Federal appeals court judges heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn Mississippi’s ban on voting rights for people convicted of some felonies — a case that could affect thousands of people.
The original list of disenfranchising crimes was put into the Mississippi Constitution in 1890 because people writing the constitution believed those crimes “were disproportionately committed by African Americans,” according to written arguments by attorneys challenging the ban. The attorneys also argued that the disenfranchisement continues to disproportionately hurt Black people.
“Because the 1890 provisions were unconstitutional, they were invalid from the moment that they’re enacted,” an attorney for the plaintiffs, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., argued during the hearing Wednesday.
Attorneys representing the state said Mississippi dropped burglary from the list of disenfranchising crimes in 1950 and added murder and rape to the list in 1968. They said in written arguments that those changes “cured any discriminatory taint on the original provision.”
The Supreme Court will hear a case concerning a Mississippi abortion law on December 1, the court announced on Monday, teeing up one of the most substantial cases of the term in which the justices are being asked to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, passed in 2018 but blocked by two federal courts, allows abortion after 15 weeks “only in medical emergencies or for severe fetal abnormality” and has no exception for rape or incest. If doctors perform abortions outside the parameters of the law they will have their medical licenses suspended or revoked and may be subject to additional penalties and fines.
Roe v. Wade is the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
In a brief filed in July, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, argued that Roe v. Wade was “egregiously wrong” and should be overturned.
“The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition” Fitch told the justices.
Fitch said the case for overturning Roe is “overwhelming.”
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s former secretary of state, says current Secretary of State Michael Watson is wrong about a provision of the state’s voter ID law being missing from the state code books.
The voter ID law, which requires Mississippians show a government-issued photo ID at their polling place in order to vote, was added to the state Constitution by voters through the ballot initiative process in 2011. Lawmakers then codified the language into state law in 2012. Hosemann, who was secretary of state at the time, has touted the law and regularly boasted how it has never been challenged in court.
Following last month’s Mississippi Supreme Court decision that deemed the ballot initiative process unconstitutional, attorneys have been looking into whether the state’s voter ID law could be challenged.
The legislative roads for two of the most high-profile issues of the 2021 session — a massive tax swap proposal and the legalization of medical marijuana — appear to have reached a dead end.
While the ability of Mississippi legislators to revive an issue should never be underestimated, it appears the joint rules would make it near impossible to bring back to life both issues.
The end came quietly when House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, made a motion to go to conference on a Senate bill that contained the language legalizing medical marijuana. Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, did the same for the House bill that would have enacted the tax swap. Both motions were approved with no fanfare.
Federal appeals court judges heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn Mississippi’s ban on voting rights for people convicted of some felonies — a case that could affect thousands of people.
The original list of disenfranchising crimes was put into the Mississippi Constitution in 1890 because people writing the constitution believed those crimes “were disproportionately committed by African Americans,” according to written arguments by attorneys challenging the ban. The attorneys also argued that the disenfranchisement continues to disproportionately hurt Black people.
“Because the 1890 provisions were unconstitutional, they were invalid from the moment that they’re enacted,” an attorney for the plaintiffs, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., argued during the hearing Wednesday.
Attorneys representing the state said Mississippi dropped burglary from the list of disenfranchising crimes in 1950 and added murder and rape to the list in 1968. They said in written arguments that those changes “cured any discriminatory taint on the original provision.”
The Supreme Court will hear a case concerning a Mississippi abortion law on December 1, the court announced on Monday, teeing up one of the most substantial cases of the term in which the justices are being asked to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, passed in 2018 but blocked by two federal courts, allows abortion after 15 weeks “only in medical emergencies or for severe fetal abnormality” and has no exception for rape or incest. If doctors perform abortions outside the parameters of the law they will have their medical licenses suspended or revoked and may be subject to additional penalties and fines.
Roe v. Wade is the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
In a brief filed in July, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, argued that Roe v. Wade was “egregiously wrong” and should be overturned.
“The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition” Fitch told the justices.
Fitch said the case for overturning Roe is “overwhelming.”
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s former secretary of state, says current Secretary of State Michael Watson is wrong about a provision of the state’s voter ID law being missing from the state code books.
