The GOP-controlled Mississippi Senate refused to confirm a top staffer for Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to a position on a state board — a move that occurred on the tail end of a legislative session marked by Republican infighting.
The Senate on Wednesday roundly rejected the nomination of Cory Custer, Reeves’ deputy chief of staff, to serve a four-year term on the board of directors of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the statewide public radio and television network. Reeves reacted to the Senate’s vote on Thursday, calling it “chicken shit.”
Only eight senators out of the 51-member body voted to confirm Custer, and three of those “yea” votes came from Democrats. MPB’s board members oversee the organization’s operations, manage its finances and guide programming for its multiple newscasts each weekday.
Reeves appointed Custer over the summer of 2024 to fill an open seat on the board as an interim member. Since then, he has participated in board meetings and is listed as a board member on MPB’s website.
According to Custer’s profile on the website, he oversees the governor’s communication team. Custer’s role overseeing Reeves’ public profile seemed to be a point of concern for some senators who voted against his confirmation.
As the full Senate prepared to vote on Custer’s nomination Thursday, Republican Sen. Brice Wiggins asked what responsibilities Custer had as the governor’s deputy of chief.
Republican Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, who shepherded Custer’s nomination through his committee last month, responded that Custer had access to Reeves’ account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“If you’re referring to his social media account, he indicated that he did have access to the Twitter account,” DeBar said.
In February, Reeves angered several members of the Senate Republican caucus after the governor used his X account to take shots at Republican Sen. Jeremy England. The Republican senator who chairs the Elections Committee had advanced bipartisan legislation to allow “no-excuse” in-person early voting, a policy Reeves opposes.
Reeves, or someone operating his X account, said England earned the “MVP award for the Mississippi Democratic Party!” He also posted a newspaper photo of England on the Senate floor laughing with Democratic Sen. Derrick Simmons and wrote: ” A picture is worth a thousand words!! Senator Jeremy England, you may think it is funny that you are working with the Senate Democrat Minority Leader to pass the Democrats’ priorities…. BUT I DO NOT!”
It is unclear whether Reeves, Custer or someone else authored those X posts.
Custer did not respond Thursday to messages seeking comment.
At a press conference Thursday, Reeves said the Senate’s decision represented an unfair attack on Custer, and that Republican senators might suffer political consequences for killing one of his appointments.
“There’s no doubt there are some Republican senators who like to vote with Democrats on really important topics, and they don’t like the fact that I call them out on it,” Reeves said. “They ought to attack me and not one of my staff members. He had nothing to do with that. Quite frankly, I think it’s chicken shit what they did.”
The vote against Custer occurred just before the House and Senate concluded its regular session without passing a $7 billion state budget to fund state agencies. Reeves will likely have to call the Legislature back for a special session to deal with the budget.
The Legislature’s bill to overhaul Mississippi’s tax system, which included typos that could eliminate the state income tax much quicker than the Senate intended, contributed to tensions over the budget. Reeves signed the typo-riddled bill into law last week.
Gubernatorial appointees are regularly allowed to serve on boards and commissions prior to Senate confirmation. Now that the Senate has rejected Custer’s confirmation, Reeves could appoint someone else to fill the open board of directors seat. That person would need to be confirmed by the Senate during the next legislative session.
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