CLIFF JOHNSON REPORTS BEST FUNDRAISING WEEK OF CAMPAIGN FOLLOWING CALLAIS DECISION
For Immediate Release:
www.cliffjohnsonforcongress.com
Contact:
Jesse Edge
jesse@cliffjohnsonforcongress.com
(662) 816-0312
Cliff Johnson Reports Best Fundraising Week of Campaign Following Callais Decision
Outpouring of grassroots support signals voters are energized to fight Republican power grab over Mississippi's congressional maps
OXFORD, MS – One week after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Callais v. Landry, gutting the Voting Rights Act and opening the door to partisan gerrymandering across the South, the Cliff Johnson for Congress campaign today announced it has experienced its strongest week of fundraising since the campaign launched. The campaign received nearly 1,800 individual contributions, with an average contribution amount of $20.17. This is nearly 180 times more individual contributors in one week than Trent Kelly received in the entirety of his last fundraising quarter.
The surge in donations reflects a groundswell of grassroots energy from Mississippi voters alarmed by Republican efforts to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. Johnson’s campaign says the response from donors has been immediate and unprecedented.
“I am deeply moved by the outpouring of support we’ve seen this week,” said Cliff Johnson, Democratic nominee for Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District.
“Mississippians understand exactly what is happening here. The Supreme Court handed Republicans a tool to rig the rules, and they ran straight to the Old Capitol, the very building where Jim Crow was born and Mississippi seceded from the Union, to use it. Our supporters are not intimidated. They are energized. Every single dollar that came in this week is a statement that the people of Mississippi will not allow their votes to be stolen or their voices to be silenced. I am humbled by their trust, and I am more committed than ever to winning this race and fighting for every North Mississippian in Congress.”
The Callais ruling has elevated the stakes of Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District race significantly. With Republicans seeking to redraw district lines that could effectively nullify the results of the Democratic primary, Johnson, a civil rights attorney and director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, has become a focal point for those fighting to preserve fair elections in the state.
Supporters wishing to join the effort can donate at www.cliffjohnsonforcongress.com.
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Cliff Johnson lives in the Springdale Community of rural Lafayette County with his wife of 35 years, Leigh. They have a son and daughter-in-law in Memphis, and a daughter and son-in-law in Atlanta. His parents, Jim and Alice Johnson, reside in Oxford.
Cliff graduated from Mississippi College and attended law school at Columbia University in New York, where he served on the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and was named a Charles Evans Hughes Fellow for his demonstrated interest in public service.
Cliff has practiced law in Mississippi for 33 years. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney, co-founded a law firm in Jackson, and, for 11 years has been the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law where he advocates for reform of Mississippi’s criminal legal system and teaches civil rights law and litigation. He has been named a National Trial Lawyer of the Year by Public Justice and the Mississippi Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Mississippi Association for Justice.
