Melanie Sojourner
Member of the Mississippi Senate
from the 37th district
In office
January 7, 2020  January 2, 2024
Preceded byBob Dearing
Succeeded byAlbert Butler (redistricting)
In office
January 3, 2012  January 5, 2016
Preceded byBob Dearing
Succeeded byBob Dearing
Personal details
Born (1968-01-05) January 5, 1968
Centreville, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
RelationsAlbert Boyd Sojourner (great-grandfather)
Residence(s)Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.
Alma materLouisiana State University
Websitewww.melaniesojourner.com

Melanie Sojourner (born January 5, 1968) is an American politician from the state of Mississippi.[1] She served in the Mississippi State Senate, representing the 37th district. She is a member of the Republican Party.[2]

She was born in Centreville, Mississippi, and was raised in Kingston, Mississippi.[3] She is the great-granddaughter of Albert Boyd Sojourner, who was in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1916.[3]

She attended Adams County Christian School, which was founded as a segregation academy and uses the Confederate flag as its symbol, and has enrolled her daughter there.[4] She opposed the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Flag of Mississippi.[5]

Sojourner graduated from Louisiana State University. She then worked for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association for eight years, and then as a 4-H associate for Mississippi State University.[6]

Sojourner defeated Bob Dearing in the 2011 elections to serve in the State Senate.[7] She served as the campaign manager for Chris McDaniel's 2014 U.S. Senate campaign.[8] Sojourner lost her reelection bid to Dearing in the 2015 elections.[9] She was elected back to the Senate in the 2019 elections.[10]

Sojourner's legislative district was effectively dismantled during 2022 redistricting and she ultimately did not seek re-election to the Senate in 2023.[11]

References

  1. Reid J. Epstein. "Mississippi Senate Results to Be Certified Monday". WSJ. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  2. "Mississippi's revolution may be just starting". POLITICO. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Guajardo, Rod (February 20, 2014). "Southwest Mississippi Legislators: Sojourner willing to serve Miss. citizens". The Natchez Democrat. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  4. Pittman, Ashton (November 1, 2019). "Nominees Share History of Slavery, Plantations, Seg Academies in Natchez Senate Race". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  5. Ashton Pittman. "MS Senator: Romney's call to remove Confederate flag is "what's wrong with society"". Deep South Daily. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  6. "Sojourner joins Stedman Realtors as associate - Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper". Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  7. "All votes in, Sojourner wins - Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper". Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  8. "In Mississippi, Senate hopeful McDaniel embodies what GOP fears about tea party". Washington Post. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  9. Gates, Jimmie E. "Sojourner: Shy of votes to keep District 37 Senate seat". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  10. "Sojourner, Mims, Cockerham win election to Legislature seats". Natchez Democrat. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  11. "Republicans make few changes to legislative maps during redistricting". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved January 4, 2023.


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