MS Democratic Party delegates taking a unique route to DNC Convention in Chicago. See how
All aboard! Taking a train from Jackson to Chicago may take more than quadruple the time it takes to fly, but the Mississippi Democratic Party delegation will ride the rails to the Democratic National Convention this summer.
In August, 49 Democratic delegates will board an Amtrak train for a 15-and-a-half hour ride from Jackson to Chicago. Though the delegates have the option of finding their own way to Chicago, Mississippi Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons and friends are fully reimbursing train tickets.
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“The train is a little bit more like being in your family room at home,” Simmons said. “It gives you an opportunity to eat pound cake and chicken and other kinds of good Southern foods. They may have a picnic on the rails, a good ride and a good experience with good networking.”
The Mississippi Democratic Party announced the train trip during their executive committee election meeting on June 22. The delegation will leave Jackson on Aug. 18 and return on Aug. 25, Simmons said.
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The Democratic National Convention, which will run from Aug. 19-22 will bring Democrats from all 50 states and U.S. territories together to officially nominate a presidential candidate, adopt a platform and rally around their cause ahead of the presidential election.
“We thought that [a train ride] would be a great time to talk and to get equipped with the motivation to elect Democrats up and down the ballot like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” said Peggy Rogers, 3rd congressional district representative for the Mississippi Democratic Party and captain of the delegation going to the DNC.
The Mississippi Republican Party will make a similar, but shorter, journey in July, taking 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Political Director for the Mississippi Republican Party Ty Martin said their delegates are responsible for covering their own travel.
“However, the RNC does a group rate with most of the major airlines, so delegates get a break on some of that kind of stuff,” he said. “I've never heard of us taking the Amtrak to wherever we're going.”
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Simmons and friends raised the funds to send the delegation to Chicago to ease the cost of transportation for the delegates. He said the train ride was more economical for a large group of people than a flight but that the main consideration was the experience.
“It was more of the ability to put everybody in one car on the train and be able to have them to mingle and network,” he said.
Delegates would not get that same experience in cars or on an airplane, Simmons said, and buses would not allow passengers to get up and socialize.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 15 hour train ride? MS Dems take Amtrak to Chicago
