Republicans who hold supermajorities both in the House and Senate, and the governor’s position, have been meeting privately to decide if and how to send state money to counties that can’t afford to reopen bridges closed since April. According to key Democratic and Black legislative leaders, no black or Democratic legislators were present at the negotiating table this year. Mississippi Today combined data from the census with a map showing the impact of closures on bridges to understand the differences. We looked at 2016’s presidential election results to determine whether a majority of voters in a particular county voted for the Republican or Democratic candidate. Our analysis revealed key findings: Ten of the fifteen counties with the highest number of bridge closings per 10,000 residents are majority African American. Only 25 of Mississippi’s other 82 counties are majority African American. Six out of the 10 counties with most bridges closed overall are home to majority African American residents. * Eleven of 15 counties with the highest number of bridge closings per 10,000 residents voted Democratic in 2016. In 2016, 32 of the 41 counties that had the lowest number of bridges closed per 10,000 residents voted Republican. * 13 of the 15 Mississippi counties without any bridges closed voted Republican in 2016. These data points can be seen on the map below. Red and blue indicate counties where the majority of voters voted for Republican or Democratic candidates. The more people who voted Republican or Democratic, the darker the color of red or blue. The number of bridge closings per 10,000 residents is represented by yellow circles. The smallest circle represents the fewest bridges closed, while the largest circles indicate the most. Our analysis shows that the most yellow circles are found in light-pink-shaded and blue-shaded areas. Rep. Sonya Williams Barnes, D.Gulfport, is the chairwoman of Legislative Black Caucus. She stated that historically, predominantly African American areas in Mississippi have been “shortchanged” when it came to funding infrastructure, maintenance, construction, and health care. These issues are interconnected. Williams-Barnes stated that the Delta, which is a resource-poor community, has the highest unemployment rates, the worst healthcare outcomes and facilities, and the lowest number of doctors per capita. Williams-Barnes said, “They also have worst roads and the highest percentage of bridges that is not in spec.” It all starts with infrastructure. While the bridge crisis is disproportionately affecting African Americans in Mississippi this spring and summer, no black legislators were present at negotiating tables this spring or summer. Senator Willie Simmons (D-Cleveland), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee said Republican Lt. Governor. Tate Reeves kept Simmons informed about the negotiations. However, Simmons claims he hasn’t been to any meetings between Senate leadership and House leadership since March’s regular session. Simmons, a black man, agreed with Williams-Barnes’ assessment that African American communities are being ignored when it comes to funding for essential government services. He also stated that the Senate has diverted a lot of state money to infrastructure projects to these same communities through controversial legislative allocations in the past few years. Simmons stated that lawmakers demanded $163M to fund pet projects, even though they criticised MDOT spending. Simmons stated that “When you look at all of the major, major issues, they have a deficit.” Nearly 500 county-owned bridges in the state are still closed as a result of federal inspectors declaring them unsafe earlier this summer. Phil Bryant declared an unprecedented state emergency. Many of these counties, especially rural ones, cannot afford to make the expensive repairs required to reopen bridges. This raises serious concerns about safety, commerce and government spending. Russell Brooks, Chickasaw County Supervisor and President of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors’ minority caucus, doesn’t believe that the poor state of bridges in areas of high poverty, black areas is due to financial mismanagement by African American Democrats. Brooks, who is of African descent, said that many bridges in the area we are referring to were built between 50 and 60 years ago. “How many black people did you think were on the boards of supervisors back in those days?” Some counties are still trying for roads and bridges to be built in black communities to receive State Aid. Brooks said that African Americans have been the most underserved community. The analysis shows that Democrats strongholds in the state track closely along racial lines and are also being affected by the closings as Republicans work behind closed doors. 17 of the 26 counties which voted for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election are among the top 50 counties in terms of the number of closed bridges per 10,000 residents. Eleven of the top fifteen counties with the highest number of closed bridges per 10,000 residents voted Democratic in 2016. Thirteen of the 15 counties without closed bridges voted Republican in 2016. Meg Annison (communications director for Speaker Gunn) stated that “the Speaker has an open-door policy.” “Republicans as well as Democrats have the right to exchange ideas on any topic with him. All members are free to voice their opinions to the Speaker or the chair of any committee. They have the right to ask agency heads for information, attend committee meetings, express their opinions in meetings, make amendments and participate in debate on the House’s floor. Nothing can stop any member of the House from gaining information and expressing views or developing policy.” Below is a map showing the number of bridges that have been closed per 10,000 people. It also shows poverty rates and African American counties. We found that counties with greater poverty and higher African American populations have larger yellow circles. (Click in the upper right corner for data on race and poverty). Williams-Barnes stated that Mississippi will need input from citizens across the state if it is to move forward. “We would have loved to see these pre-session private negotiations continue with our input. We implore you to put more emphasis on the rural and high-poverty areas that have been neglected far too long.” An inquiry from the office Lt. Gov. This story did not include Tate Reeves. Note on methodology: The data for closing bridges in the state comes directly from the Office of State Aid. It last updated its database on August 22. This analysis calculated the rates of bridge closures per 10,000 residents to account for differences in population across the counties. The Mississippi Secretary of State website provides election data. The United States Census Bureau’s website contains data on poverty and racial demographics, specifically the 5-Year Estimates of the American Community Survey 2012. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to us today as part of the Spring Member Drive.