State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ellisville), a two-time former US Senate candidate, said publicly that he will not be filing as a candidate for Governor today. The open gubernatorial field appears set for Republicans with Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves leading former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr., while the Democrats feature Attorney General Jim Hood who is a heavy favorite over Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith.
This should be a competitive race in the fall despite Mississippi’s strong Republican voting history. Gov. Phil Bryant (R), who has already endorsed Mr. Reeves as his successor, is ineligible to seek a third term. The Mississippi primary is scheduled for August 6th. Attorney General Jim Hood, who already is considered the presumptive Democratic nominee for the open gubernatorial post in this year’s election, has drawn a primary opponent. And, the two are quite familiar with each other.
Three times, Mr. Hood’s office has filed charges against Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler, each time failing to convince a jury of the latter man’s guilt. Mr. Schuler has faced charges on aggravated stalking (hung jury), robbery (not guilty), and obstruction of justice (not guilty). Now the two are going to battle each other for their party’s gubernatorial nomination, which should make this primary campaign very colorful to say the least. Responding to former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. entering the Republican primary to challenge Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, term-limited Mississippi chief executive Phil Bryant (R) came out early to take sides.
Yesterday, Gov. Bryant formally endorsed Lt. Gov. Reeves for the party nomination. Despite Mississippi’s strong Republican voting history since the turn of the century, Democrats will have an unusually strong nominee this year in the person of Attorney General Jim Hood, one of the most successful Deep South Democrats. Mr. Hood has won four consecutive elections as the state’s AG, at a time when any other Democratic regional victory has been quite scarce. The Bryant move was designed to help put distance between Reeves and Waller, ensuring a clean nomination run for the former man. Gov. Bryant understands that Mr. Reeves will need a united Republican base to defeat the hard-charging Mr. Hood. It had been suggested for some time that former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. (R) may enter the 2019 gubernatorial campaign, but his final decision was surprising nonetheless. While most believe Mr. Waller would run as an Independent or minor party candidate, he has decided to take a more traditional route. Instead of going straight into the general election and potentially become a spoiler, Mr. Waller announced yesterday that he will challenge Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
The Mississippi general election is expected to be close against four-term Attorney General Jim Hook (D). Lt. Gov. Reeves remains the clear favorite in the Republican primary, irrespective of Mr. Waller’s presence as his GOP primary opponent. Last week, we covered the story that first-term conservative state Representative Robert Foster (R-DeSoto County), also known as “Farmer Bob,” was close to making a decision about entering the 2019 open Governor’s race. It appears the speculation may quickly come to fruition as he has scheduled an announcement for later today. If Rep. Foster officially becomes a candidate, he will soon be opposed by Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) who promises to announce his intention to run before the new state legislative session commences on January 8th.
For the Democrats, four-term Attorney General Jim Hood is already an official candidate. He has run very well in his four statewide races and will be a formidable contender even in this strongly Republican state. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) is ineligible to seek a third term. The open Mississippi Governor’s race is beginning to attract a lot of attention on the eve of the new election year. While Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) is said to be less than a month away from announcing his presumed candidacy, state Rep. Robert Foster (R-DeSoto County), who was originally elected in 2017, says he is strongly considering entering the Governor’s race and appears to have no trepidation about running against Mr. Reeves.
On the Democratic side, Attorney General Jim Hood (D) is an official candidate and looks to be drawing some intra-party opposition. Velesha Williams, the former director of the Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition, announced her candidacy early this week. Magnolia Mayor Anthony Witherspoon also confirms that he, too, is considering entering the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has already announced his intention to run for re-election. To date he has drawn two Democratic opponents, Attorney General Andy Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear (D), and state House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins (D-Sandy Hook). No one from the six-member congressional delegation (5R-1D), either for the primary or general election, is expected to enter the Governor’s race even though they wouldn’t have to risk their House seat to do so.
Mississippi is the remaining state holding a 2019 gubernatorial election. Here, Gov. Phil Bryant (R) is ineligible to seek a third term. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) is expected to announce his gubernatorial candidacy before the legislative session begins, which is scheduled for January 8th. It is believed that Mr. Reeves could have been appointed to the vacant US Senate seat when Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) was chosen, but turned down the opportunity in order to run for Governor, so there is no doubt that he will soon become a candidate. Attorney General Jim Hood (D), a popular four-term incumbent, previously announced his gubernatorial candidacy and is expected to be a strong opponent to Mr. Reeves, making this contest one to watch next year. Former US Agriculture Secretary and ex-Mississippi Congressman Mike Espy’s 54-46% loss to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) is not yet a week old, but he has already made a political decision for 2020. Mr. Espy just formed a campaign committee for the next election cycle, meaning we will likely see a re-match of the contest just ended.
Appointed Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) won the special Mississippi run-off election last night with a 54-46% margin over former US Agriculture Secretary and ex-Mississippi Congressman Mike Espy (D). Despite making several gaffes in the run-off cycle, Ms. Hyde-Smith won a comfortable victory though understandably a few points shy of a typical Republican statewide vote total. In comparison, Sen. Roger Wicker (R) was re-elected to his third term in this year’s regular election with a 58-39% victory margin. Last night’s Republican win brings next year’s Senate partisan division to 53R-47D with all of the 2018 election cycle races now decided.
The final US Senate race concludes today as the Mississippi Senate run-off election will be decided. Since Mississippi is one of 16 states that has no early voting procedure we have no clues about which side may be gaining an initial advantage. The contest is between appointed incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and former US Agriculture Secretary and ex-Mississippi Congressman Mike Espy (D). Both sides agree that Sen. Hyde-Smith has the advantage heading into today, but all concede that Mr. Espy has momentum and that an upset cannot be ruled out.
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