Leading up to the 2019 general election, voters in Mississippi were generally split on their confidence in then Lt. Governor Tate Reeves. Now after six months in the governor’s seat, more than 50% of voters approve of how Republican Governor Reeves is handling statewide issues. That’s according to the Summer 2020 Millsaps College-Chism Strategies State of the State Survey.
Brannon Miller is director of voter targeting at Chism Strategies. He says he didn’t expect the governor would receive such high ratings but attributes it to a change in the way Reeves is approaching politics.
“He’s made attempts to reach out to talk to folks from all political perspectives, his rhetoric has been much less combatic in the last six months, and he has been a steady hand in the wheel through all this and that's reflected in the way voters responded in this poll,” said Miller.
Miller says the Governor’s 52% approval rating represented mostly Republicans - more than 80% - but also 42% of independents and 26% of democrats.
On a national scale, the poll shows Mississippi voters are slightly and slowly trending away from likely Republican nominee Donald Trump. If the November presidential election were held today, 41% of voters responded saying they would most likely vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Fifty percent say they’d vote for Trump.
Miller says that reduces the president’s lead in the state to a single digit.
“That just reflects a larger national trend,” said Miller.
“And so Mississippi is more inelastic than the rest of the country but we still are slightly trending away from Donald Trump towards Joe Biden. With that said, Donald Trump is still far and away the favorite to win Mississippi.”
Miller says Biden gained three points in Mississippi since the Spring State of the State Survey, rising from 38% to 41%. Meanwhile, President Trump moved up from 49% to 50% in the same time period. For more on the survey results, click here.
