Anti-Establishment GOP Takes on Mississippi's Statewide Elections

Several key positions in the state of Mississippi are up for grabs this year and several anti-establishment Republicans have tossed their names into the hat.

The primary election, which will take place on August 6, has candidates scrambling to appeal to constituent needs and liken themselves to the vision President Trump shares for America. Some candidates are sincere, but others simply need votes.

The Mississippi governor’s race features a crowded field of eight Democrats who are seeking their party’s nomination, including the state’s current Attorney General Jim Hood. The Republican field of primary candidates aiming to defeat Hood, who is the only Democrat holding statewide elected office, includes retired longtime state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr., state Rep. Robert Foster, and the state’s Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves.

Despite two anti-establishment Republicans in the race for governor, a poll released last month showed Reeves leading his challengers, including Waller, in the race for governor, with 37 percent of the respondents saying they would “definitely” vote for him and ten percent saying they would “probably” vote him.

According to one online report, Waller has about $373,000 in cash, while Foster has around $7,000 in his campaign account ahead of the primary. Both candidates’ cash combined will make for an interesting primary election against Reeves, who raised $227,000 in June alone.

Should Waller, who is currently polling second highest, along with Foster, keep Reeves from receiving more than 50 percent of the vote on August 6th in the primary election, a forced primary runoff election will occur on August 27.

While the race for attorney general does not include as many candidates as the governor’s race, three Republicans will go head to head early next month as they attempt to defeat Democrat candidate Jennifer Collins, who served in the U.S. Army and reached the rank of colonel. The three Republicans in the race include State Rep. Mark Baker, State Treasurer Lynn Fitch, and lawyer Andy Taggart.

While Taggart and Fitch both have a substantial amount of cash on hand, with $119,000 and $231,000 respectively, Baker has $370,000 to spend headed into the primary election.

Baker, who has served as a state representative in Mississippi since 2003 and is endorsed by the NRA with an A-plus rating, discussed working with the Trump administration and took aim at current Democrat AG Hood in a conversation with Breitbart News.

“I’m not running for Attorney General to be Jim Hood 2.0,” Baker told Breitbart News’s Kyle Morris. “I want to reform and refocus the office from suing businesses and lining the pockets of trial attorneys to fighting crime and public corruption, partnering with law enforcement and the Trump Administration to find solutions to illegal immigration and the opioid crisis, and defending our state’s fetal heartbeat bill – all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”

Mississippi business and political consultant Billy Bova told Breitbart News: This Attorney General’s race on the Republican primary ballot coming up on August 6th could not feature a clearer choice: two candidates are old line state GOP establishment machine Republicans, Fitch and Taggart, both born and bred in the Haley Barbour image. The 3rd candidate, Mark Baker, is the true Trump conservative, a former prosecutor and Judge, tough on crime, endorsed by the NRA, and proud to stand with President Trump on building the wall and stopping illegal immigration.

Bova added, “If you want President Trump to have a loyal and true political friend as the top law enforcement person in Mississippi, then Mark Baker for Attorney General is your only choice.”

Similar to the governor’s race, should no candidate garner more than fifty percent of the vote in the primary election on August 6th, a primary runoff election will occur on August 27 to advance one of the Republican candidates to the general election later this year.

Other statewide elections taking place in Mississippi next month include the offices of Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Agriculture Commissioner, and Insurance Commissioner.

The general election will occur on November 5, 2019.