Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeated former Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller 54-46 in yesterday’s runoff for the Republican nomination for governor. 

Reeves advances to the general election where he will meet Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood. 

Republicans also chose their attorney general nominee. State Treasurer Lynn Fitch defeated attorney Andy Taggart 52-48. Fitch will face Democrat Jennifer Collins in November as Republicans look to finally capture the one statewide office they don’t hold. 

Republicans in the northern district chose a nominee for transportation commissioner. John Caldwell defeated Geoffrey Yoste 57-43. Caldwell will meet Democrat Joe Grist in the general election. 

And Jackson Councilman De’Keither Stamps will be the Democratic nominee for Public Service Commissioner in the central district. Stamps will face Republican Brent Bailey in November. Bailey was the Republican nominee four years ago as well, losing to Democrat Cecil Brown. 

For the legislature, five Republican incumbents and two Democratic incumbents lost their bids for re-election. As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, two races – Senate District 3 and Senate District 50 – have yet to be called. 

Races in italics have yet to be called.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeated former Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller in the runoff for the Republican nomination for governor. Reeves advances to face Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood in the November general election. 

Reeves maintained a steady lead throughout the night as results began to trickle in. The race was called shortly before 9 p.m. 

As county totals began to appear, the board looked eerily similar to three weeks ago. A huge chunk of votes for Waller in Hinds, Madison, and Rankin counties, while Reeves performed well virtually everywhere else in the state.

Waller made some new inroads, particularly Northeast Mississippi, but it wasn't nearly enough to slow down Reeves in Republican primary strongholds outside the metro area. 

Map: Counties won by each candidate

This includes the population centers that are furthest north and south in the state. 

Once again, Reeves was simply dominant in the lower six counties, most notably, the three Coast counties. Reeves won 66 percent of the vote in Harrison county, 69 percent in Hancock county, and 71 percent in Jackson county. South Mississippi again was able to provide the numbers needed to counteract Waller's strength in the metro area.

And Reeves notched a victory in Desoto county. It was carried by State Rep. Robert Foster, who represents a House district in Desoto county, three weeks ago. Foster proceeded to endorse Waller, but Reeves still won 54 percent of the vote in the county. 

Also, as of 9:30 p.m., state Treasurer Lynn Fitch was maintaining a small lead over attorney Andy Taggart in the race for the Republican nomination for attorney general. With 90 percent in, Fitch was leading 51.5- 48.5 though the race has yet to be called. 

Stay tuned. We will have more election coverage on Wednesday.

In this edition of Unlicensed, we talk about the Reeves/ Waller debate, Tuesday's runoff, and the direction of the Republican Party. 

Has anything changed during the runoff? Can either Bill Waller or Andy Taggart close the gap in their races?

Voters in both the Republican and Democratic Party will head back to the polls on Tuesday for primary runoffs. 

This will include two statewide races on the Republican side, led by the gubernatorial runoff between Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and former Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller. Reeves led the pack, picking up almost 49 percent of the vote. Fifty-percent plus one was needed to avoid a runoff. 

Waller finished second with 33 percent of the vote. The third place finisher, State Rep. Robert Foster, endorsed Waller last week. Reeves picked up his own endorsement from an unlikely ally, State Sen. Chris McDaniel.

McDaniel, who nearly toppled Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014, and Reeves have long been at odds despite sharing many similarities when it comes to policy. This has resulted in McDaniel being largely relegated to the backbench in the Senate though he has been a more reliable liberty vote than virtually every other member of the chamber. But for 2019, the two came together. 

“No one has more reason to be displeased with Tate Reeves than I do,” McDaniel said. “But this is not about personalities, it’s about policies… I’m willing to put aside our past because I trust that (Reeves) will govern as a conservative.”

Republicans will also be selecting their nominee for attorney general. Treasurer Lynn Fitch led the field with 44 percent of the vote. Attorney Andy Taggart finished second, outpacing State Rep. Mark Baker by about 4,500 votes. Baker proceeded to endorse Taggart after the first round. 

Republicans in the Northern District will select a nominee for Transportation Commissioner. Voters will choose between John Caldwell, who received about 31 percent of the vote in the first round and Geoffrey Yoste who received 26 percent. 

