House of Representatives
Official certified roll call
92Yea
23Nay
5Not voting
What the vote meant
House Bill 1796 repealed the statutory provision defining the 1894 design as Mississippi’s official state flag, directed its removal from public buildings, and created a commission to recommend a replacement design that could not include the Confederate battle emblem and had to include the words “In God We Trust.”
A yea was a vote for that repeal-and-redesign legislation. A nay was a vote against House Bill 1796. The roll call documents each vote; it does not, by itself, establish every legislator’s personal motive.
Mississippi Senate
Official certified roll call
37Yea
14Nay
1Not voting
Why some reports say 91–23
Several contemporary news reports described the House vote as 91–23. The official Mississippi House roll call records 92 yeas, 23 nays and five members not voting. The certified total includes Speaker Philip Gunn among the yeas. This page uses the official roll-call figure.
Governor Tate Reeves approved House Bill 1796
Governor Tate Reeves approved House Bill 1796 on June 30, 2020. His signature completed enactment of the legislation that repealed the 1894 flag’s official status and established the replacement process.
Reeves did not cast a legislative vote. His responsibility belongs in this record because, as governor, he signed the bill into law.
House roll call
The following names reproduce the official House vote in a readable public record.
Voted for House Bill 1796 92
Shane Aguirre; Brent Anderson; Jeramey Anderson; Otis Anthony; William Tracy Arnold; Willie Bailey; Nick Bain; Earle Banks; Manly Barton; Charles Beckett; Christopher Bell; Donnie Bell; Richard Bennett; Edward Blackmon Jr.; Joel Bomgar; William “Bo” Brown; Cedric Burnett; Charles Busby; Larry Byrd; Bryant Clark; Alyce Clarke; Angela Cockerham; Sam Creekmore IV; Ronnie Crudup Jr.; Becky Currie; Oscar Denton; Clay Deweese; Jarvis Dortch; Casey Eure; Robert “Bob” Evans; Michael Evans; John Faulkner; Kevin Felsher; Jill Ford; Kevin Ford; Stephanie Foster; Debra Gibbs; Karl Gibbs; Dale Goodin; Philip Gunn; Greg Haney; Jeffery Harness; John Hines Sr.; Gregory Holloway Sr.; Joey Hood; Kevin Horan; Mac Huddleston; Abe Hudson Jr.; Lataisha Jackson; Robert Johnson III; Kabir Karriem; Trey Lamar; Jon Lancaster; Steve Massengill; Kent McCarty; Hester Jackson-McCray; Dana McLean; Carl Mickens; Tom Miles; Gene Newman; Karl Oliver; Solomon Osborne; Jansen Owen; Orlando Paden; Randall Patterson; Daryl Porter Jr.; Brent Powell; John Read; Tommy Reynolds; Rob Roberson; Tracey Rosebud; Noah Sanford; Donnie Scoggin; Omeria Scott; Fred Shanks; Jody Steverson; Rufus “Pete” Straughter; Zakiya Summers; Cheikh Taylor; Rickey Thompson; Jerry Turner; Kenneth Walker; Missy McGee; Percy Watson; Tom Weathersby; Jason White; Sonya Williams-Barnes; Brady Williamson; Lee Yancey; Shanda Yates; Charles Young Jr.; and Hank Zuber III.
Voted against House Bill 1796 23
Shane Barnett; Scott Bounds; Randy Boyd; Billy Calvert; Lester “Bubba” Carpenter; Carolyn Crawford; Dana Criswell; Jerry Darnell; Jeff Hale; Steve Horne; Bill Kinkade; Timmy Ladner; Vince Mangold; Jay McKnight; Doug McLeod; Sam Mims; Ken Morgan; Bill Pigott; Randy Rushing; Troy Smith; Mark Tullos; Price Wallace; and Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes.
Did not vote 5
Chris Brown; Gary Chism; Dan Eubanks; Jeff Guice; and Steve Hopkins.
Senate roll call
The Senate passed House Bill 1796 later on June 28, 2020.
Voted for House Bill 1796 37
Juan Barnett; Barbara Blackmon; Kevin Blackwell; David Blount; Nicole Boyd; Hob Bryan; Albert Butler; Joel Carter; Dennis DeBar Jr.; Scott DeLano; Sally Doty; Jeremy England; Hillman Frazier; Josh Harkins; Briggs Hopson III; John Horhn; Gary Jackson; Robert “Bobby” Jackson; Sampson Jackson II; Chris Johnson; David Jordan; Dean Kirby; Chad McMahan; Walter Michel; Philip Moran; Sollie Norwood; David Parker; John Polk; Derrick Simmons; Sarita Simmons; Benjamin Suber; Joseph Thomas Sr.; Mike Thompson; Angela Turner-Ford; Brice Wiggins; Tammy Witherspoon; and Chuck Younger.
Voted against House Bill 1796 14
Jennifer Branning; Chris Caughman; Lydia Chassaniol; Kathy Chism; Joey Fillingane; Angela Burks Hill; Tyler McCaughn; Chris McDaniel; Michael McLendon; Mike Seymour; Melanie Sojourner; Daniel Sparks; Jeff Tate; and Neil Whaley.
Did not vote 1
Rita Potts Parks.
The documented record
On June 28, 2020, ninety-two members of the Mississippi House and thirty-seven members of the Mississippi Senate voted for House Bill 1796, which repealed the 1894 flag’s official status and created the process for selecting a replacement. Twenty-three representatives and fourteen senators voted against the bill. Five representatives and one senator did not vote. Governor Tate Reeves approved the bill on June 30, 2020.
Jimmy Giles’s judgment
The official record proves who voted for House Bill 1796 and that Governor Tate Reeves approved it. Based on those documented actions, Jimmy Giles calls the 129 legislators who voted yea and Governor Reeves “the 130 Scumbags who overrode the people’s vote.”
Giles uses “Scumbags” as an explicitly political and moral condemnation—not as a legal finding or a claim that every person committed a crime. He refers to the replacement flag as “the Scumbags’ Rag” and “the Devil’s flag.” Those are his political characterizations. The roll calls and the governor’s approval are the underlying historical facts.
Source record
These links allow readers to examine the legislation and roll calls directly.