Jackson lawyers lack consensus on next Hinds DA, campaign finance reports show

Jackson lawyers are split on who should be the next Hinds County district attorney, according to an analysis of campaign finance reports from four of the five candidates in next Tuesday’s special election.

Gwen Agho, Greta Mack Harris, Marvin Sanders and Wendy Wilson White filed their reports by this week’s Tuesday deadline. A fifth candidate, Darla Palmer, had not submitted her campaign finance report by close of business Thursday.

State law requires candidates file pre-election campaign finance reports, even if they did not receive or spend any money. Palmer did not respond to calls and texts from Mississippi Today asking why she has yet to file a report.

In past years, criminal defense attorneys in Jackson – the main special interest in the Hinds DA election – have picked a clear favorite. In 2019, that was Jody Owens, who is from a prominent family in southern Hinds County and avoided a runoff by nabbing 52% of the vote against two rivals in the Democratic primary. 

Owens’ resignation this summer, after pleading guilty to a federal corruption charge, triggered a quick-turn special election that has left little time for the capital city’s legal community to vet those vying to replace him.

Marvin Sanders, who formerly worked in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and once prosecuted Owens’ predecessor, Robert Shuler Smith, reported the largest fundraising haul of $31,678. Of that, Sanders loaned himself $19,412. 

The next Hinds DA will play a role in determining how many people are held at any given time in the troubled Hinds County Detention Center — a factor in the long-running federal consent decree over the facility. 

Notably, Sanders received donations from attorneys who are fighting the consent decree: $250 from Tony Gaylor, the Hinds County board attorney, and $350 from John Hall, a private attorney representing the Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones. 

Sanders also reported the largest amount of in-kind donations at $25,350, mostly for videography services. He received a $500 in-kind donation from Terris Harris, an attorney who owns the Continental Cigar Club, where Sanders held a fundraiser. 

Gwen Agho, the Hinds DA deputy chief who is running for office for the first time, reported $30,111 in donations. Of all the candidates, Agho has contributed the least amount of personal funds to her campaign – just $1,052. 

Agho has also listed the largest donor base, reporting itemized contributions from five limited liability corporations and 34 people, including criminal defense attorneys Carlos Tanner and Merrida Coxwell. 

Greta Mack Harris reported raising $28,550, with $20,000 loaned from herself. Mack Harris pulled donations from six people and six law offices, including criminal defense attorney Dennis Sweet and Preselfannie McDaniels, the wife of Hinds County Court Judge Johnnie McDaniels.

Wendy Wilson White, the other current Hinds DA employee in the race, reported loaning herself $10,571 and receiving $600 from two people, one of whom reported their $300 donation as a loan. 

Wilson White is the only candidate who completed her campaign finance report by hand. She also did not provide required information, including the dates of her loan, her two donations and all of her disbursements except for an Oct. 24 payment of $300 to the Jackson Jambalaya blog.   

Each of the four candidates who filed reports on time paid for advertising on WMPR, a radio station majority owned by Hinds County District 4 Supervisor Wanda Evers, the niece of famed civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

Agho and Mack Harris were the only two candidates to report spending money on political consultants. Agho reported paying $4,420 to Campaign Impact, a firm owned by LaDarion  Ammons. Mack Harris reported spending $9,000 on campaign consultant Angela Grayson.