Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas on Tuesday night extended voting in all Hinds County polling precincts until 8 p.m., giving voters in the state’s most populous county an additional hour to cast ballots in a crowded statewide election.
The judge issued the order based on an emergency request from the Mississippi Democratic Party, which said in court documents that numerous precincts in the county ran out of ballots to issue voters throughout the day.
The ballot shortage happened in the middle of a bitter governor’s race that has pitted Republican Gov. Tate Reeves against Democratic opponent Brandon Presley.
Hinds County is located in the state’s metro area and contains a high percentage of Black voters, which tend to swing Democratic. The county would be a crucial voting bloc for Presley, who has mounted a competitive campaign against the incumbent governor.
Nick Cosmos, a legal protection attorney with Presley’s campaign, told Mississippi Today in a statement that the campaign received numerous reports through its election hotline that multiple precincts in the county ran out of ballots throughout the day.
“We intend for every eligible voter who shows up to vote in Mississippi to be able to cast their ballot. If you are in line, please stay in line or if you have any issues, call the Voter Protection Hotline number at 601-203-4131,” Cosmos said.
But the Election Day concerns have attracted concerns from both of the state’s political parties. Mississippi GOP Chairman Frank Bordeaux said he spent most of Tuesday traveling around the state but had been briefed on the Hinds County matter.
“If what I’m hearing is true, it’s very, very concerning,” Bordeaux said.
Mississippi is a “bottom-up” state when it comes to elections, meaning counties are largely responsible for staffing polling precincts and printing enough ballots. State law requires counties to print a minimum of 60% of ballots reflective of their active voter count.
If voters are in line by 8 p.m., they can stay in line until they cast a ballot.
Mississippians cast their votes Tuesday in the contentious governor’s race between Gov. Tate Reeves and Democratic challenger Brandon Presley.
Independent candidate Gwendolyn Gray, who dropped out of the race in early October, withdrew too late to be removed from the ballot. Her candidacy could force the first gubernatorial runoff in the state’s history.
Mississippi Today’s political team compiled key themes to watch tonight as the results come in.
Pre-election polling from both Democrats and Republicans showed Reeves right at or just under earning 50% of the vote. If Gray, the independent candidate, earned enough of a protest vote on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will face each other in a Nov. 28 runoff election.
The number to watch here is between 3% and 4%. One Republican consultant shared with Mississippi Today that they believe if Gray gets at least 3% of the overall statewide vote, it could be enough to keep Reeves or Presley under 50% and force a runoff. A second Republican consultant said it may take 4% support for Gray to force a runoff.
In 2019, there were two third-party candidates who ran against Reeves, the Republican nominee, and Jim Hood, the Democratic nominee. Together, those two third-party candidates only garnered 1.3% of the overall vote.
Did Reeves get enough conservative support?
Reeves this cycle notably struggled with firing up voters of the Republican Party’s most conservative wing.
If counties that are considered conservative strongholds turn out in numbers equal to or better than 2019, this could be a sign that Reeves has weathered struggles with GOP voter enthusiasm.
Jones County, considered by many the state’s capital of the far-right conservative movement, is a bellwether here. In 2019, Reeves earned 13,784 votes in Jones County — 65% of the county’s total 21,257 residents who cast ballots. If Reeves gets anything less than 13,784 votes today, that could be a sign of lower-than-needed conservative support.
Pearl River County, another strongly conservative locale, is another to watch. In 2019, Reeves earned 10,083 votes here — 77% of the county’s total 13,151 residents who cast ballots. It looks like 10,000 is the magic number for Reeves here, and anything less could show broader problems among Mississippi conservatives.
Did Presley get enough Black voter support?
Presley, if he has any chance of winning or forcing Reeves to a runoff, needs high levels of Black voter support. He has spent 2023 earnestly trying to earn that support, and numerous Black local elected officials have served as his surrogate for months.
Hinds County, of course, is the most critical county in this regard. It’s the most populous county in the state, and it’s 69% Black. In 2019, Hood, the Democrat, beat Reeves here by 56 points (78% to 22%). Hood beat Reeves in Hinds County by 40,527 votes — by far the largest head-to-head defeat in that election.
