STARKVILLE — A 2019 gubernatorial battle between incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood stacks up as an instant classic old school political street brawl — the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Mississippi since Republican Haley Barbour squared off against Democrat Ronnie Musgrove in 2003.
In that race — to date the most expensive governor’s race in Mississippi history — Barbour unseated the incumbent by taking almost 53 percent of the vote.
Between Barbour and Musgrove, some $18 million was expended in that campaign, with Barbour getting the benefit of another $5 million in television advertising paid for by the Republican Governors Association.
In that same 2003 general election, GOP nominee Reeves won election as the first Republican state treasurer with 52 percent of the vote to Democrat Gary Anderson’s 47 percent. On that same ballot, Democrat Hood won election to his first term as attorney general with 63 percent of the vote to 37 percent for Republican Scott Newton.
Over the next dozen years, Reeves would win a second term as state treasurer and two terms as lieutenant governor, while Hood wold win three more terms as attorney general.
Out of the starting blocks for 2019, Reeves has amassed a campaign war chest of well over $5 million and has not been particularly coy about his desire to seek the governor’s office. Term-limited after two consecutive terms as lieutenant governor, Reeves’ entry into the governor’s race has been almost a forgone conclusion. Reeves’ campaign is already underway, full speed ahead.
Hood, on the other hand, had been much closer to the vest about his plans until the last few months. This week, he announced that his long-rumored gubernatorial bid was going to happen. The worst-kept secret in Mississippi politics is out.
A Reeves-Hood matchup pits two proven public officials who each have been able to command popular vote majorities in four consecutive elections. The Reeves win over Billy Hewes in the 2011 GOP primary particularly served notice of Reeves’ strength among his own party.
But Hood is a different breed of cat for the Democrats. Hood has won popular vote majorities even with Republicans dominating the top of the ticket in the state and with the GOP throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him in four straight elections and still failing to unseat him.
No one in the Mississippi GOP — least of all a battle-tested Reeves — will be taking Hood lightly in 2019.
• Sid Salter is director of the Office of University Relations at Mississippi State University. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
