ENTERPRISE-JOURNAL / McComb MS

 

Secretary of State candidate Hosemann backing voter IDs

 

By John Surratt
2 July 2007

 

Delbert Hosemann hopes his background as a lawyer and small businessman helps him win the Republican primary for Mississippi Secretary of State.

Secretary of State Eric Clark is not seeking re-election.

Hosemann,59, of Jackson, is one of four candidates in the Aug. 7 primary.

The other candidates are Gene Sills, Crystal Springs; Jeffery Rupp, Starkville; and State Rep. Mike Lott, Petal.

"I'm a business lawyer," Hosemann said. "My law practice involves the same areas that the secretary of state is responsible for. I also have a small real estate company."

A supporter of voter IDs, Hosemann said he would assist county clerks of court with re-registration and voter IDs.

U.S. District Judge W. Allen Pepper on June 8 ordered the Legislature to change the state's election laws to require voter registration by political party and voter IDs during primary elections by April 1, 2008.

Voter IDs, Hosemann said, would allow clerks to clean up the voter rolls and would give people more confidence in the elections process.

"Voting is the cornerstone of our country," he said. "We have to make sure that people have confidence in the process."

Hosemann said the secretary of state is responsible for administering 640,000 acres of 16th Section land, 800,000 acres of public lands and 1,000 square miles of tidelands along Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

Hosemann said 16th Section land statewide generates $51 million from a combination of leases, investments, timber sales and forestry escrows. Income from 16th Section lands helps fund public school projects.

He said he would publish a list of all 16th Section leases within 90 days after taking office.

"We need to make sure that we are getting fair value for those leases," he said.

Hosemann said that he wants to bring the state's business code "to 2007 speed."

The big issue, he said, is implementing a process to settle disputes between corporations faster.

Currently, corporate disputes are handled through the state's circuit court system and may take several years before they are resolved.

"Businesses can't wait three years for a court date," he said.

Hosemann wants to streamline the dispute resolution process by establishing courts to hear solely business issues.

He said he would establish a task force of business people to work on a proposed revised commercial code to present to the Legislature in 2009.

A native of Warren County, Hosemann is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Mississippi and New York University Law schools.

He is a partner in the law firm of Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P. in Jackson, and was voted to "The Best Lawyers in America" by Mississippi lawyers.

He and his wife, Lynn, have been married for 36 years and have three children and two grandchildren.