and the Lady Cougars played hard in defeat. Then it was off to the Gala.

This years Gala had to be one of the best. The food was great, the entertainment spectacular with the Southern Miss Belltones taking the cake. It was also nice to see several young people in attendance this year. All in all it was a rather nice Saturday.

Dinner and dancing in Monticello now who would have thought of that? The fine folks at the Lawrence County Civic Center and Regional History Museum, thats who. Thanks for all the hard work and a great evening.

Remember, "Monticello it just feels like home."

One week into a long campaign

Well it has officially been one week into my campaign for State Senate District 39. It has been interesting to say the least. More good than bad, but I am sure there is more of both still to come.

First the good. I had the chance to speak to the Monticello Methodist men's group Wednesday night. It was nice to give my first campaign speech to folks I know and know me. They were great to let me speak to them. All in all I think it went well. They seemed receptive to my ideas and had a few of their own. Also in one week we have raised $1100.00 dollars. I have had many people speak very favorable about my candidacy. All in all a good week. The only bad was that a sample card got out that had the wrong election date on it and a certain person is having a field day with that. If that is the only mistake that is made during this campaign it will be a huge success.

If you get a chance check out my website at http://www.nicholsforsenate.webs.com/

Again I ask for your prayers and support.

"Monticello it just feels like Home.""

Bravery

Sometimes we use the word Hero a little to loosely. Well in Monticello that is not the case.

Recently we had a house fire in Monticello. Two men performed very bravely. They are Ervin Belton and Justin Eley. These two young men acted in a total unselfish manner. With chance to great harm to themselves, even with possible death these two young men went into the burning house and brought the occupants out to safety.

By the time the Monticello Fire Department got the call the house was fully engaged, (fire was coming out the rooftop.) There is no doubt that if these two young men had not acted when they had the occupants of the house would have in all probability died. It's nice to know we still have people who are up to the task of putting others first.

Ervin and Justin, you are Hometown Heroes.

"Monticello it just feels like Home"

My Political Future III

Well, you can say you read it here first.

After many prayers and much thought I have decided to run for State Senate District 39. As I said earlier I love being Mayor of Monticello and maybe this is where I belong we shall see. But with a servants heart I desire to serve all the people of District 39 in Lawrence, Lincoln and Simpson counties.

I will be making my official announcement soon and hope to see as many of you as I can, and share my vision for Mississippi with you. Oh and yes I am running republican.

Remember "Monticello it just feels like Home.""

My Political Future continued

I have had very positive feedback concerning my decision to run for the State Senate. Many of you have called or posted on facebook. Thank you for the kind words.

The poll on this page though unscientific is also very favorable. However only one person has left any written comments. I welcome your comments on this matter. All you have to do is click on the word comments on the end of the blogs and it will take you to a page to leave your comments.

Again let me say that I am in the decision stage at this time. I love being Mayor of Monticello. It has been the best job I have ever had. But I have to ask myself can I do more for Monticello and Mississippi in the senate? Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.

"Monticello it just feels like Home."

My Political Future

Ok folks here it is. Our State Senator Cindy Hyde Smith has announced that she is running for State Agriculture Commissioner. I think she would do great in that position by the way, and wish her nothing but good luck.

So what does that mean to, or for me? Well I have had a number of people in all three counties encourage me to run for the vacated senate seat. It is a very intriguing thought. As a state Senator I could do more for our area than as just Mayor of Monticello. But here, is the but. I love being the Mayor of Monticello. I am really torn over this decision.

I would love to know what you the people think? That is why I am posting a poll to see what you think. Some early polling shows that I would be a viable candidate if I decided to make the run. Also let me be straight forward and say if I do decide to run I would run as a Republican. The biggest reason I would run as a Republican is my beliefs concerning abortion and the Gay agenda as my beliefs differ greatly from that of the Democratic Party.  I am praying about this decision and ask that you keep me and my family in your prayers as we ponder this decision.

Remember "Monticello it just feels like Home"

Immigration

Well if you read the Clarion Ledger or watch WLBT, you may have seen that I have been in the news. This week was the Mississippi Muncipal League, Mid Winter Conference. Being on the Executive Committe I was there.

We held a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. The main thing we talked about was asking that the state not pass any unfunded mandates onto the cities, towns and counties. In case you don't know what an unfunded mandate is, that is where the federal or state government passes a law or puts into place new regulations we must abide by or be severely fined if we don't follow them. However, they do not provide the funds to implement the law or regulations they demand for us to follow.

When we concluded the press conference the first question we were asked was do we support the Immigration bill that had been passed by the Senate. After our President (Charley Dumas, Mayor of Prentiss) answered the question they then interviewed other Mayors and Aldermen who were in attendance, with me being one of them.

