JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Incumbent Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) has won the Republican Primary Election. He is seeking a second term.
Reeves faced Dr. John Witcher and David Hardigree in the Republican race. The governor will now face Commissioner Brandon Presley (D-Miss.) in the November General Election. Presley ran unopposed.
“The national Democrats think Mississippi is theirs for the taking,” Reeves told supporters Tuesday night in Jackson. “They’ve circled our state, and they’ve hand-picked their candidate. … These national Democrats think they can use him to inject their liberal ideology into Mississippi under the guise of being a moderate.”
Presley said he will advocate for people who struggle to make ends meet.
“This race is going to come down to … which candidate, and I believe that’s me, has got guts and the backbone to stand up for the people of Mississippi and which candidate has consistently showed us that he will do whatever his lobbyist buddies want him to do and will not stand up for the people of Mississippi,” Presley said.
Mississippi is one of three states holding races for governor in an off-year election. Despite Republicans holding all statewide offices, including the governorship for the past 20 years, Democratic Governors Association chair Phil Murphy has predicted the contest could be a “sleeper” — a state where the right Democrat could win.
In his hometown of Nettleton, Presley took the stage at his victory party to “See See Rider,” the song Elvis Presley often used as walk-on music. The candidate said he would not sing, though.
“We’re trying to get votes,” Presley said in a phone interview before spoke to supporters. “We’re not trying to lose them.”
Reeves, 49, has steadily worked his way up the political ladder since winning the race for state treasurer in 2003. He served two terms as treasurer and two terms as lieutenant governor before winning the governor’s race in 2019.
Reeves closed schools at the beginning of the pandemic and put some restrictions on businesses as COVID-19 cases spread, but he never ordered churches to close and he has often bragged that Mississippi was among the first states to remove limitations from businesses.
He also opposes Medicaid expansion, often referring to the government health insurance program as “welfare.”
“Brandon Presley and his party are happy to see people go on welfare,” Reeves said. “He campaigns on wanting more welfare. He thinks welfare is a destination. I think … a job is a destination for everyone in Mississippi – a job with benefits and health care and a chance to move up in the world.”
Reeves often touts two laws he signed limiting the rights of trans people: one in 2021 that prohibits transgender people from playing on girls’ or women’s sports teams and one this year that bans gender-affirming health care to transgender people younger than 18.
Reeves signed an income tax reduction into law last year and wants to eliminate the state income tax altogether. He also says he has fulfilled a 2019 campaign promise to increase teacher pay.
“Mississippi has momentum, and this is Mississippi’s time,” Reeves said. “To believe Brandon Presley’s campaign, you’ve got to believe that none of that is true.”
Presley, 46, a member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, has highlighted the challenges of working families in one of the poorest states in the U.S. as he has campaigned for governor. Born a few weeks before his famous relative died, Presley often talks about growing up in a home where his widowed mother had trouble paying bills with the modest paycheck she earned at a garment factory.
“Tate Reeves doesn’t care anything about us. He doesn’t care anything about working people,” Presley said. “If you can’t write a campaign check, or you’re not part of his little club of buddies and insiders, you’re shut out of state government.”
Presley says he wants to eliminate the state’s 7% tax on groceries. He also says Mississippi should join 40 other states that have expanded Medicaid coverage to people working low-wage jobs that do not provide private health insurance coverage.
Reeves and Presley will also face independent candidate Gwendolyn Gray, a political newcomer, in the general election. Gray, 68, leads a nonprofit organization called the Southern Foundation for Homeless Children, which offers nutrition programs, and says one of her main concerns as governor would be alleviating poverty.
The General Election will be on November 7, 2023. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Click here to view the primary election results.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.