Dem Chair Rickey Cole says he won't seek another term

State Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said he’s not going to seek another term and will step down in July as chairman and executive director of the party.

Cole, 49, previously served as chairman of the state party from 2001-2004, then as executive director — a paid staff position — for a year starting in 2011. In 2012, he was elected again as chairman and has also served as executive director since then.

“I believe very strongly in Mississippi politics having a generational transition,” Cole said. “I’m really high on the millennial generation, and it’s time for them to step up and take a leadership role.”

Cole has led the party through trying times as the state, like the rest of the Deep South, has been dominated by Republicans. The Democratic Party holds only one statewide office — attorney general — and Republicans control the Mississippi Legislature after the GOP in 2011 won its first state House majority since Reconstruction.

Many political observers called this gubernatorial election cycle a low point for the Democratic Party after an unknown truck driver who spent no money and didn’t even vote for himself won the party’s nomination.

But Cole said the Mississippi Democratic Party is no worse off than in other Southern states.

“I think we have a great deal to be proud of, but we remain and probably will remain the underdogs because of the nature of American politics today,” Cole said. “Nationwide, Democrats have lost over 900 legislative seats in the last five or six years … Republicans invested resources and money into races down-ticket and flipping legislatures two decades ago. We Democrats had our eyes on the prize of the White House too much and didn’t focus on party building at the grassroots level.

“But there’s no such thing as a permanent majority or minority,” Cole said. “As we make a generational transition, we will see opportunities present themselves. Power is going to swap back between the two parties, and it will do so more rapidly than in the past.

“The Mississippi Democratic Party is in much better shape today than when I came in in 2011. We have some really good talent that will step up.”

Gloria Williamson, former state Democratic Party chairwoman and former state senator, said she believes Cole did a good job, but that he probably took on too much as chairman and director.

“Rickey in my opinion is one of the foremost political minds that we have,” Williamson said. “… I think Rickey’s done a good job. There are some things I would disagree with him on, but as far as political knowledge, he is very astute. I think he’s probably just burned out from doing both jobs. A chairman is supposed to raise money, be an honorary position. An executive director has to tend to day-to-day operations. I don’t think someone should try to do both.”

Williamson said she hopes to see some changes in the party, including the makeup of its 80-member executive committee.

“It needs to be changed so that some people have an automatic seat at the table, like the AFL-CIO — they give us a lot of money — or the mayors’ association, the black mayors’ association. We need more representation from our elected people. If you’re a Republican and you’re elected to office, you are automatically part of the party. Not so with Democrats.”

Williamson, like Cole, said she’d like to see younger leadership in the party, and changes on the state and national level.

“I hope some changes are made at the next (national) convention,” Williamson said. “For one thing, when Hillary Clinton is our next president, she is going to be a party builder in the South.”

Contact Geoff Pender at (601) 961-7266 or gpender@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @GeoffPender on Twitter