So with all that said, let me clarify my position. First, let me say that I am not against Legal Immigration. I am against Illegal Immigration. Second, why are we at the state level telling those at the local level that we must be the enforcers of Illegal Immigration laws, especially when this is a federal problem to begin with. Third, this bill that passed the Senate put about 90 to 95 percent of the cost of enforcing the bill on the local cities and counties. Yes that is an unfunded mandate. Fourth, there is a provision in the bill that if a citizen thought that we at the local level were not doing enough to enforce the bill that we could be sued both in our capacity as an elected offical and personally. Basically the state was saying that John Q.Citizen could sue us at will for not doing what the federal government should be doing.

So again I say we need to get a grip on our borders. We have a legal way for people to enter our country and I respect that and applaud it. However, when we do discover an Illeglal person in our country they should be sent back to their country immediately.

Now let me ask you this. Do you really believe that Illegal Immigration is the biggest problem facing Mississippi? I don't. What about education, clean water, better roads, making Mississippi more job friendly? I think we would be better off putting a little more effort into this and encourage the federal government to take care of a problem that is theirs to begin with.

And always remember "Monticello it just feels like Home."

MLK Day

I hope everyone enjoyed their day off yesterday. It is fitting that we honor Martin Luther King Jr. He helped this country through a very trying time. An era we call the Civil Rights Movement.

My daughter had to have some medical test done yesterday and that reminded me that not everyone got to enjoy the day off. So first off to all of you who had to work, thank you for the jobs you do. From medical, police, fire and the workers in stores and resturants your sacrifice has not gone unnotticed. Now on to Martin Luther King Jr and the reason we celebrate.

I do believe that things are better today than they were years ago. However I also believe that we have a long way to go. But I believe that the biggest thing is how far Mississippi has come. We for all the wrong reasons are still pictured as a backward and racially biased state. And I take offense at that. We have more black elected officials than any other state in the union. We have had many black leaders in the arts and sciences and we continue to improve in many other areas of race relations. So the next time you hear someone on the streets or in the media putting down on Mississippi don't feel ashamed go ahead and be rightfully proud of your state.  Now I am not saying that we are perfect because we are not, we still have improving to do.

Now here is the but. But other states who continue to look down on us are further behind. Look to Massachusetts where they have had bus rioting and racially motivated fights at athletic events. Look to California and Rodney King. There are plenty of other examples as well. Now please don't think I am picking on these states because I am not. What I am trying to get you to see is that we all have room for improvement. weather you are black or white, we can all do more.

My God does not see color. My God sees people created in his image and he loves us all. And my God calls us to love one another. I think we do that here in Monticello, and I think we are still trying to improve.

Remember, "Monticello it just feels like Home."

First Priority

I was invited to deliver a devotional today at First Priority at Lawrence County High School. What a awesome honor to speak to these fine young men and women of Lawrence County.

First Priority is a christian organization at LCHS. The students choose to give up one of their breaks to hear and share the word of God. That's right They Choose to give up their break. It only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes but these were very respectful young men and women that want to hear the word of God.

I don't know if my message meant anything to them or not, but I will tell you this I received a blessing from them all the same. I am so proud of these young people. Folks we have some pretty good young men and women at our High School and some local youth pastors that we need to make sure we support.

This weekend all the Baptist churches in the county are sponsoring D-Now. You don't have to be Baptist to come. If you want to draw closer to god this is for you young people. Call any church and I am sure we can find room for you.

Our young people are definitely why 

"Monticello it just feels like Home.""

Cold Weather

The weather is supposed to get colder. I hope you have wrapped your pipes and winterized your vehicles. If you have not now is the time to do so. Also don't forget to take care of yourselves. Drink plenty of fluids, layer your clothing and limit the amount of time you have to be outdoors.

Also don't forget to check on the elderly and to take care of your outside pets. Put a blanket or old towels in there houses. Or even better if you can, bring them in.

The great thing about the weather in Mississippi is that it's always changing. So you know this won't last to long. So until then stay warm and

Remember "Monticello it just feels like Home."

Switching Parties

So Senator Cindy Hyde Smith has switched to the republican party. Do you think this is a real shock or big move? I don't. Senator Smith has for the most part been a conservative. She has represented the majority of her district well. This has been evidenced by her re-elections, and the evidence is also there to prove she has pretty much always been a conservative. You don't get appointed to be a committee chairman and one as prominent as the Agriculture Committee if you have not voted with the party in power most of the time. And during her tenure the Lt. Governor has been mostly Republican.

I personally wish we had a third party called the Moderates. You see I do believe in some of the Democratic agenda just not all of it. I agree with most of the Republican agenda, just not all of it. I guess the biggest thing I have against the Democrats is their desire to shove down our throats Abortion on demand and Gay Rights. Now you may say at the local level this does not matter. However when you pay your dues to run as a Republican or Democrat your money goes to support those issues and causes. That is why I wish we had a Moderate party. I do believe in some Welfare programs, the ones where people really do need it, I do believe in Early Education like Head Start, but I also believe that somethings like museums and art galleries should be supported by the General Public and  not by Government. But as long as we only have two really influential parties, I to am also a Republican and have been for many years. So I say to you Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, Welcome.

And always remember "Monticello it just feels like Home.""