BY ROBERT MCFARLAND, JR.
Delta Business Journal

Known throughout the world as home to the blues and cotton fields, the Mississippi Delta is also often thought of as a place that time has forgotten. A place where time has stood still and a place of backward thinking and actions. Those who think such things are the very ones who have never visited the Delta drawing their conclusions from movies and the writings of various southern authors and other sources. To know the Delta is to love the Delta and if you happen to know the Delta, you know that the region has its share of success stories of individuals and companies who have reached international success from the Delta. CNN founder, Ted Turner’s family came from here as did the founder of Federal Express, Fred Smith.
Success breeds success and the Delta’s success can be traced directly to its leadership in both business and politics. Now there is a new generation of Delta leaders emerging–the “30-50” year old group who in the coming years will take the Delta to another level. One of those emerging leaders is 31 year old Neely Carlton, a Greenville native, attorney with Lake Tindall law firm in Greenville, and state Senator. Because of her achievements in the Senate, during the past six years Carlton has seen her name increase in value in the Delta. Now, that name is being held in high regard statewide by various groups. Carlton adds much to the Delta and she is just getting started in her career.
“I see many young rising stars in the Delta right now,” says Carlton. “They are very smart, very networked, and soon I think they’ll take their rightful positions working in conjunction with our current established leaders to help the Delta and the state move forward.”
Serving her second term in the state senate, many feel Carlton is a fine representative of this new generation of Delta leaders. Many in Jackson also feel that she is well positioned to go a long way politically in the years to come and Carlton herself has expressed interest in seeking a statewide office in the future. For now though, Carlton is in her element serving her second term in the state senate representing all of Sharkey County; the southern half of Washington County below Highway 82 including Leland; and a portion of Bolivar County that includes the western section of Cleveland and Delta State University.
Already Carlton has been able to pass legislation that is important to her district pertaining to the Greenville Higher Education Center–an education facility served by Delta State University, Mississippi Valley State University and Mississippi Delta Community College. She also added the amendment to the Institutions of Higher Learning bond bill that resulted in getting the money needed for the Center.
“I remember very vividly walking down the steps in the Capitol next to a senior senator who turned to me and says, ‘Congratulations on the Greenville HIgher Education Center. I want you to really understand what you have done. I have been here four terms and I have never accomplished anything like that and you have done this in your second year’–his words really hit me,” says Carlton. “It is very rewarding to be involved in the process of helping to shape the direction of our state. It is also an honor to be able to serve in this position.”
Carlton’s gene pool consists of politics. Some of her earliest memories are of politicking with her grandfather, the late Herman Caillouet, who was a former Washington County supervisor. Carlton’s other political family tree members consists of a great aunt and uncle who both served in the legislature from Washington County as well as both serving on the bench. In fact, her great aunt, a member of the House of Representatives, is noted for casting the deciding vote that placed the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. This aunt is also noted for being the first to put women on juries in Mississippi. Yet another well known politician in Carlton’s family is her father, Frank Carlton, a former member of the legislature and current District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District encompassing Washington, Sunflower, and Leflore Counties. Serving his fifth term, the elder Carlton has never been opposed. No doubt, politics and the law have come naturally to Neely. “I was one of the lucky ones in my class to know very early on what I wanted to do with my life,” says Carlton. “I knew in the ninth grade what I wanted to do.”
Growing up, Carlton loved Greenville and the Delta and everything the two had to offer. Her family was a big source of encouragement for just about anything she wanted to pursue. Two older brothers also helped shaped Carlton in other ways.
“I have always says that because I was a girl with two older brothers that I was born a fighter,” laughs Carlton. “In all seriousness, that really may have helped me gain a positive attitude.”
Carlton’s ninth grade year at Washington School in Greenville also helped to shape her future.
“A recruiter from the University of Southern Mississippi came to our high school and was describing future trends and job opportunities,” says Carlton. “Of course, today it is nothing for us to talk about the global economy and multinational corporations. However, back then, those were new ideas and new emerging concepts in the business world and I also had a love for Spanish. I didn’t really see myself as a teacher and I wasn’t sure how this interest in Spanish could be developed into a career that I would like. The recruiter from Southern described a new program they were offering which was an economics degree in international business. This was very interesting to me especially since it had a heavy foreign language component to it which meant that I could continue my interest in Spanish. As we now see, the recruiter was right and this was an emerging trend.”
In 1987, Carlton entered the University of Southern Mississippi at 16 years of age by skipping her senior year in high school at Washington School. Carlton loved Southern and stayed, never graduating from high school. “After that summer, I just couldn’t look back,” she says.
The University of Southern Mississippi was a great experience for Carlton. During her freshman year, she forced herself to clarify what she would do with this special degree and all roads led to law school.
“Because of my family, I naturally had an interest in law,” says Carlton. “I came across an article in the library that first year of college concerning international law and that’s when I made the decision to pursue a law degree.”
In 1991, Carlton enrolled in law school at Ole Miss and during one of her summers of law school she was able to spend it studying in Mexico City though the University of Houston.