The voter ID law, which requires Mississippians show a government-issued photo ID at their polling place in order to vote, was added to the state Constitution by voters through the ballot initiative process in 2011. Lawmakers then codified the language into state law in 2012. Hosemann, who was secretary of state at the time, has touted the law and regularly boasted how it has never been challenged in court.
Following last month’s Mississippi Supreme Court decision that deemed the ballot initiative process unconstitutional, attorneys have been looking into whether the state’s voter ID law could be challenged.
The legislative roads for two of the most high-profile issues of the 2021 session — a massive tax swap proposal and the legalization of medical marijuana — appear to have reached a dead end.
While the ability of Mississippi legislators to revive an issue should never be underestimated, it appears the joint rules would make it near impossible to bring back to life both issues.
The end came quietly when House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, made a motion to go to conference on a Senate bill that contained the language legalizing medical marijuana. Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, did the same for the House bill that would have enacted the tax swap. Both motions were approved with no fanfare.
As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, Mississippi’s government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the Governor, currently Tate Reeves (R). The lieutenant governor, currently Delbert Hosemann (R), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi rather than appointed by the governor.
Mississippi is one of five states that elects its state officials in odd-numbered years (the others are Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Virginia). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years, always in the year preceding presidential elections.
In a 2020 study, Mississippi was ranked as the 4th hardest state for citizens to vote in.
As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, Mississippi’s government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the Governor, currently Tate Reeves (R). The lieutenant governor, currently Delbert Hosemann (R), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi rather than appointed by the governor.
Mississippi is one of five states that elects its state officials in odd-numbered years (the others are Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Virginia). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years, always in the year preceding presidential elections.
In a 2020 study, Mississippi was ranked as the 4th hardest state for citizens to vote in.
Current Position: US Senator since 2018 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): State Senator from 2000 – 2012
Featured Quote: Today the Mississippi congressional delegation (@SenHydeSmith, @SenatorWicker @CongPalazz0 @RepTrentKelly& @RepMichaelGuest and House Pro-life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith led more than 200 members of Congress to file an amicus brief in the Dobbs late-term abortion case:
Current Position: US Senator since 2007 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Featured Quote: Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.
Current Position: US Representative for MS 1st District since 2015 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): District Attorney for Mississippi’s 1st Judicial District from 2012 – 2015
Other Positions: Ranking Member, Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee – House Armed Services Committee
Featured Quote: I support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act discharge petition led by @SteveScalise, @RepAnnWagner, and @RepKatCammack. Time to bring H.R. 619 to the floor for a vote. #MS01
Current Position: US Representative for MS 2nd District since 1993 Affiliation: Democrat
Other Positions: Chair, Committee on Homeland Security Chair, Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
Featured Quote: Today, the bipartisan @January6thCmte will begin its work investigating the #January6th attack on the Capitol by hearing powerful testimony from the brave law enforcement heroes who defended the Capitol that day.
Current Position: US Representative for MS 3rd District since 2019 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): District Attorney of Rankin County and Madison County from 2008 – 2019
Featured Quote: The amicus brief that I filed along with my colleagues in the House and Senate is a strong step toward defending our unborn children and overturning Roe v. Wade. Learn more in my interview with Newsmax. #ProLife #SCOTUS
Current Position: US Representative for MS 4th District since 2011 Affiliation: Republican Former Position(s): Marine Corp from 1989 – 1996
Featured Quote: The MS SCOTUS case offers a historic opportunity for the highest court in the land to recognize states’ right to defend the unborn. I stand with my colleagues and urge the Supreme Court to stand up for the countless innocent lives at the heart of this case
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s former secretary of state, says current Secretary of State Michael Watson is wrong about a provision of the state’s voter ID law being missing from the state code books.
The voter ID law, which requires Mississippians show a government-issued photo ID at their polling place in order to vote, was added to the state Constitution by voters through the ballot initiative process in 2011. Lawmakers then codified the language into state law in 2012. Hosemann, who was secretary of state at the time, has touted the law and regularly boasted how it has never been challenged in court.
Following last month’s Mississippi Supreme Court decision that deemed the ballot initiative process unconstitutional, attorneys have been looking into whether the state’s voter ID law could be challenged.
