Former president Donald Trump made history once again Thursday becoming the first former president to be tried and found guilty of multiple felony offenses, but the conviction is not expected to make much of an impact among local voters.

Tyler Norman, chairman of the Lauderdale County Republican Party, said he does not see Republican voters abandoning Trump over the jury’s decision.

“I don’t think the conviction is going to have any impact locally or statewide,” he said.

If anything, Norman said, the results of the trial may help galvanize Trump supporters and drive more voters to head to the ballot box come November.

That support for Trump was echoed in statements by Mississippi’s elected officials, who weighed in on the verdict after it was handed down Thursday afternoon. In a prepared statement, Congressman Michael Guest, who represents Mississippi’s Third Congressional District, said Trump was not afforded a fair trial.

“Former President Donald Trump was convicted today on charges that were politically motivated and the evidence presented against him did not arise to the level of reasonable doubt. All Americans are entitled to a fair trial brought by an impartial prosecutor,” Guest said. “President Trump was not afforded these fundamental protections and his conviction should be overturned.”

Sen. Rodger Wicker, R-Tupelo, one of Mississippi’s two members in the U.S. Senate, said the conviction sets a dangerous precedent of using the justice system for political gain.

“This prosecution has been an outrageous perversion of our system of justice. Unless reversed, it could set a disturbing precedent in which our courts are weaponized by one party against the other,” he said. “Today is a dark day for the rule of law.”

Bennie Thompson, who represents Mississippi’s Second Congressional District, is the sole Democrat in the state’s delegation and chairman of the U.S. House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection said on X, formerly Twitter, that the verdict shows no one is above the law.

“Today’s verdict confirms what we have always known: Donald Trump is a criminal who thinks nothing of breaking the law, or our Constitution, to get what he wants. No one, especially an ex-President, is above the law,” Thompson said.

Lauderdale County Democratic Party Chair Ted Reynolds said he does not see Thursday’s verdict as a win for the Democratic Party but a loss for American voters. While the conviction may encourage some independents and swing voters to choose the Democratic candidate, he said, this is not the way he would prefer to draw those votes.

America, however, has a two party system, Reynolds said, and if voters believe a candidate is unfit for the job, they have just one other choice.

“If you are convinced the Republican choice is not fit, the only other choice is to vote Democrat,” he said.