Mississippi GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bans Female Reporter From Campaign Trip Unless She’s Joined by a Man

A female reporter working for Mississippi Today says she was told she could not shadow a Republican governor candidate on a campaign trip without a male colleague present. Larrison Campbell wrote that she was told by state representative Robert Foster’s campaign director—Colton Robison—that she could not attend a 15-hour campaign trip because it could be made to look like Foster was having an affair and inappropriate relations. “Perception is everything. We are so close to the primary,” Robison was quoted as saying. “If [trackers] were to get a picture and they put a mailer out, we wouldn’t have time to dispute it. And that’s why we have to be careful,” he said, referring to people hired by rival campaigns to monitor opponents’ events. Campbell wrote that she has previously interviewed the representative in the Capitol, at events, and over the phone. Robison said the campaign couldn’t “risk it.” “I wish it weren’t the way it is. Unfortunately, this is the game we’re playing right now,” he said.