Democrats in the Central District will choose between Jackson City Councilman De’Keither Stamps and Dorothy Benford for Public Service Commissioner. Stamps received about 40 percent of the vote; Benford 33 percent. 

Along with statewide and regional runoffs, voters in districts throughout the state will also be selecting the Republican or Democratic nominees in a number of House and Senate races. 

House and Senate runoffs

There were no clear winners of Wednesday’s Republican gubernatorial debate, but both candidates were able to clearly differentiate their policy positions.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and former state Supreme Court justice Bill Waller battled over such topics as Medicaid expansion, infrastructure, the economy and teacher pay. 

The most pointed difference of the night was when both were asked what it meant to be a true conservative.

Reeves said being a conservative to him meant limited government, low taxes and more freedom. 

Waller said that his plans were true conservative plans because they were the pillars of economic development and that a true conservative wouldn’t allow 31 rural hospitals to close and choose not to fill teacher vacancies. 

Reeves said that he’s opposed to expanding Medicaid (which he called and has called Obamacare) because it’d mean 300,000 more Mississippians would be dependent on government. 

He also cited information about Louisiana’s disastrous Medicaid expansion, where the number of new signups was vastly underestimated and three in five Louisianans have moved from private to public insurance.

Waller agreed with the 300,000 new Medicaid participant figure from Reeves and countered that information he’d seen from a Brookings Institution study that expanding Medicaid would help Mississippi’s 31 rural hospitals financially. He also said expanding Medicaid would have a billion dollar impact on the state’s economy.

A 2016 study by the Congressional Budget Office throws cold water on that viewpoint, saying that Medicaid expansion would not “substantially alter” the solvency of hospitals nationwide.

On infrastructure, Waller said his plan was a conservative, one-for-one tax swap, eliminating the state’s four percent income tax bracket in exchange for an increase in the state’s gasoline tax. He criticized Reeves about using lottery funds for infrastructure, saying that you can’t build roads on fluctuating revenues.

Reeves countered that a gasoline tax hike would add up to $240 million and that doing a swap would be a net $80 million per year tax hike on working Mississippi families.

Both candidates agreed that a teacher pay hike was needed and both want to increase the average salary to the southeastern average. 

The Reeves/ Waller and Fitch/ Taggart battles aren’t the only runoffs for Republican nominations on August 27. There are a number of runoffs in legislative races, many including incumbents who are hoping to be back for another term.

Here is a look at the runoffs for incumbents:

Senate District 1: Sen. Chris Massey of Nesbit received the most votes with 45 percent. He will face Hernando alderman Michael McLendon, who finished second with 30 percent, in the runoff.

House District 88: Rep. Gary Staples of Laurel finished second, winning 34 percent of the vote. Ramona Blackledge, the longtime Tax Assessor/ Collector in Jones County, led the field with 47 percent. 

House District 95: Rep. Patricia Willis of Diamondhead received 31 percent of the vote. Jay McKnight, a small businessman, led with 38 percent.

House District 105: Rep. Roun McNeal of Leakesville finished second with 37 percent of the vote. He trailed Dale Goodin, a longtime public school teacher and administrator, who received 42 percent of the vote.

House District 106: Rep. John Corley of Lumberton received 31 percent of the vote. Jansen Owen of Poplarville, an attorney, led the pack with 41 percent. 

House District 114: Rep. Jeffrey Guice received the most votes at 43 percent. Kenneth Fountain, the Chairman of the Jackson County School District Board, finished second with 35 percent.

Three Republican incumbents have already been defeated in the House: Reps. Greg Snowden, who is also the Speaker Pro Temp, Jeff Smith, who is the Ways & Means chairman, and William Shirley.  

Additional legislative runoffs in the Republican primary for open seats:

State Sen. Michael Watson accomplished something on Tuesday that many members of the legislature try, but seldom accomplish: win the Republican nomination for a statewide office.

Watson defeated Public Service Commissioner Sam Britton, who represents about one-third of the state in that regulatory position, by a 54-46 margin. He now faces former Hattiesburg mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Johnny DuPree in the general election, where he is the odds-on favorite. 