Summary
Federal & state elections on the ballot: 4 US House members, state house members
Ballot measures: Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A
The Mississippi Elections & Voting, part of the Secretary of State, oversees all Mississippi elections.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s former secretary of state, says current Secretary of State Michael Watson is wrong about a provision of the state’s voter ID law being missing from the state code books.
The voter ID law, which requires Mississippians show a government-issued photo ID at their polling place in order to vote, was added to the state Constitution by voters through the ballot initiative process in 2011. Lawmakers then codified the language into state law in 2012. Hosemann, who was secretary of state at the time, has touted the law and regularly boasted how it has never been challenged in court.
Following last month’s Mississippi Supreme Court decision that deemed the ballot initiative process unconstitutional, attorneys have been looking into whether the state’s voter ID law could be challenged.
have lived in Mississippi and in your county (and city, if applicable) 30 days before Election Day
be 18 years old by the time of the general election in which you want to vote
have not been convicted of voter fraud, murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, armed robbery, extortion, felony bad check, felony shoplifting, larceny, receiving stolen property, robbery, timber larceny, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, statutory rape, carjacking, or larceny under lease or rental agreement, or have had your rights restored as required by law
not have been declared mentally incompetent by a court
How to register
Use our Register to Vote form below to fill out the National Voter Registration Form.
Sign and date your form. This is very important!
Mail or hand-deliver your completed form to the address we provide.
Make sure you register before the voter registration deadline.
Election Day registration N/A
Voting Rights restoration
If you have been convicted of a felony and have questions about whether you can register to vote, visit Restore Your Vote to determine your eligibility.
You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.
If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.
Voting with Disabilities
If you are permanently disabled, you can register to be on the voter disabled list and will automatically be sent a ballot. To register as a disabled citizen, you must get a signed statement from your physician stating you are permanently disabled. The new voting machines provide accessible voting for many disabled. If necessary, you can choose a person to assist you with your voting.
Early voting does not exist in Mississippi. However, you may vote absentee ballot in person at your local circuit clerk’s office (office hours vary, check with your local clerk’s office).
Vote by Mail (Absentee)
Absentee ballot rules
You may vote by absentee ballot in Mississippi if:
you will be away from your county on Election Day for any reason;
you are a student, teacher, or administrator at a school whose studies or employment there necessitates your absence from your county on Election Day; or you are the spouse or dependent thereof;
you have a temporary or permanent physical disability that renders you unable to vote in person without substantial hardship;
you are the parent, spouse, or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent physical disability who is hospitalized outside of their county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles away, and you (the parent, spouse or dependent) will be with that person on Election Day;
you are sixty-five (65) years of age or older;
you will be unable to vote in person because you are required to be at work on Election Day during the times at which the polls will be open;
you are a member, spouse, or dependent of the congressional delegation;
you are a disabled war veteran (or spouse or dependant of such a person) in a hospital;
you are a member (or spouse or dependant of such a person) of the Merchant Marine or American Red Cross.
How to get Absentee ballot
Use our Absentee Ballot form below to prepare your application.
Sign and date the form. This is very important!
Return your completed application to your Local Election Office as soon as possible. We’ll provide the mailing address for you.
All Local Election Offices will accept mailed or hand-delivered forms. If it’s close to the deadline, call and see if your Local Election Office will let you fax or email the application.
Make sure your application is received by the deadline. Your application must actually arrive by this time — simply being postmarked by the deadline is insufficient.
Please contact your Local Election Office if you have any further questions about the exact process.
What to do next
Once you receive the ballot, carefully read and follow the instructions.
Sign and date where indicated.
Mail your voted ballot back to the address indicated on the return envelope.
Your voted ballot must arrive by the deadline or it will not be counted.
Absentee ballot application deadline
By Mail: 8 days before Election Day.
Absentee ballot submission deadline
Received 1 day before Election Day (by mail); Received 3 days before Election Day (in person).
Absentee Ballot (form)
Elections Alert (Form)
Pollling Information
Polling Place Locator
You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource.
If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.
