Who is the Democratic candidate challenging Gov. Tate Reeves in Mississippi’s primary?
The Battle for Governorship in Mississippi
As the Mississippi primary election commences, the battle for governorship is the most high-profile statewide race on the ballot.
Voters are poised to nominate incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) and Democratic Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley to face off in the general election this fall. The Republican Party currently has a majority in the state, holding the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature. The GOP has had a hold on the Mississippi governorship for the past 20 years, but a change may be on the horizon.
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Presley, a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, is the highest elected Democratic state official in Mississippi, potentially paving the way to flip the governor’s seat blue. A June poll of Mississippians likely to vote in the 2023 GOP primary showed 21% of Republicans were likely to vote for Presley. Those numbers could come to fruition in the Tuesday election.
Here is everything we know about Presley, the unopposed Democratic candidate.
Political Background
At the age of 23, Presley ran for mayor in his hometown of Nettleton, Mississippi, winning with 78% of the vote in 2001 and becoming one of the youngest mayors in state history. Presley served for several years before running for Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District of Mississippi, where he won his race and has been reelected three times.
Where He Stands on the Issues
Presley describes himself as a “Populist, FDR-Billy McCoy Democrat” and strongly supports campaign finance reform, running his platform on opposing corruption and advocating ethical spending.
He’s committed to expanding Medicaid, promising to launch his healthcare plan for Mississippi on the first day he takes office, which includes keeping hospitals open and creating resources to compare prescription drug prices.
“Tate Reeves has taken over $480,000 from health insurance and big drug companies, and he’s done their bidding by keeping healthcare costs high while Mississippians struggle to get the care they need to stay healthy,” Presley said.
Diverting from his party, Presley has said he wouldn’t work to overturn the ban in Mississippi on transgender youth undergoing medical procedures such as hormone therapy or other gender-transition treatments.
“As a man of faith who is pro-life, I’ve never once had an issue disagreeing with my party when they’re wrong, so I’ll be clear: I don’t think boys should be playing against girls, and girls shouldn’t be playing against boys,” Presley told Mississippi Today last month. “I don’t think minors should be getting surgery to change their gender.”
His position on abortion is vastly different from most in the Democratic Party, telling the New York Times that to him being anti-abortion means supporting and funding hospitals, doctors, and emergency services.
Presley is focusing his campaign on fixing the state’s economy, which he believes is harming the middle class and the poor while contributing to the wealthy.
2023 Gubernatorial Campaign
The Democrat who has no problem crossing party lines announced his run for governor in January.
Presley has attacked Reeves over a welfare misspending scandal that occurred when Reeves was serving as lieutenant governor for several years starting in 2012.
“Under Tate Reeves, millions were steered from education and job programs to help his rich friends,” an attack ad from Presley states in an attempt to expose one of the largest corruption scandals in Mississippi.
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“The facts are clear that the transgressions occurred before Tate Reeves was governor, and he has supported vigorous and effective prosecution against those involved,” a response from Reeves’s campaign said.
Reeves pledged to give campaign donations to people who were arrested in 2020 on misspending charges related to welfare money that was supposed to help the lower class. Mississippi Department of Human Services Executive Director John Davis and five others were arrested. The Republican governor has denied any involvement in which projects received funds.
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