While Watson was successful, three other members of the legislature were hoping to ascend to statewide office. State Sen. Buck Clarke, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee for the past eight years, was running for treasurer. State Rep. Mark Baker ran for attorney general and State Rep. Robert Foster ran for governor. 

Some, like Foster, were underdogs from beginning. But still, they all lost. The story wasn’t much different in years prior.

In 2011, three members of the legislature were hoping to make the jump. State Sen. Billy Hewes was challenging then-Treasurer Tate Reeves for the open lieutenant governor’s office, State Sen. Lee Yancey was running for treasurer, and State Rep. Dannie Reed was running for agriculture commissioner. Each of these candidates, some more serious than others, lost.

But a state legislator did win that year. Then-State Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was elected agriculture commissioner.

And then back in 2007, as the Republican Party was officially solidifying their statewide dominance, two members of the legislature were successful in a Republican primary. Then-State Sen. Mike Chaney won the Republican primary for insurance commissioner, though he had little opposition. And then-State Sen. Stacey Pickering won the Republican nomination for state auditor, though he had no opposition on the GOP side.

But that same year, State Sen. Charlie Ross was defeated by then-Auditor Phil Bryant for the open lieutenant governor’s office. And State Rep. Mike Lott ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state. 

Even in 2003, at a time when Republicans held two statewide offices (thanks to Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck switching parties before qualifying), legislators still had trouble. This was Tate Reeves’ first entrance into politics, and before he could become treasurer, he defeated, among others, State Rep. Andrew Ketchings in the primary.  

Part of the problem today is that the Republican bench of statewide officials has more-or-less rewarded “moving up” offices. And any statewide official certainly has a name, and likely, money, advantage over a legislator. But we’ve also seen candidates do better with no political background – such as David McRae in the treasurer’s office this year. 

A lot of members of the legislature have wanted to become statewide officials. Few have been successful. But as Watson showed, it's not impossible.

Since the story was originally published, updates have been made to include Cindy Hyde-Smith and Stacey Pickering.

A glance of the county map from Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary shows most of the counties went for Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves. And that is true, they did.

Reeves carried 74 of the state’s 82 counties, while former Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller won six and State Rep. Robert Foster won two counties. But, as we know, not all counties are the same and Reeves was held to 49 percent, just under the threshold needed to avoid a runoff. 

Republican primaries were once limited to about a dozen counties, but that has certainly expanded. And to Reeves’ benefit. There were 27 counties that provided more than 5,000 votes. 

Waller maximized his support in his home territory around Jackson. He carried Hinds county with almost 59 percent of the vote, while picking up about 62 percent of the vote in Madison county. Waller even led the pack in Rankin county, Reeves’ home county, with 45 percent. 

These three counties provided about 64,000 votes, or about 17 percent of the total votes cast on Tuesday. Rankin county provided more votes than any other county in the state. Madison was fourth and Hinds sixth. 

The county that provided the second highest number of votes? Desoto, carried by Foster who is from Hernando.

Desoto leaves us with more unknowns because of Foster’s strength. But Foster aside, yesterday Reeves received more than triple the number of voters as Waller in the county. 

Despite the Jackson metro area and Desoto county, Reeves led – sometimes with large numbers – everywhere else in the state. For example, the lower six counties of the state (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, George, Pearl River, and Stone counties) provided essentially the same number of voters as the metro area. Reeves won each, winning between 56 and 65 percent of the vote.

Overall, Reeves won 22 of the 27 counties with more than 5,000 Republican voters. 

The Reeves and Waller runoff will certainly generate most of the headlines over the next three weeks, but it’s not the only statewide runoff. Treasurer Lynn Fitch, who opted to run for Attorney General, led a three-person race winning 44 percent of the vote. She will face attorney Andy Taggart in the runoff for the last office in the state Republicans have yet to capture. 

In this edition of Unlicensed, the MCPP team talks about the results from Tuesday’s primary election.

Tate Reeves narrowly missed a majority and will meet Bill Waller in the gubernatorial runoff. Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart will be in the runoff for the Republican nominee for Attorney General. Meanwhile, Michael Watson and David McRae advance. And there were some upsets in the legislature. 

What should we look for in the runoff and in the general election?