The 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to choose the next
Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent 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 and 4 ...
was ineligible to run for a third term due to
term limits. The
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
nominated incumbent Attorney General
Jim Hood, the only Democrat holding statewide office in Mississippi; the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
nominated incumbent Lieutenant Governor
Tate Reeves. In the general election, Reeves defeated Hood by a margin of 5.08%, the closest gubernatorial election in Mississippi since
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, with Reeves significantly underperforming Trump who won the state by 17 points, 3 years prior.
This is the first time since
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
that the Democratic candidate has carried
Warren and
Madison counties in a gubernatorial election, and the last gubernatorial election in Mississippi in which the winner was determined in part by an electoral college of state legislative districts instead of a popular vote.
Background
Situated in the
Deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
as a
socially conservative Bible Belt state,
Mississippi is one of the most Republican states in the country. No Democrat has been elected to the governorship since
Ronnie Musgrove in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
. However, the state's Democratic Attorney General, Jim Hood, who had held his office since 2004 and had yet to lose a statewide election, put the Republican's winning streak of four elections in a row to the test, as the race became unusually competitive. Reeves defeated Hood in the general election by a margin of 5.1%, making this the closest a Democrat had come to winning a Mississippi gubernatorial election since 1999. Hood pulled off the best performance by a Democrat since the
2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election
The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2003 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour defeated incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove by a marg ...
, when fellow Democrat
Ronnie Musgrove took 45.81% of the vote. Hood flipped the counties of
Chickasaw,
Lafayette,
Madison,
Panola, and
Warren, which had all voted for Republican
Donald Trump in the
2016 United States presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
.
Uniquely among the states, the
Constitution of Mississippi establishes a sort of
electoral college at the state level. For the election of governor. Article 5, Section 140 of the state constitution states that each state House district is assigned an electoral vote, and that a candidate running for governor must receive a majority of electoral votes (essentially, they must win a majority of state House districts) in addition to winning a majority of the popular vote in order to be elected governor. Article 5, Section 141 of the state constitution states that if no candidate wins both a popular and electoral vote majority, the state
House of Representatives is assigned to decide the winner, choosing from the two highest popular vote winners. This provision came into play only one time in the state's history; Democratic candidate
Ronnie Musgrove in the
1999 gubernatorial election garnered a plurality, but not a majority; the House selected Musgrove.
In the lead-up to the election, controversy emerged over these constitutional provisions establishing a state system of electoral votes, with a federal lawsuit claiming the provisions are racially biased.
These provisions were put in place with the 1890 Mississippi Constitution, itself established by the segregationist
Redeemers and overturning the
Reconstruction-era
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the blood ...
1868 Constitution, as part of
Jim Crow Era policy to minimize the power of African Americans in politics.
Because of this, as well as present
gerrymandering that packs African Americans into a small number of districts, the plaintiffs claim the provisions should be struck down on the basis of racial bias.
On 3 November 2020
an amendment was passed removing the electoral college with 79% of the vote.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
*
Tate Reeves,
lieutenant governor of Mississippi
Eliminated in runoff
*
Bill Waller Jr., former chief justice of the Mississippi State Supreme Court and son of former Democratic Governor
William "Bill" Waller. Sr (1972–1976)
Eliminated in primary
*
Robert Foster, Mississippi state representative
Withdrawn
*Hal Marx, mayor of
Petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
(endorsed Tate Reeves)
Declined
*
Thomas Duff
Thomas John Duff (1792–1848) was an Irish architect from Newry, County Down. Duff was the principal architect of a number of Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals in the northeast of Ireland.
His work included three churches dedicated t ...
, businessman
*
Lynn Fitch,
Mississippi state treasurer (running for Mississippi attorney general)
*Gerard Gibert, businessman and lottery board member
*
Philip Gunn, speaker of the
Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...
*
Trent Lott, former
U.S. senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
*
Chris McDaniel
Christopher Brian McDaniel (born June 28, 1971) is an American attorney, talk radio host, and far-right politician who has served in the Mississippi State Senate since 2008.
A member of the Republican Party, McDaniel gained national attention ...
, Mississippi states senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
(endorsed Tate Reeves)
*
Mike Randolph, presiding justice of the Mississippi State Supreme Court
*Andy Taggart, former chief of staff to Governor
Kirk Fordice (running for Mississippi attorney general)
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Runoff
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
*
Jim Hood,
Mississippi attorney general
Eliminated in primary
* Michael Brown
* William Bond Compton Jr., candidate for governor of Mississippi in 2007 and 2011, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014, nominee for the Mississippi House of Representatives in the 83rd district in 2015
* Robert J. Ray
* Robert Shuler Smith,
Hinds County
Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats (Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Co ...
district attorney
* Gregory Wash
* Velesha Williams, former director for the Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition and former U.S. Army officer
* Albert Wilson, businessman and community organizer
Withdrawn
*Phillip West, former state representative and former mayor of
Natchez (endorsed Jim Hood)
Declined
* Anthony Witherspoon, mayor of
Magnolia
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Other candidates
Constitution Party
Declared
*Bob Hickingbottom
Independents
Declared
*David Singletary, U.S. Air Force veteran and former hotel owner
General election
Predictions
Debates
Endorsements
Polling
;with Tate Reeves, Jim Hood, and Bill Waller Jr.
;with Bill Waller Jr. and Jim Hood
Results
See also
*
2019 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2019, in Kentucky and Mississippi, and November 16, 2019, in Louisiana. These elections formed part of the 2019 United States elections. The last regular gubernatorial elections for a ...
*
2019 United States elections
The 2019 United States elections were held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. This off-year election included gubernatorial elections in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi; regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in Louisian ...
*
2019 Mississippi elections
Notes
;Partisan clients
References
External links
Mississippi State Constitution
Official campaign websites
Tate Reeves (R) for GovernorJim Hood (D) for Governor
Bob Hickingbottom (C) for Governor
David Singletary (I) for Governor
{{2019 United States elections
Gubernatorial
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Mississippi
Mississippi gubernatorial election
2019 in Mississippi
November 2019 events
November 2019 events in North America