Second term Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves will represent the Republican party on the November ballot for Governor. MPB's Ashley Norwood has more on last night's victory.
Tate Reeves is the Republican Party's nominee for governor of Mississippi. He defeated former Supreme court chief justice Bill Waller, Jr. by more than 27,000 votes. Reeves is addressing a crowd of supporters at last night's watch party in Jackson.
"Mississippi is a conservative state and I know we will elect a conservative governor. Mississippians believe the way to a better future is not through handouts or bailouts but through hard work and more freedom. And that's the difference between me and Jim Hood," said Reeves.
Attorney General Jim Hood is the Democratic nominee for Governor. During a press conference last night, he says he's optimistic he will win in November- partly because he says many of Waller's voters are backing him.
"I've always gotten crossover votes. I haven't been a partisan. I've tried to do things what were best for Mississippi. Now you're going to see him (Reeves) and all these cronies come here and try to claim there's some kind of liberal conspiracy to get them (votes). There's nothing in my record of 5 years as assistant Attorney General, 8 years as a district attorney, 16 years as attorney general that they can actually point to. If they want to throw around labels I'm going to talk about the issues just like Judge Waller did and I think in the end people in Mississippi want to see a change. They know what's happening is not working," said Hood.
The Republican primary runoff for governor was called about two hours after polls closed. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller conceded shortly after.
"So I think all in all it was a great effort and I think that we made a statement about what we need to do in Mississippi and I appreciate you so much," said Waller.
The general election is November 5. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
