Mississippi election: Gov. Tate Reeves wins reelection bid over Brandon Presley

Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) won his reelection bid on Tuesday night, defeating Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who had hoped to cobble together a multiracial coalition to victory.

Reeves overcame low popularity and a multimillion-dollar welfare scandal, in which $77 million in federal funds for the state’s low-income residents was instead directed to wealthy Mississippians, in his defeat of Presley, who is Elvis’s second cousin. Presley conceded shortly before midnight.

“We didn’t win it, they did. But we won the hearts and souls of hundreds of thousands of Mississippians,” Presley told his supporters.

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER: MISSISSIPPI GOV. TATE REEVES SEEKS TO FEND OFF DEMOCRAT BRANDON PRESLEY

Heading into Election Day, the governor was projected to win his race by a similar margin to his 2019 victory in which he defeated Democratic former state Attorney General Jim Hood, 52.1% to 46.6%. At the time Presley conceded, Reeves was roughly in that ballpark, with 52.4% of the vote with 88% of votes in.

The two gubernatorial candidates faced off on the debate stage just one time before voters headed to the polls, and their matchup featured strong accusations against one another and frequent interruptions.

In one contentious moment, Reeves quipped that Presley would receive more votes outside of Mississippi during their race. “I went to breakfast in Caledonia last Monday morning, and I’m going to tell you something, Brandon, you’re going to get more votes in California than you get in Caledonia,” Reeves said, referencing a city in Lowndes County.

Reeves had sought to tie Presley to national Democrats including President Joe Biden, who faces high disapproval numbers. “My opponent has outsourced his entire campaign to the Democratic National Committee,” Reeves said. “Joe Biden and his buddies have funded his campaign to the tune of 80% of the money that he has raised has come from California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. It ain’t charity.”

Democrats, sensing Presley’s momentum, came to his aid throughout the campaign cycle, with Presley outraising Reeves by more than $5 million. The Democratic Governors Association poured nearly $4 million into the race to unseat Reeves. However, the incumbent governor had more money on hand before Election Day and banked on Mississippi’s deep conservative roots. The last time the Magnolia State supported a Democrat for president was in 1976, when Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford.

Most polling showed Reeves leading Presley, including an October Magnolia Tribune/Mason-Dixon survey in which 51% backed the governor and 43% supported Presley, an 8 percentage point advantage. Yet one Democratic Governors Association poll showed Reeves beating Presley by just 1 percentage point, 46% to 45%, according to Mississippi Today.

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Mississippi’s gubernatorial election was one of two marquee governor’s races in an off-year election, the other in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear survived a challenge from Republican Daniel Cameron.

This was the first contest in the Magnolia State since voters chose to remove an 1890 law from its Constitution three years ago, changing how the statewide races were decided. Previously, a candidate needed to win both the popular vote and a majority of the state’s House districts. Now, a candidate simply needs to win the popular vote in order to capture the governor’s mansion.