If Presley has upped that Hinds County margin of victory today, that could be enough to vault the Democrat’s campaign.
Of major note in Hinds County tonight: There were reports of at least nine precincts across the county that ran out of ballots at various points during the day. Multiple lawsuits were filed attempting to extend precinct hours, and less than an hour before the schedule 7 p.m. polling close time, a chancery judge extended the hours at some precincts.
The Gulf Coast battleground
The populous three counties of the Gulf Coast, by many accounts, secured Reeves’ victory in 2019 as he ran up a more than 22,400 vote margin over Hood. Reeves’ margin of victory in those three counties was about half of his overall margin of victory statewide.
Reeves topped Hood by 18 points in the second-most populous Harrison County. The Coast is a Republican stronghold, but even by that measure Hood performed poorly in turning out Coast Democrats.
Presley and his campaign have worked hard on the Coast, and focused on turning out Black voters in North Gulfport and Turkey Creek in Harrison County, Moss Point in Jackson County, and other relatively large Democratic areas.
Presley stands little chance of winning the Republican-majority Coast, but if he can substantially reduce Reeves’ margin there he can remain competitive statewide.
How do suburban voters swing?
Presley’s campaign has also targeted voters in suburban counties that typically vote Republican but have trended more toward Democrats in recent years.
In 2019, Reeves shellacked Hood by 23 points — or nearly 8,600 votes — in the state’s third-most populous DeSoto County. While DeSoto remains strongly Republican leaning, its growing population has shifted to include a larger Black voting age population more likely to vote Democratic. Plus, Presley has performed well there in his district runs for Public Service Commissioner, and his campaign this cycle has focused much effort, including a get-out-the-vote ground game, in DeSoto County. It’s highly unlikely Presley could win DeSoto, but cutting losses drastically compared to those Hood suffered there would be something of a victory in an area where Reeves ran up his margin four years ago.
Rankin County, Reeves’ home county and the largest suburban county in the Jackson metro, is another one to watch. In 2019, Reeves won 29,861 votes in Rankin County — 64% of the county’s total 46,654 residents who cast ballots. Presley likely has no hopes of flipping this county, but watch for a smaller Reeves margin of victory in Rankin County. If the margin is less than 16,793 votes, that could be a sign that Presley’s strategy to appeal to moderates worked some.
Staying in the Jackson metro area, don’t forget about Madison County, which was a bright spot for Democrats in 2019. Hood garnered 19,670 votes or 50.4% to become the first Democrat since 1987 to win Madison County. Reeves won 48.7% of the vote in 2019. If Presley expects to win or force a runoff, he needs to at least match Hood’s performance from 2019.
Presley’s northeast Mississippi home
Another county to watch closely that could signal suburban voter support: Lee County in northeast Mississippi.
In the early 2000s, Presley served as mayor of Nettleton, which is situated on the Lee County/Monroe County line. To be successful, Presley needs to do much better in his backyard of Lee County, the most populous county in the area, than Hood did in 2019. Even though Hood is from Chickasaw County, which is contiguous to Lee, he was still swamped by Reeves in Lee County four years ago. In 2019, Reeves captured 14,672 votes or 58.3% in Lee to 10,293 or 40.9% for Hood.
Presley might not need to win Lee County to win or force a runoff, but he needs to do much better than Hood did in 2019. Needless to say, Presley needs to outperform Hood’s 2019 effort throughout northeast Mississippi.
Mississippi Today, in partnership with The Atlantic, is pleased to announce the State of Our Union: Mississippi, a day-long summit focusing on big issues, solution-makers and thought leaders. The November 30 event, made possible through support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at The Faulkner in downtown Jackson, and will convene local leaders, policy makers, and journalists to highlight the regional issues influencing the national dialogue—including criminal-justice reform, K–12 education, the maternal-health crisis, climate change in the Deep South, and more.
“The State of Our Union is going to be a terrific day in Mississippi for civic dialog,” said Mary Margaret White, CEO of Mississippi Today. “We are proud to be the first ever local newsroom to partner with The Atlantic for a live event. We’ve brought together a line-up of local and regional leaders and journalists, alongside some tremendous national figures to discuss what’s working in Mississippi, and where we have room to grow.”
