Newly elected U.S. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama addressed Mississippi Democrats at their annual dinner in Brandon.
The dinner had traditionally been called the Jefferson-Jackson-Hamer dinner, but Democrats are now calling it the Hamer-Winter dinner, named for civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and former Democratic Gov. William Winter.
Democratic Chair Bobby Moak says the change was made to focus on honoring Mississippians. A history of slaveholding and other actions have made Democratic party founders and presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson controversial among some. Moak says that's not why the name was changed.
Jones, a Democrat, won an upset in December over Roy Moore. The Republican nominee was dogged by allegations of improper contact with teenagers and a controversial past of defying federal court orders.