JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves filed for re-election on Tuesday, marking the first day that candidates for state and local offices can submit qualifying papers for the 2023 election.
Feb. 1 is the qualifying deadline for an election that will include statewide offices, state district offices, legislative seats and county offices. The party’s primaries are scheduled for August 8, with a runoff on August 29. General elections on November 7, with a second round on November 28.
Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky are the only states to elect governors this year.
Reeves, a Republican, called a press conference to announce his intention to run for a second four-year term, touting the state’s efforts under his watch to limit abortion rights, increase the development of labor- workforce, increase teachers’ salaries and reduce state income tax.
“We had the opportunity to achieve what I believe to be the most important victory of the conservative movement in my life. Mississippi led the way by overturning Roe v. Wade,” Reeves said. “I’m so proud that Mississippi did this.”
Reeves said Mississippi had its lowest unemployment rate in state history, with its tight labor market reflecting a national trend. “We still have more people looking for jobs than people looking for jobs,” Reeves said.
Prior to his ascension to governor, Reeves served two terms as lieutenant governor and two terms as state treasurer.
Reeves said his tenure has been complicated by 14 natural disasters in Mississippi since 2019. He also oversaw the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to a water crisis in his capital, Jackson, although he was criticized by some Democrats. officials for limiting funds for infrastructure upgrades.
Brandon Presley, a Democrat who is one of three members of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, is seen by some as a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor.
“I can tell you this, whatever I do next in my career, I will continue to focus on improving the lives of average Mississippians who can’t write a $1,000 campaign check and need public servants. of the state with a real backbone to defend them. , their families and communities,” Presley said in a statement Tuesday.
Presley is a distant relative of music icon Elvis Presley, a native of Mississippi.
In the 2019 Republican primary, Reeves faced former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. and Robert Foster, a former conservative state representative. Reeves beat Waller in a second round.
Waller told The Associated Press he was “strongly considering” mounting another gubernatorial campaign to challenge Reeves in 2023, citing concerns about population decline, hospital closings and “corruption” linked to a social scandal that shook the state.
“I think things have gotten worse since I raced four years ago,” Waller said.
Foster announced Monday that he would bypass a gubernatorial race this year and instead run for a seat on the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors in northern Mississippi.
In a written announcement, Foster criticized the policies adopted by his party during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have an established group of one-party politicians leading our state GOP who not only failed to stand up for freedom when we needed it most, but they all mostly participated in the pageantry of tyranny,” said said Foster.
Reeves is the 65th governor of Mississippi. If re-elected, he would be the state’s fourth governor to win a second consecutive term. Until the late 1980s, Mississippi prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms.
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Michael Goldberg is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on underreported issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
Michael Goldberg, l’Associated Press