“At that time which was the summer of ‘92, NAFTA was being discussed,” says Carlton. “I was studying Mexican domestic law, NAFTA, and all of the perceived benefits that could be derived from that agreement. Also during that time, all we had was the Canadian–American Free Trade Agreement, which I had written a paper on that predicted the coming of NAFTA.”
Finishing law school at Ole Miss in May of 1994, Carlton took a job working at the Mississippi Supreme Court. The experience of working at the Supreme Court was an eye opener for Carlton, politically and other.
“I was in the process of leaving the Supreme Court and opening my own law office in Greenville when State Senator Hainon Miller announced he would not seek another term from his district in Greenville,” says Carlton. “I was approached by several about running for this seat.”
Initially, Carlton was lukewarm on the idea of running for office and actually felt as though she could not win.
“I met with several people who were in the know about politics and every one of them encouraged me to run saying that the Delta needed young people to become involved in business and politics who could make a difference,” says Carlton. “After a while, I began to believe that people would support me and I really felt that I could make a difference and help our area progress if I was elected.”
Carlton threw her hat in the ring and was off to races–with the entire Carlton political clan behind her.
“It was a lot of fun running for office, especially with my family being so involved,” says Carlton. “My mother, who had been involved with my grandfather’s elections and my father’s elections, was very excited and very helpful in my race. And, I really felt called to run. My confidence was not that I would definitely win, but that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing with my life at that time. That election really brought my family together and on election night, I was proud of our performance and would have been satisfied with either outcome. However I’m glad I won. ”
Running on the Democratic ticket, at 25, Carlton won the election and was on her way to the the Mississippi State Senate.
“One thing about being elected, especially the first time around, is that once you arrive in the legislature, you’ll have several who will want to test you to see what your abilities are. I was overly prepared for that. I also asked for additional responsibilities so that I would have the opportunity to get up to the podium fielding the questions, meeting with people, and organizing support for particular bills which are all things that one must be good at to be effective in the legislature,” says Carlton.
Carlton made sure that when it came to the issues and pending legislation that she knew as much or more than her colleagues. She quickly made the mark in the legislature and was recognized as one of the standouts in her freshman class in the senate. One bonus for Carlton is that she was serving with members of the legislature who had known her family for years or who had even served with her father when he was a member.
“There is definitely a lot to being in the legislature and much to consider,” says Carlton. “The legislative process is very complex and there are several interests that you have to consider. One of those interests is to your constituency, another interest would be your personal feelings, and another would be the effect of any particular vote that you might take upon your success on other issues. It can be hard to separate a vote on one bill from the potential impact that it may have on your success on getting something done on another bill. It is a balancing act that is very challenging, but very enjoyable and very rewarding.”
And although Carlton has earned respect, it still can be challenging. When she entered the senate, there were three women. Now there are six.
“I think that it is very important that women be there to give a different perspective on the issues,” says Carlton. “I have worked very hard on domestic violence issues in the last six years and I have also worked very hard on several crime bills.”
Carlton also points to other legislation in which she is proud.
“For the last two years, I have been working on a bill that has revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code,” says Carlton. “This is extremely important to anyone who is trying to finance a purchase in the state. We came pretty close to being the only state in the nation that didn’t revise its Uniform Commercial Code and this would have been disastrous for Mississippi.”
Coming from the Delta, Carlton says she is often asked about the future of the region and what that future might be.
“It has been very discouraging to see plant closures in the Delta and in Mississippi in general,” she says. “The problem with a plant closure in the Delta is that when someone loses a job there are not enough other employment opportunities available for those people to move over to another company. So, in many cases these people end up leaving the Delta in their job search. It is always a challenge. However I feel that we are able to face these challenges. We have got to see to it that people in the Delta receive the proper types of education so that they will be eligible to take these jobs that are not all manufacturing, for example service related jobs, technology related jobs. And, I think we are all aware that this must take place. However, I also think that this is not an overnight fix. This is something that will take years to develop and we probably should have been doing much more sooner.
“As for the future, I see good things for Mississippi,” says Carlton. “We have had a setback in the economy, but we are not the only state that is feeling it. The entire country is experiencing this. I think that we’ll come out ahead after this initial period of downturn. Because we have been able to recruit Nissan to Mississippi, there are other automotive entities that are taking a good look at the state and this is great news. There are other corporations that were surprised that we got Nissan and before these companies may have passed on coming to Mississippi. But, because Nissan has come here, these companies may be willing to take another look at us now. There is a lot of potential growth in Mississippi and in the Delta in the years to come.
“One thing that I continue to do in my position in the legislature is to remind people that Mississippi will not progress unless the Delta is addressed,” says Carlton. “I think that people are finally realizing there is hope and opportunity in the Delta if they are willing to take the time to realize what we have going on here. I try to act as an ambassador from the Delta in the legislature. I think that the legislature is finally realizing that they have to invest in us in order to move everyone along.” DBJ