Polling Place Hours
Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Poll Worker Information
In order to be a poll worker in Mississippi, you must:
Be registered to vote in Mississippi
Be entitled to compensation
Be at least 18 years of age
Be a resident of the county
Complete required training
Students 16 or older who are enrolled in high school and have residency in the county or municipality may work with a recommendation from the principal
The Elections division has many roles in assuring that Mississippians’ voices are heard clearly through the election process. These roles include training elections officials, collecting campaign finance and lobbying reports, managing the statewide voter registry, collecting election returns, and assisting local election officials in carrying out their election related responsibilities.
The Agency has consistently advocated for transparency and disclosure of public information filed with the Elections Division related to officials, candidates, and lobbyists. Voters’ social security numbers, birthdates, and other private information, however, is not available to the public under Mississippi law. Please be on notice the Agency will not release this information in response to a public records request from any entity or individual.
Secretary of State
Secretary of State Michael David Watson, Jr., was born and raised in Mississippi. He is a husband to his loving wife Lauren, father of three beautiful young daughters, the son of a shipyard worker and bank teller. After his work as a pipe fitter, Michael’s father entered the ministry and continues to serve as pastor at Liberty Church in Gautier. His mother passed away shortly before Michael became Mississippi’s thirty-sixth Secretary of State.
Prior to taking office as Secretary of State in January 2020, Michael served three terms in the State Senate where he represented District 51 in Jackson County. During his time in the Mississippi Legislature, he authored the Fetal Protection Act, which strengthened the penalties for injuring an unborn child. He also wrote Mississippi’s first comprehensive law to tackle illegal immigration, as well as legislation to allow alternate-track diplomas—one of the first efforts to return a focus to career and technical training for high school students. More of Michael’s proposals came to fruition in the State Senate, including the Catastrophe Savings Accounts which allows for pretax savings accounts to be used on deductibles or other catastrophe-related expenses, and the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act that provides scholarships for parents with a special needs child, allowing them the ability to choose which education option best fits their child. In addition, Governor Phil Bryant asked Michael to introduce the legislation adding “In God We Trust” to our state seal. During his time in the State Senate, Michael became known as a conservative fighter for his work to preserve Mississippians’ rights and religious liberties, and to limit government overreach and spending. Michael brings these same conservative principles to the Secretary of State’s office.
A graduate of Pascagoula High School and the University of Mississippi, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a law degree, Michael began his work in public service in the summer of 1999, serving as an intern for then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. That experience strengthened his desire to one day enter public service in order to improve the quality of life for all Mississippians.
As Secretary of State, Michael is focused on protecting the integrity of our elections by continuing strong enforcement of Mississippi’s Voter ID law. Michael is also dedicated to bringing about a more efficient and effective state government by working to reduce regulations and red tape so small businesses can grow and flourish in a free market economy. As a native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Michael understands the importance of properly managing Tidelands and other public lands. He is committed to keeping the decisions in the hands of local officials as much as allowed by law while monitoring these decisions to ensure Mississippians receive fair value.
During his campaign for Secretary of State in 2019, Michael announced a landmark proposal to fix Mississippi’s process for issuing and renewing driver’s licenses. To address this growing problem, Michael developed the innovative “SIP” plan, which stands for “Service, Information and Professionalism,” that would move the driver’s services division (commonly referred to as the DMV) from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to be under the direction and management of the Secretary of State’s office. Michael is continuing his work to make the SIP plan a reality by supporting legislation transferring the DMV to the Secretary of State’s office so he can implement technology and customer service improvements to speed up the process for people obtaining or renewing a driver’s license, and to help resolve delays in the commercial driver’s license system.
During his time in the private sector, Michael opened his own firm where he focused on business law, construction law and probate law. He is a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Mississippi Bar Association, the Ole Miss Alumni Association and the Ole Miss Hall of Fame. He and his family spend time volunteering with the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and the Dream Program. As a dedicated family man, Michael and his wife, Lauren, have three daughters—Gracie Pierce, Annie and Cora Elizabeth. The Watsons are members of First Presbyterian Church in Pascagoula and enjoy visiting church families all over Mississippi.
