Mississippi Republican Gov Tate Reeves wins second term

Tuesday night, incumbent Republican Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves won a second term after his Democratic opponent, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, conceded the race.
 

According to Decision Desk HQ, Reeves had brought in 51.9 percent of votes while Pressley brought in 46.7 percent as on Wednesday morning, when 91 percent of votes had been tallied.

Reeves ran on his record as governor of the red state, including presiding over Mississippi’s lowest unemployment rate in the state's history and increasing educational achievement levels.

With a poverty rate below 18.1 percent in 2021, Mississippi is the poorest state in the union. The Magnolia State’s economy and healthcare were major issues in the race.

With almost half of the state’s rural hospitals in danger of closing, Reeves touted his work with hospital leaders to prevent closures.

His opponents slammed him for refusing to expand Medicaid. Reeves told Fox News, "I don't believe that we should add 300,000 able-bodied adult Mississippians to the welfare rolls. I don't think that's good public policy. I don't think it's good public policy for a lot of reasons, one of which is it would not provide the financial windfall that Democrats claim that it would for our providers."

Presley, who is rock and roll legend Elvis Presley's second cousin, had a platform that included expanding Medicare.

The contest was close, as two weeks ago, the Cook Political Report shifted the race from "likely Republican" to "lean Republican," after Reeves won by just 5 percent in 2019.