The State of Our Union will feature some of the South’s greatest minds in journalism, literature, politics and advocacy. In multiple plenary and breakout sessions on Thursday, November 30, these guests will discuss timely and pressing topics facing Mississippi, the South, and the nation as a whole. The program is meant, in part, to elevate the critical local journalism happening across our state and the region, and will also include prominent national voices in media, literature and politics to start meaningful conversations and hopefully inspire deep contemplation about our state and region’s present and future.
“What we hope people take away from this event is that change is possible, compromise is possible, progress is possible, a brighter future is possible,” said Evan Smith, senior advisor to the Emerson Collective and co-founder of the Texas Tribune who advised planning of the Mississippi event. “It all starts with talking and listening to your friends and neighbors — and depends on you being the best civic version of yourself.”
Registration for the in-person event is free, but space is limited. Virtual registration is available and will provide a livestream of the day’s events. To register or learn more about the program visit the State of Our Union website.
The day-long program will conclude with a ticketed event, A Night with the Newsroom, at the Two Mississippi Museums from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Join the Mississippi Today team and featured speakers for drinks, heavy hors d’oeuvres and entertainment by blues legend Jesse Robinson. Tickets are available here, and a young professional’s rate is available to those ages 35 and under. All proceeds directly support the mission-driven journalism at Mississippi Today.
View our just-launched agenda:
10 a.m.
Welcome Remarks with The Atlantic and Mississippi Today
State of Our State with Delbert Hosemann, Lieutenant Governor, Mississippi and Adam Ganucheau, editor in chief, Mississippi Today
The Big Story: Mississippi’s Welfare Scandal with Anna Wolfe, investigative reporter, Mississippi Today
National Politics With a Southern Flavor with Elise Jordan, political analyst, NBC News and MSNBC; Errin Haines, editor at large, The 19th; Eddie Glaude, professor, Department of African American Studies, Princeton University; Evan Smith, contributor, The Atlantic and senior advisor, Emerson Collective
12 p.m.
Lunch
1:15 p.m. – Breakout Sessions
Mothering in Mississippi: The State of Maternal Health, Access, and Outcomes, and the Path Forward, with Getty Israel, founder and CEO, Sisters in Birth; Justin Turner, chief medical officer, Mississippi Department of Health; Michelle Owens, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, University of Mississippi Medical Center; Kate Royals, community health editor, Mississippi Today
Reimagining K–12 Education, with Sanford Johnson, executive director, Teach Plus Mississippi; Kelly Butler, senior advisor, ReadingUniverse.org; Erica Jones, president, Mississippi Association of Educators; Adam Harris, staff writer, The Atlantic
Investigating Mississippi’s Most Powerful Position, the Sheriff, with Ilyssa Daly, reporter fellow, The New York Times; Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield, investigative reporting fellows, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting; Jerry Mitchell, founder, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today
2:15 p.m.
Climate Change and Environmental Justice in the Deep South, with Vann R. Newkirk II, senior editor, The Atlantic
The New Deep South, with writer Kiese Laymon; professor, UNC Chapel Hill, and columnist, The New York Times Tressie McMillan Cottom; Terry Baquet, editor in chief, Verite News
Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves faces Democratic challenger Brandon Presley on Nov. 7. A third candidate, independent Gwendolyn Gray, dropped out of the race in October but will will be on the ballot. Gray’s candidacy could throw the race into chaos, potentially forcing the first gubernatorial runoff in state history.
Lieutenant Governor
Incumbent Republican Delbert Hosemann, seeking a second and final term as lieutenant governor, faces Democratic challenger D. Ryan Grover.
Attorney General
Incumbent Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch faces Democratic challenger Greta Kemp Martin.
Secretary of State
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson, seeking a second term, faces Democratic challenger Ty Pinkins.
State Treasurer
Democrat Addie Lee Green is challenging Republican incumbent Treasurer David McRae.
State Auditor
Republican incumbent Auditor Shad White faces a challenge from Democrat Larry Bradford.
Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
Incumbent Republican Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson faces Democratic nominee Robert Bradford.
Commissioner of Insurance
Republican Mike Chaney, seeking his fifth term as Mississippi insurance commissioner, is being challenged by Democrat Bruce Burton in Tuesday’s general election.
Legislative races
Even though all 122 legislative districts will be on Tuesday, Democrats have no chance of wrestling control from the Republican majority later this fall.
Because Democrats are not challenging in enough legislative seats to gain control, the best they can hope for is ending supermajority Republican control of both the House and Senate.
The nonprofit Leapfrog Group released its hospital safety grades for the fall of 2023, showing the state’s largest public hospital joined nine others in scoring a “B,” its highest score to date.
Eight years after it received an “F” rating, the University of Mississippi Medical Center scored a “B,” which hospital leaders say is the result of a targeted effort to improve safety measures.
Eight Mississippi hospitals received an “A” safety score, a decrease from 11 in May.
Leapfrog, which advocates for hospital transparency, assigns biannual grades to about 3,000 general acute-care hospitals across the nation based on how those institutions protect patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.
UMMC is the state’s only academic medical center and cares for the highest-risk patients in Mississippi. It is also home to the state’s only organ and tissue transplant program, Level I trauma center, and a children’s hospital with specialized pediatric programs.
Its latest grade places it in the ranks with other academic medical centers such as Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, according to UMMC’s press release.
“We’re a Level I trauma center, we’re a tertiary care center, we’re an academic medical center, and we’re the only one of those in a state with the sickest patients in the nation,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, said in the press release.
Following its “F” score back in 2015, the hospital has been gradually increasing its letter grade, receiving a “D” for three years in a row, a “C” for the following four years, and a “B” for the first time this year.
No Mississippi hospitals received an “F” in the latest report, but three scored a “D,” including Merit Health Central in Jackson. The letter grade is based on the hospital’s performance in five categories: infections, problems with surgery, safety problems, practices to prevent errors, and doctors, nurses and hospital staff.
Merit Health Central scored worse than average compared to other hospitals in the rate of deaths from serious treatable complications post-surgery, as well as the rate of dangerous objects left in patients’ bodies after surgery.
The urban hospital, which began cutting services like general surgery and its neonatal intensive care unit last year, has long serviced predominantly Black neighborhoods with a high concentration of people living below the poverty line.
An estimated 160,000 lives are lost annually across the country due to avoidable medical errors, an improvement from the 205,000 lives in 2016, according to the Leapfrog group.
Incumbent Republican Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson faces Democratic nominee Robert Bradford in Tuesday’s general election.
Gipson, 46, of Braxton, is a lawyer, a tree and cattle farmer, a Baptist minister and former longtime state representative, where he served as chairman of the Judiciary B Committee. He was appointed as agriculture commissioner in 2018 to fill out now U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s term, then elected to the post.
Bradford, 50, is a fourth-generation Delta farmer. He is currently serving as the director of the Natchez-Adams County Homeland Security Program, Floodplain Management Program, Emergency 9-1-1 coordinator and Emergency Management Agency. Bradford is a U.S. Army 82nd Airborne veteran, and retired as a major with the Army Reserves. He has a bachelor of science degree in agronomy from Alcorn State University.
Gipson said he’s made great accomplishments during his term-and-a-half as agriculture commissioner. He said he’s consolidated divisions within his agency and saved tax dollars, helped grow international markets for the state’s growers and fought unnecessary regulatory burdens from Washington.
“Agriculture is the single largest economic sector in the state of Mississippi,” Gipson said. “Another reason it’s so critical, is it’s the only industry God personally designed for the sustainability of the world.”
Bradford says his experience in farming, emergency management and military planning make him the most qualified candidate to oversee the state’s agriculture industry.
“Why do we have an attorney running our agriculture?” Bradford told a recent crowd at a candidates’ forum. “… There’s nothing political in agriculture. The only red and blue things in agriculture are strawberries and blueberries.”
Republican Mike Chaney, seeking his fifth term as Mississippi insurance commissioner, is being challenged by Democrat Bruce Burton in Tuesday’s general election.