Current Position: US Senator since 2018 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: State Senator from 2000 – 2012
Featured Quote: Today the Mississippi congressional delegation (@SenHydeSmith, @SenatorWicker @CongPalazz0 @RepTrentKelly& @RepMichaelGuest and House Pro-life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith led more than 200 members of Congress to file an amicus brief in the Dobbs late-term abortion case:
Featured Video: Sen. Hyde-Smith’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial | Trump impeachment trial
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith warned today that the agricultural portion of the Democrats’ evolving $3.5 trillion tax and spend package will worsen issues and threaten the future viability of the nation’s family dairies.
Senator Hyde-Smith said that the public has not had any input into this process, especially about most members of the committee and Republicans as a whole. Hyde- Smith said that the $3.5 trillion “reckless tax and spend agenda” is a product being developed by Democratic leadership behind closed doors.
Summary
Current Position: US Senator since 2018 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: State Senator from 2000 – 2012
Featured Quote: Today the Mississippi congressional delegation (@SenHydeSmith, @SenatorWicker @CongPalazz0 @RepTrentKelly& @RepMichaelGuest and House Pro-life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith led more than 200 members of Congress to file an amicus brief in the Dobbs late-term abortion case:
Featured Video: Sen. Hyde-Smith’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial | Trump impeachment trial
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith warned today that the agricultural portion of the Democrats’ evolving $3.5 trillion tax and spend package will worsen issues and threaten the future viability of the nation’s family dairies.
Senator Hyde-Smith said that the public has not had any input into this process, especially about most members of the committee and Republicans as a whole. Hyde- Smith said that the $3.5 trillion “reckless tax and spend agenda” is a product being developed by Democratic leadership behind closed doors.
Cindy Hyde-Smith is the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Washington, D.C. Initially appointed by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant in April 2018 to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by long-time Senator Thad Cochran, Hyde-Smith won a special election for the U.S. Senate in November 2018. She has established herself as Senator committed to conservative principles as she works for all Mississippians.
In the 116th Congress, Hyde-Smith serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Committee on Rules and Administration.
On the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hyde-Smith serves on six subcommittees, including: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; and Legislative Branch, on which she serves as chairman.
Prior to becoming a U.S. Senator for Mississippi, Hyde-Smith was elected Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce in 2011 and easily won reelection in 2015.
Before leading the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Hyde-Smith served 12 years in the Mississippi State Senate, including eight years as chairman of the Agriculture Committee. As a legislator, Hyde-Smith championed policies to promote and protect all facets of the agriculture industry. She fought to protect private property rights, supported tort reform, and earned respect for her advocacy of conservative budget and pro-business initiatives. She has a strong social conservative voting record and a 100 percent pro-life rating. Hyde-Smith is a lifetime member of the NRA.
As Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Hyde-Smith worked to ensure fairness and equity in the marketplace and protect Mississippians through sound regulatory practices. She successfully streamlined government regulations to ease the financial burden on Mississippi farmers and small businesses. Highlights of her tenure were her efforts to reopen Chinese markets for American beef exports, advocate for country-of-origin food labeling, and ensure that imported catfish meet USDA food safety standards. Under her leadership, the agency was recognized as a “model agency” for effectiveness and budget control. Hyde-Smith held agency spending below one percent growth her entire tenure.
As Senator, Hyde-Smith has received the Award for Conservative Achievement from the American Conservative Union Foundation and the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Hyde-Smith also received numerous awards and honors for her work as a state legislator and champion of agriculture, including the highest grade for a strong pro-business and fiscally conservative voting record from the Business and Industry Political Education Committee.
Additionally, Hyde-Smith has received the Agriculture Legislator of the Year Award from the Mississippi Association of Conservation Districts, the Ambassador Award from the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, the Achievement Award from Delta Council, and the Outstanding Service to Small Farmers Award from Alcorn State University.
Hyde-Smith is a graduate of Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi, and she maintains close affiliations with the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association, Lincoln County Forestry Association, Lincoln County Livestock Association, and the Mississippi Nursery and Landscape Association.
Hyde-Smith and her husband Mike have a daughter, Anna-Michael. They reside in Brookhaven and are active members of Macedonia Baptist Church. A fifth-generation farming family, the Senator’s family raises beef cattle and are partners in a local stockyard auction market in Brookhaven.
