Grading Taylor:
Mississippi 4th District Democrat Rep. Gene Taylor In Review
Since 1989, Gene Taylor (D-Bay St. Louis) has held the 4th Congressional District seat here in Southeast Mississippi. Taylor, a former city councilman and state senator, is well versed in what it takes to win in this district, which by the way is one of, if not the most conservative Republican districts in the nation (no Democrat Presidential candidate has carried the 4th since 1956). His voting record is a mixed bag; he has walked the tight rope between party and populist for many years and thus far has mastered it with only the occasional wobble which has quickly balanced. He proclaims to be pro-life and pro-gun (anything else in Mississippi and he would have been out a long time ago), yet he has supported his party and its leaders inconspicuously (voting for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker) knowing that if he carried too much of the party's water he would be on the proverbial hot seat come election time. He knows how to appear as if he is fighting for his constituents while not making too many waves in Washington D.C. His tenure and party connections landed him an important seat on the Armed Services Committee and the Shipbuilding Caucus, making him increasingly valuable to his 4th District constituents. But could 2010 be a perfect storm that even Taylor can't weather?
Now that the qualifying date for Mississippi's 4th Congressional District has come and gone, Taylor has drawn four challengers: Republicans State Rep. Steven Palazzo and Joe Tegerdine, Libertarian Tim Hampton, and Reformer Anna Jewel Revies. While the two third-tier party candidates are realistically a stretch, the two Republicans, Palazzo and Tegerdine, perhaps have the best chance in years to take down the long-term representative.
I thought I would take a few minutes (with some help from various sources I've listed below) and give Democrat Rep. Gene Taylor his election review. Take a few minutes and see what grade you would give Rep. Taylor based on his record:
· Gov Track (www.govtrack.us) reports:
- Gene Taylor missed 276 (2%) of 12,694 votes since Jan 23, 1990.
- Taylor is a follower according to our statistical analysis of bills in this legislative session. Taylor tends to cosponsor the bills of other members of Congress who do not cosponsor Taylor's own bills.
- Gene Taylor has sponsored 34 bills since Jan 3, 1989, of which 20 haven't made it out of committee and 6 were successfully enacted, at least 5 of which were to name Post Office locations around the district. Taylor has co-sponsored 1,215 bills during the same time period.
· Open Secrets (www.opensecrets.org) reports:
- During the 2009-2010 period to date, Taylor raised $238,949, spent $213,612, and has $225,779 cash on hand.
- Taylor's top donors during the 2009-2010 election cycle were FedEx Corp. and General Dynamics (each with $6,000). Other donors of note include John Larson for Congress of Connecticut ($4,000), Operating Engineers Union ($5,000), National Rifle Association ($1,000), and NFL Vikings ($4,800). The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
- Taylor receives most of his contributions from the following industries: sea transport ($22,750), transportation unions ($15,500), defense aerospace ($15,000), air transport ($12,500), lawyers and law firms ($12,000), defense electronics ($12,000), and building trade unions ($7,500).
- During the 2009-2010 cycle to date, 61% of Taylor's contributions have come from In-State sources, with the majority from the Hattiesburg metro area. The 2007-2008 cycle garnered 62% from In-State sources with the Hattiesburg constituency making up the majority of contributions as well.
· Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org) reports:
- Project Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States founded in 1992 by 40 national leaders, including Barry Goldwater, John McCain, former U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. The group administers the Political Courage Test. The Political Courage Test is a key component of Project Vote Smart's Voter Self-Defense system. Major leaders of the media, major parties and Project Vote Smart repetitiously ask candidates one central question: "Are you willing to tell citizens your positions on the issues you will most likely face on their behalf?" The Political Courage Test is administered to all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative offices. Taylor repeatedly refused to answer the 2008 Political Courage Test.
- Taylor did complete the 1996 National Political Awareness Test. Here's a few of his responses on a variety of issues (many of the questions had multiple choice answers):
Abortion:
Abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape or when the life of the woman is endangered.
Affirmative Action:
The federal government should not provide any affirmative action programs.
Balanced Budget Amendment:
Do you support amending the US Constitution to require an annual balanced federal budget? Yes.
Prayer in School:
Do you support amending the United States Constitution to allow voluntary prayer and/or moment of silence in public schools? Yes.
Immigration:
Further limit the number of immigrants allowed into the country, Establish English as the official and recognized language of the United States, Restrict the eligibility of legal immigrants for certain social programs (i.e. AFDC, HUD housing, food stamps, etc.), and Children of illegal immigrants, born in the United States, should not automatically receive US citizenship.
Term Limits:
No answer
Legislative Priorities:
Balance the budget Eliminate or reduce national debt.
Hopefully this brief review stirs your curiosity as you begin to assess this 4th Congressional District race. There are numerous other points and resources that could be cited on Taylor but for the sake of space and time I will not attempt to delve further; I would, however, encourage you to do your homework on this race. Grade Taylor's body of work and see if you believe we can do better in the 4th District in 2010.
Gene Taylor is not a bad guy; heck, he's not all that bad of a Congressman if you judge his body of work through a narrowed lens. America and the future of our great nation are about something bigger than narrow, spin driven, seat ensuring issues that sound good on the campaign trail but are often forgotten in D.C. We need a Congressman that will stand up and fight for Mississippi. We need a Congressman who will stand on the principles of the Constitution, for the freedoms we hold dear, to speak against the ills of the day and actively support a different direction than what is being proposed by those now in leadership (leadership supported and encouraged by Taylor himself). It would seem that we need a change in the 4th District, but I'll leave that up to you to decide.
Frank Corder,
Pascagoula City Councilman
