The 2015 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 2015, to elect the

governor of Mississippi The governor of Mississippi is the head of government of Mississippi and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Mississippi National Guard, military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either appro ...

. Incumbent Republican governor

Phil Bryant Dewey Phillip Bryant (born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 31st lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2008 to 2012 an ...

ran for re-election to a second and final term in office. This is the highest percentage that a Republican has ever won in a gubernatorial election in Mississippi. The election gained national news coverage and attention due to the unexpected Democratic nominee selection of truck driver and former firefighter, Robert Gray, who had not had any political experience prior to his candidacy. As of 2023, this is by far the best performance by a Republican in a gubernatorial election in Mississippi. This is also the only time that the following counties have voted Republican for governor:

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, Quitman,

Sharkey Sharkey () is a surname of Irish origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Bill Sharkey (1873–1946), Australian rules footballer * Brendan Sharkey (born 1962), American politician * Catherine Sharkey (born c. 1970), law professor * Ed ...

, and Tallahatchie.

Background

Mississippi is one of nine states and territories that has lifetime limits of two terms for its governor. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, with incumbent Republican governor

Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously ser ...

term-limited, Republican

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

was elected to succeed him. Bryant won the Republican primary with 59% of the vote and then defeated the Democratic nominee,

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

Mayor

Johnny DuPree Johnny DuPree (born November 18, 1953) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the first African-American mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi from 2001 to 2017. He was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor o ...

, with 61% of the vote.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent governor * Mitch Young

Declined

Chris McDaniel Christopher Brian McDaniel (born June 28, 1971) is an American attorney, talk radio host, perennial candidate for statewide office, and politician who served in the Mississippi State Senate from 2008 to 2024. His politics have been widely descri ...

, state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 *

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...

, state senator

Result

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Robert Gray, truck driver and retired firefighter * Valerie Short, physician * Vicki Slater, attorney

Declined

Travis Childers Travis Wayne Childers (born March 29, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2011. The district included much of the northern portion of the state including New Albany, Columbus, Oxford, Southav ...

, former U.S. representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2014 *

Jim Hood James Matthew Hood (born May 15, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 39th Attorney General of Mississippi from 2004 to 2020. Hood was first elected Attorney General in 2003, defeating Republican Scott Newton. A former ...

Attorney General of Mississippi The attorney general of Mississippi is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state officials a ...

( running for re-election) *

Bill Luckett William Luckett (6 September 1903 – 5 July 1985) was an English professional footballer who played for Southampton as a left-half in the 1920s and 1930s, making over 200 appearances. Playing career Early days Luckett was born in St Helens, La ...

, Mayor of Clarksdale and candidate for governor in 2011 *

Dick Molpus Richard Henderson Molpus Jr. (born September 7, 1949) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1984 until 1996. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1995 against Republica ...

, former

Secretary of State of Mississippi The Mississippi secretary of state is an officer of Mississippi originally established under the Article IV, §14 of Mississippi Constitution of 1817, and was reestablished under Article V, §133 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Several ...

and nominee for governor in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Brandon Presley Brandon Everitt Presley (born July 21, 1977) is an American politician who served as a member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission from the Northern District from 2008 to 2024 and mayor of Nettleton, Mississippi, from 2001 to 2007. He ...

, Commissioner for the Northern District of the

Mississippi Public Service Commission The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC or PSC) is a government agency which regulates telecommunications, electric, gas, water and sewer utilities in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The commission was created in 1884 and in its early ...

and former mayor of Nettleton ( running for re-election)

Result

Reform Party nomination

Candidate

*Shawn O'Hara,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...

(largest city:

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States ** Natchez slave market, Mississippi * ...

) *

(largest city:

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

) * Kemper (largest city: De Kalb) *

(largest city: Holly Springs) * Quitman (largest city: Lambert) *

(largest city: Rolling Fork) * Tallahatchie (largest city: Charleston)

By congressional district

Bryant won three of four congressional districts.https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=785122

References

External links

Campaign websites (archived)
Phil Bryant (R)

Robert Gray (D)

Valerie Short (D)

Vicki Slater (D)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mississippi Gubernatorial Election, 2015

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2015 United States gubernatorial elections November 2015 in the United States

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

2015 in Mississippi

Background

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Result

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Result

Reform Party nomination

Candidate

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

See also

References

External links