How Democrats are making a mistake in rural America – by not showing up

Voting signs are seen in Jackson, Miss., during the 2023 governor’s race. Brandon Bell/Getty Images by Jeff Bloodworth, Gannon University Rickey Cole, 58, is a farmer and the former two-term chair of Mississippi’s Democratic Party. If anyone understands rural Mississippi voters – and their shift from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party – it’s Cole. “You learn from losing,” the lifelong Democrat said. He should hope so. In 2001, when Cole first served as party chair, Democrats controlled 7 of 8 statewide offices, including governor and attorney general, and both state legislative chambers. Twenty years later, Republicans hold all eight statewide offices and a massive 79-41 majority in the state House and 36-16 majority in the state Senate. Mississippi, the nation’s fourth-most rural state, defines “rural” as any county with fewer than 50,000 residents or a town with a population of 15,000 or less. In the 2023 election, 51% of Mississippians lived in communities meeting this criteria. Though Democrats still have an edge in urban centers such as Jackson and Vicksburg, the slow and repeated loss of rural voters is the cause of Cole’s woes. “Losing them is the motif of my entire career,” he told me. A losing...