Democrat makes no apology for voting across aisle

Angela Cockerham, a Democrat in the Mississippi House, is hard working, dedicated and intelligent, some colleagues say, but she is also criticized as frequently siding with the opposing party, including one vote that helped solidify the Republicans' supermajority.

In 2005, at age 28, she was a fresh face — her first try for political office — when voters elected her in a special election to replace then-longtime Rep. David Green, D-Gloster, who didn’t seek reelection. Green is now deceased.

Cockerham is a partner in the law firm of former U.S. Rep. Wayne Dowdy, a Democrat who served the 4th District at a time when most members of the state's congressional delegation shared that party affiliation.

She is one of two Democrats appointed to chair committees in the House and she serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, often referred to as the money committee.

She has drawn criticism for voting with the Republican majority on some key votes in the House, criticism she counters by saying she votes for what she believes in.

"My work speaks for itself," Cockerham said.

Brenda Scott, president of the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees, is one of her frequent critics. She recently chided Cockerham for supporting House Bill 974. The bill would have removed most state employees from civil service protection for three years, allowing agency heads to more easily fire them or shift their positions to save money as the state budget crunch persists.

The civil service protection bill passed 62-58 in the House, mostly along partisan lines with Republicans in favor and Democrats voting against. Cockerham presented the bill on the House floor. The bill died in a Senate committee last week.

Scott has vowed to recruit someone to run against Cockerham in the next election.

In early 2016, Cockerham was the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans to seat Mark Tullos instead of then-Democratic incumbent Bo Eaton in the 2015 contested House District 79 race. With Tullos declared the winner by the Republican-controlled House, it gave Republicans a three-fifths supermajority of 74 in the 122-member chamber. But House leaders said the vote wasn't based on partisan politics, but about problems with the election in November, which resulted in a tie that was broken by drawing straws as provided by the state Constitution. Eaton drew the long, green straw, but Tullos contested the election to the House.

Last year, Cockerham voted for controversial House Bill 1523, perceived by many as legitimizing discrimination of the gay, lesbian and transgender community. A federal judge banned the law from going into effect. Those opposed to HB 1523  say Mississippi's religious objections law would allow government officials and private businesses, individuals and medical and social service agencies to discriminate against Mississippians based on religious and so-called "moral" objections to the existence of transgender people, marriages of same-sex couples and non-marital sexual relationships.

Supporters of HB 1523, including Gov. Phil Bryant, said the law "gives the opponents of same-sex marriage the same conscientious-objector protections that federal law confers on the opponents of warfare, abortion, capital punishment and physician-assisted suicide."

Bryant has appealed the federal judge's ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

When asked about her voting pattern, Cockerham said she doesn’t cast votes based on her party affiliation but based upon her beliefs.

"When I'm casting my vote, I'm voting my conscience, based upon what is in the best interest for my district and the state," said Cockerham, whose District 96 encompasses Adams, Amite, Pike and Wilkinson counties.

Cockerham said her core values are rooted in her faith in God. She said she will continue to put things in God's hands.

"I want to have a positive impact on society," Cockerham said. "I'm blessed to have an opportunity to serve ... I think I work really hard. What I do, I do 1,000 percent ... I consider myself part of the leadership of the state."

Cockerham cites some of the legislation she is proud of:

Working with House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate  Reeves to appropriate $8 million for Phase II of expansion of Jackson State University's School of Engineering, $2 million to JSU to establish a School of Public Health, $200,000  to Amite County School District for repair and renovations, $200,000 to Wilkinson County School District for infrastructure improvements, designating a segment of  Mississippi 48 in Amite County as the "Taurean Harris Memorial Highway" in honor of the Army sergeant from Liberty killed in the line of duty, and $3.8 million to build the Wilkinson County Hospitality Center.

"Speaker Gunn has always been supportive of me personally and supportive of the people and concerns of my district and southwest Mississippi," Cockerham said.

Gunn, R-Clinton, appointed Cockerham to chair the Energy Committee. The other Democrat he appointed to chair a committee is Deborah Butler Dixon, D-Raymond, who heads Youth and Family Affairs.

State Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Moak, a former longtime member of the House, said he wouldn't have voted the way Cockerham voted on some issues but that it is her prerogative to vote as she chooses.

Moak said the Democratic Party doesn't target elected officials, but he said for the next election, the party will make sure the voting records of lawmakers and other elected officials are in the public eye.

"Folks can vote the way they want to, but they will have to answer for their votes," Moak said. "You will get the opportunity to defend your record."

Rep. Sonya Williams-Barnes, D-Gulfport, who chairs the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, said Cockerham's voting pattern has come up from time to time in conversation by some members of the Black Caucus.

Williams-Barnes said ideally the Black Caucus would like all members to support caucus positions, but she said the Republican Party doesn't always get 100 percent support from its House members and neither does the Democratic Party always get 100 percent support of their issues.

Cockerham is an active member of the MLBC, Williams-Barnes said.

Williams-Barnes said she doesn't believe in getting involved in how another lawmaker votes.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at 601-961-7212 or jgates@gannett.com . Follow him on Facebook and Twitter