Mississippi governor starts 2nd term Tuesday
Published 5:26 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Republican Haley Barbour begins his second term as Mississippi governor Tuesday.
Barbour, 60, is scheduled to take his oath of office during a ceremony that begins at 11 a.m. on the Capitol steps.
His second term will be shaped by a catastrophic event from the first. Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in south Mississippi when it struck on Aug. 29, 2005.
Barbour was a powerful Washington lobbyist before winning the governorship of his home state in 2003, and he used his Capitol Hill connections after Katrina to help the state get billions of federal dollars for recovery.
Barbour defeated trial lawyer John Arthur Eaves Jr. in the November 2007 general election.
His second inauguration celebration is a toned-down version of his first one four years ago.
Barbour attended a gospel prayer breakfast Monday at the state agriculture museum. After the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, a parade will march through downtown Jackson. An afternoon reception is planned at the Governor’s Mansion, and the inaugural ball will be held Tuesday night at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Mississippi was one of only three states with a governor’s election in 2007.
In Louisiana, Republican Bobby Jindal defeated Democratic incumbent Kathleen Blanco, who came under sharp criticism for her handling of that state’s recovery from two 2005 hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Jindal, 36, is the son of immigrants and is the first Indian-American elected governor in the nation.
In Kentucky, Democrat Steve Beshear defeated Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher. Beshear was inaugurated in December.The school board for the Picayune Municipal Separate School District meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom at the district’s central offices, 706 Goodyear Blvd.