Democrats Seek to Turn Deep-Red Mississippi Blue by Flipping Governor’s Seat

Activists, lawmakers, and Democratic organizations believe that they can defeat the Republican incumbent in 2023 Mississippi gubernatorial election Due to numerous controversies that haunt the governor.

“Governor Tate Reeves has failed the people of Mississippi. Under his watch, cronyism is running rampant and taxpayers are facing the largest public corruption scandal in state history, while good job opportunities, health care, and clean water continue to be out of reach for too many families,” Democratic Governors Association (DGA), Sam Newton, Deputy Communications Director, told The Epoch Times.

The Epoch Times reached out to the governor’s office for a response to the DGA’s statement, but they declined to comment.

According to texts obtained by Mississippi Today, where tens of millions of dollars from a federal block grant called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ( TANF) were re-directed to the rich and powerful instead of the state’s poorest residents.

To recover the misappropriated money, the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a civil suit.

Democrats believe the scandal, added to the potential closure of nearly half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals due to economic strain and a water crisis in Jackson, is enough to flip the governor’s seat.

“The DGA has shown that we can win anywhere, including ousting GOP incumbents in very tough environments like Kentucky, Wisconsin, and North Carolina in recent election cycles,” Newton said.

In addition to the several controversies that could potentially impact the governor’s race, a new poll from Siena College/Mississippi Today It was found that 57% of voters in the state support it. “someone else” as governor in 2023—including 67 percent of independent voters and one-third of Republicans. The poll also revealed that Reeve’s approval rating has dropped to just 40 percent among Mississippi voters.

Republican Reponse

Mississippi Republicans meanwhile maintain that despite negative polling, they have a strong record to run on to keep the governor’s mansion and that Reeves has been one of the most successful governors in the state’s history.

“The DGA thought they were going to take over the governor’s mansion in 2019 and they failed to do it then,” The Epoch Times was informed by Frank Bordeaux, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. “The reality is since 2019 the conservative policies that have been enacted under Governor Reeve’s leadership have been the largest tax cuts in state history, the largest teacher pay raise in state history, we’ve seen the largest gains in public education in state history, we’ve seen the highest graduation rate we’ve ever seen in state history you’ve seen private investment in our state, in state history.”

Bordeaux says the GOP has built a very organized ground game in Mississippi to combat the DGA, and that their field of candidates running for election in the state is the most diverse as it’s ever been with a record number of minorities running as republicans.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Mississippi has nearly 39 percent of its black residents. It’s a minority block that has been actively targeted by both parties and one that Matt Angle, Democratic strategist and Director of the Texas Lone Star Project told The Epoch Times could be enough to turn the deep red state of Mississippi – blue.

“Mississippi is a good example of a small state with the demographics to have a relatively sudden political turnaround,” Angle, a member of an organization that works to make Texas blue, said: “It has a large black population that, while not liberal, is becoming more organized and activated. At the same time, Republicans are not just extreme but ineffective.”

Brandon Presley

Republicans insist that history will repeat itself in Mississippi, but Democrats believe that this time they have another advantage with Brandon Presley as their candidate for governor.

Presley, who is the state’s Northern District public service commissioner, is also a distant cousin of Elvis Presley and is a popular Democrat in a deeply red state who has a record of working across the aisle (he endorsed the reelection campaign of former President George W. Bush in 2004). He is also the youngest person ever elected as mayor in Mississippi’s history, becoming mayor of Nettleton at the age of 23, and has already been endorsed by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.

In a, the commissioner announced his candidacy for governor. video on Twitter Reeves was immediately targeted earlier in the month.

“I’m running for governor because I know Mississippi can do better,” Presley. “We got a state filled with good people but horrible politicians, and that includes our governor. Tate Reeves is a man with zero conviction and maximum corruption.”

Presley also jokes about his cousin in the video. “the King of Rock and Roll.” Presley’s grandfathers were brothers.

“My cousin grew up just down the road in Tupelo. You’ve probably heard of him.”

Presley, 45, also spoke out about his childhood and how he was able to see through cracks in his home. He also shared how his mother worked as a preschool teacher and a garment factory worker. Presley revealed that his father, an alcoholic, was killed when Presley was in the third grade.

It’s a combination of tragedies that some strategists believe voters could empathize with or relate to.

“It is still a steep uphill climb, but a mainstream Democrat may be able to build a coalition to take out Republican leadership that is more MAGA than Mississippi,” Angle.

According to the Republican Party, they remain unimpressed and claim that Democrats are trying negative campaigns, while they are focusing more on a positive message.

“I don’t believe Mississippi is going to turn blue in 2023. I think the momentum is on our side. I think there is a lot of energy behind us, [and] I believe that we have the organization already in place and they’re starting from scratch,” says Bordeaux.

“We’ve gained 17 Republican clubs in our state in the past two years. We have a record number of Republicans running for office from election commissioner all the way to governor,” He stated.

Two other gubernatorial elections will take place in 2023, other than the governor’s race in Mississippi, including races in Louisiana and Kentucky.