Meet Aisha Sanders, Candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives
Last week, we announced our support for our third Mississippi candidate – Aisha Sanders. Aisha is a civil engineer-turned-lawyer, and a native of Natchez, Mississippi. As a candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives, Aisha has built her campaign around increasing funding for public education, and expanding affordable healthcare for all Mississippians.
Aisha already has a career full of “firsts.” After completing her undergraduate degree in civil engineering, she went on to receive her J.D. from the Southern University Law Center (SULC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Aisha soon became the youngest, first female, and first African-American to serve as Adams County Prosecutor. She is a public defender with Adams County, the city prosecutor for the Town of Woodville, is an Adjunct Instructor at Alcorn State University and practices law at the Sanders Law Firm PLLC, where she serves as the managing partner. Aisha also finds time to serve as a youth tutor and is the founder and president of a foundation that distributes school supplies to local kids. Learn more about Aisha, including where she stands on the issues, on her candidate page.
Sister District is already proud of everything Aisha has accomplished for her community, and now we’re thrilled to support her bid for the Mississippi state legislature.
Why is Mississippi Important?
2019 is a big year for Mississippi. Long seen as a conservative stronghold, the state is a Republican trifecta—Republicans control the Governorship and both chambers of the legislature. But the entire state legislature is up for election in 2019, and they are all “Last Chance” races—the legislators who are elected in 2019 will draw district lines during the 2021 redistricting cycle. Additionally, the current Governor is term-limited in 2019, and the Democratic candidate, state Attorney General Jim Hood, is viable and well-liked.
The South is rising, as evidenced by the Doug Jones victory in Alabama, and the near-wins of Stacey Abrams in Georgia, Andrew Gillum in Florida, and, of course, Mike Espy in Mississippi — all propelled by people of color, women, and young people. But painful voter suppression laws, including strict voter ID requirements and permanent felon disenfranchisement, have helped Republicans unfairly maintain power. Read more about why Mississippi state legislature elections matter in 2019.