Burton, who has run unsuccessfully for both the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Central District Public Service Commissioner, is a Jackson attorney. He was born in Shaw.
Burton was unopposed in the Democratic primary earlier this year. Chaney defeated Mitch Young in the August Republican primary, winning 80% of the vote.
Chaney previously served 15 years in the Legislature, first in the state House and later in the Senate.
“He is charged with providing Mississippians with the maximum amount of consumer protection possible,” Chaney’s campaign website says. “The aim is to create the highest degree of economic security, quality of life and public safety for citizens at the lowest possible cost.”
In earlier campaigns, Burton was described as someone who “believes in hard work and in helping others, and in truth, honesty, and integrity. Bruce is very down to earth, and he is authentically himself. With Bruce there is no pretentiousness. What you see is what you get. Bruce’s genuineness is easily observed from the moment you meet him. He never meets a stranger.”
Chaney, like most Republicans running for statewide office this year in Mississippi, is viewed as a heavy favorite.
According to the latest campaign finance report filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Chaney has $247,025 cash on hand. His campaign has spent $244,515 this year.
Burton has not raised nor spent any funds and has no cash on hand, according to his filings with the Mississippi Secretary of State.
The election for Mississippi state treasurer is a rematch from 2019.
This year, Democratic former Bolton Alderwoman Addie Lee Green will be challenging Republican incumbent Treasurer David McRae.
In 2019, McRae handily defeated Green, garnering 61% of the vote compared to 39% for Green.
Green ran unsuccessfully for the post of commissioner of agriculture and commerce in 2015. McRae ran unsuccessfully for the post of treasurer in 2015 against incumbent Lynn Fitch. In 2019, Fitch opted to run for the post of attorney general, and McRae ran his second statewide campaign for treasurer and won.
Treasurer David McRae speaks during the 2023 Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., Thursday, July 27, 2023. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
This election cycle, as the incumbent, McRae, has run a low-key campaign. He did not appear at the recent Mississippi Economic Council’s annual Hobnob, where state politicians address members of the business community.
Green did speak at Hobnob, offering a colorful speech — a hallmark of her campaigns.
Green said that part of the problem in Mississippi is that, “We have left God and it is all about self.”
“It is time for us to make a difference. Come together. We ought to be able to cross lines to help the people who elect us,” Green said, arguing many changes need to be made in the state such as expanding Medicaid.
Green helped organize a union when she worked at a Clinton auto manufacturing plant. McRae was a Ridgeland attorney and managing partner in a family business, McRae Investments, before winning the treasurer’s office.
The office of treasurer — one of eight statewide posts — serves multiple functions, including maintaining the state’s financial records and overseeing the investment of state funds. The office manages the state’s college savings plans, which allow parents to invest funds for their children’s tuition, and the treasurer also oversees the state’s unclaimed property.
McRae has touted his efforts to return to citizens unclaimed property from old financial accounts and from other sources, such as money from a deceased family member.
“I’ve made it my goal to return as much money to Mississippians as possible,” he said on social media.
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson, seeking a second term, faces Democratic challenger Ty Pinkins in Tuesday’s general election.
Watson, 45, from Pascagoula, served in the state Senate from 2008 to 2020. He ran his own law firm, focusing on business, construction and probate law. He was elected secretary of state in 2019.
Pinkins, 49, from Vicksburg, is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who served three combat tours, a former White House communications aide and former lawyer with the Mississippi Center for Justice.
Watson said he’s cut red tape for businesses and worked with lawmakers to make elections more secure and now it’s “harder to cheat and easier to vote.” He said he will push for major campaign finance reform and further reductions in business regulations if reelected.
“Mississippians and businesses know what to do best and government needs to get out of the way most of the time,” Watson said.
Pinkins said Mississippi’s economy trails most of the rest of the country, and Watson had many years as a state senator before his four as secretary of state to champion campaign finance reform but didn’t. He said he will bring such needed reform, and will also push for online voter registration and no-excuse early voting.
“I’m running for secretary of state because I believe in Mississippi’s potential,” Pinkins said. “… I’m running for secretary of state because I’ve been all over this state and people in Mississippi are ready for someone to lead.”
