Mississippi: Candidates File

​On Friday, candidates for the 2019 state elections in Mississippi officially filed, thus the field for the August 6th party primaries are now set.  If no candidate receives majority support in the first election, the top two finishers will run-off on August 27th.  The general election is November 5th. 
 
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, to replace term-limited incumbent Phil Bryant (R), three candidates filed as expected.  Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who Gov. Bryant has endorsed, retired state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr., and state Rep. Robert Foster (R-Hernando) comprise the GOP field. 
 
For the Democrats, nine individuals filed paperwork to run.  The prohibitive favorite for the nomination is four-term Attorney General Jim Hood.  The other candidates of significance are Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith, and former Natchez Mayor and ex-state Representative Phillip West. 
 
The large number of minor candidates suggest there is an outside possibility that Hood is forced to a run-off, but at this point he must be considered a clear favorite to win the nomination outright.  Most observers believe that AG Hood gives the Democrats a legitimate chance to capture the Governor’s mansion for the first time since Ronnie Musgrove last won in 1999.