Primary winners Reeves and Presley set sights on general election

The Associated Press declared Reeves the Republican nominee around 8:15 p.m., defeating challengers Dr. John Witcher and David Grady Hardigree with less than 80% of the vote. Neither challenger has ever held public office, and Reeves barely mentioned either of them in his campaign speeches.

At his watch party at Capitol Inn in Jackson, Reeves thanked supporters and had harsh words for his opponent. Reeves will seek a second term on a platform of progress that's been made in the state's education numbers. He is also promising Mississippians an effort to do away with income tax.

“The fact that Mississippi has the lowest unemployment rate in state history, the fact that Mississippi has more people working today than at any time in state history, the fact that we were successful as a state in so many ways on the education…” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our teachers, of our parents, of our kids.”

Reeves will face Democrat Brandon Presley, who won his primary unopposed. In the lead-up to the primary, the incumbent has already campaigned against Presley, accusing his opponent of wanting to do away with Mississippi's values.

“My opponent and his party bosses think welfare is better than work,” he said in his speech to supporters. “They think this state and this country are inherently racist and we should lay down and let them run our lives.”

In 2019, Reeves secured his first term in the closest governor's race in 20 years. His margin of victory in this year's primary was smaller than the last two republican incumbents.

Presley, currently serving as public service commissioner, has earned monitory support from national democratic groups such as the Democrat Governors Association, and is confident that he can earn the vote of undecided voters in the general election.

“We're looking forward to bringing over a lot of Republicans who voted against Tate Reeves tonight to our side of the aisle,” he said. “along with a bunch of independents and win in November with our strong democratic vote that we know we're going to be able to turn out.”

He fired back at his opponent, accusing Reeves of not taking enough action in regards to the state's current hospital crisis.

“He acts like he's at Disney World while our hospitals are closing down and we're losing health care jobs,” Presley said. “This governor's had 12 long years in leadership in this state to get these things accomplished… And he doesn't have the guts or the backbone to take on the fights that really matter for people in Mississippi.”

Members of both mens’ parties have criticized their nominees. Some democrats are unhappy with Presley recently making his pro-life stance public. And LGBTQ+ advocates expressed disappointment when he said he does not plan to challenge any recent legislation limiting health care access to transgender youth.

Reeves has received backlash for not taking much visible action during his tenure as governor, as he has taken a very “hands-off” approach to leading Mississippi. Reeves has been running on a platform of eliminating income tax for years, but was unable to get much support from the legislature.

One of the biggest issues riding on who wins the governorship is Medicaid expansion. Presley supports expanding the health insurance program to impoverished Mississippians. Reeves paints Medicaid expansion as a "welfare check" and instead proposes getting more Missippippans on private insurance through employers.

The general election will be held on Nov. 7.