Editor’s Note: District 17 Sen. Chuck Younger sat down with members of The Dispatch editorial board on Friday to discuss his legacy in the state Senate, as well as his plans to run for Northern District transportation commissioner in 2027.
Pick up the phone.
That’s the advice Chuck Younger said he has lived by in his 12-plus years as Mississippi’s District 17 senator, and it’s the advice he would offer anyone seeking public office.
“Have your phone available and take care of your people,” he told The Dispatch during a meeting with editorial board members on Friday. “When somebody called me, if they needed something, I’d try to get it fixed or help them out as much as I could. … That’s what you’re supposed to do as a public servant.”
Younger, of Lowndes County, announced this week he intends to run next year for transportation commissioner for the Northern District, which includes 33 counties, following incumbent John Caldwell’s announcement that he does not intend to seek reelection.
At age 63, Younger admitted with a chuckle, that job might come with fewer phone calls.
“I’ve got grandkids, fixing to have another grandchild on the way,” he said. “Believe it or not, this will be less time.”
But it is work with which Younger is familiar, as he serves as chairman of the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee. In that role, he helps lead discussions on legislative funding for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. If elected transportation commissioner, he would join a three-member commission that would set project priority across all modes – from highway construction and rail to ports and airports.
Caldwell, in his second term, has clashed with colleagues as well as with MDOT director Brad White during his tenure, according to reporting by Mississippi Today. Younger said that has delayed projects unnecessarily.
“I understand the process of what they do,” Younger said of the Transportation Commission. “… And (I) get along with people. You’ve got to get along with the other commissioners, and I think that’s kind of been lacking a little bit, to say the least. I’m looking forward to trying to get everybody on the same page … where it will be a comfortable setting for everybody in the room.”
Younger cannot qualify to run for office until January, when the 2027 state election cycle begins, but he said he was advised to announce his intent to run early so “it might discourage other candidates coming out.”
“I had several people reach out to me and told me I ought to think about this. I talked about it with my wife,” he said. “Of course, we prayed about it. I think it’s good timing, and I also think I’ve got a good person that’s going to fill my spot (on the Senate).”
Younger confirmed he had talked with Trip Hairston, now president and District 2 representative for the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, about running for Senate.
While he was not prepared to openly endorse Hairston, Younger confidently cosigned the supervisor’s qualifications.
“He would be great in Jackson,” Younger said of Hairston. “… He’s very knowledgeable. He’s a smart guy. He’s smarter than I am.”
Hairston told The Dispatch he is very strongly considering a run for senator for District 17, which includes most of Lowndes County, as well as parts of Monroe and Oktibbeha counties. He plans to announce his intentions in the coming weeks.
Younger’s announcement comes at a time when the futures of Mississippi University for Women and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, both in Columbus, are open questions.
The W is in search of a new president while interim Scott Tollison leads the university. This comes on the heels of thus far failed efforts on the state level to consolidate The W and Mississippi State University or at least move MSMS, a residential specialty high school, to the MSU campus in Starkville.
Younger said he does not expect those efforts to revive in 2027, since it will be an election year, but he feels well positioned to advocate for MUW and MSMS during his final legislative session.
He also wants to advocate for tougher penalties for drivers who don’t have liability insurance.
“We have to do something about it because I know so many that have been hit and (the driver who hit them) will have liability insurance papers in their glove box, but they don’t actually have it anymore. They’ll drop it,” he said. “And I know folks are poor, and a lot of folks can’t afford stuff, but you need to be able to afford liability insurance if you’re driving.”
As for the landmark success of his time in the Senate, Younger points to the legislature changing the state flag in 2021, though he admitted “some people may not like” him saying that. The former flag, adopted in 1894, contained the Confederate battle emblem in its canton.
“I wasn’t so much for it, but you know, when most of your guys are in the National Guard that are Blacks, they don’t want to see the criss-cross bars, even though the history of it is the St. Andrew’s Cross,” Younger said Friday. “But still, all the crap that went with it from the old days, they didn’t want to see that.”
Younger said he will miss leaving the Senate.
“I got along with everybody in the Senate,” he said. “I’ve just enjoyed meeting people from all across the state and breaking bread with them.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.