Birth Year: 1959 Place of Birth: Brookhaven, MS Gender: Female Race(s): Caucasian Religion: Christian: Baptist Spouse: Michael Smith Children: Anna-Michael Smith
On March 21, 2018, Governor Phil Bryant announced his intention to appoint Hyde-Smith to the United States Senate seat being vacated due to the resignation of Thad Cochran.[4] Hyde-Smith was sworn into office on April 9, 2018. She is the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress.[5] Hyde-Smith was a candidate in the 2018 U.S. Senate special election for the remainder of Cochran’s term, which expired in 2021.[6] She finished first in the top-two general election on November 6, 2018, but did not receive more than 50% of the vote, thus advancing to a November 27 special runoff election versus Mike Espy. Hyde-Smith won the runoff election,[7] becoming the first woman elected to Congress from Mississippi.[8]
Hyde-Smith graduated from Copiah–Lincoln Community College with an Associate of Arts (AA) and the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in criminal justice and political science.[13] She is one of the few U.S. senators who attended community college. After her studies, she worked as a lobbyist for the Southern Coalition for Safer Highways and National Coalition for Healthcare, with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.[14][15] She served as the state director for Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee during her time with the National Coalition for Healthcare, which advocated nationwide healthcare coverage.[16]
Mississippi Senate
Hyde-Smith was a member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 39th District from 2000 to 2012. For part of her tenure, she chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee, which led her Senate colleagues to encourage her to run for Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.[17][18] She had a conservative voting record in the state Senate.[19] During her time in the state Senate, 79 of her bills became law.[20] She supported measures to collect DNA samples from people in custody of the Department of Corrections and authored a bill to ban most abortions after 12 weeks. After the abortion restriction bill passed and was signed by then-Governor Haley Barbour, it was overturned in federal court. On the Senate Agriculture Committee, Hyde-Smith also helped manage the fallout from a controversial beef plant that defaulted on a $55 million state loan. The state sued firms involved in the construction of a 400-employee plant in Yalobusha County that closed three months after it opened, in August 2004. The state eventually settled with the plant owners for $4 million.[21] In 2001, Hyde-Smith introduced legislation to name a portion of Highway 51 for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, who had no ties to the area. The bill died in committee. Hyde-Smith also voted for resolutions honoring civil rights leader Medgar Evers, the Freedom Riders and Hiram Rhodes Revels, who, through legislative appointment during Reconstruction, became the first African American to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate.[22] In 2009, Hyde-Smith led an effort to override Barbour’s veto of a bill that sought to restrict the power of eminent domain to public use, thereby prohibiting eminent domain for private economic purposes. The bill passed the state House 119-3[23] and the state Senate unanimously.[24] Barbour vetoed the bill on the grounds that the restriction could harm the state’s business climate. The legislature attempted to override his veto, but was unsuccessful. In the House, the override vote was successful with a 101-19 vote,[25] but it failed in the Senate, 28-22.[26] Hyde-Smith was critical of senators who switched their vote after the veto, saying, “Not only could you never come to this podium again and say ‘I protect private property rights’, you’re still gonna have to say ‘I changed my vote to vote against private property rights’.”[27]
On December 28, 2010, Hyde-Smith announced that she had switched her party affiliation from Democratic to Republican.[13][28] Her switch made the Senate equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, with each party holding 26 seats.[19] In 2011, Senator Ezell Lee also switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican, which gave Republicans a 27-25 majority heading into the 2011 elections. This marked the first time since the Reconstruction era in which Republicans held a majority of seats in the chamber.
Elections
Hyde-Smith first sought election to the Mississippi Senate in 1999, as she concluded her career as a lobbyist and transitioned back to the state. She returned to Mississippi, gave birth to her daughter, and qualified to run for state Senate all in one year.[29] Her opponent in the 1999 Mississippi Senate Democratic primary was 20-year incumbent W. L. Rayborn. She perceived that Rayborn prioritized his personal interests over his district’s and had supported his opponents in the previous two elections. During the campaign, Hyde-Smith refused to criticize him or target specific issues. Rayborn was known for a pet cause—allowing non-dentists to make false teeth. A denturist without a dental degree, he showed up to the Capitol a few days each session adorned with buttons and stickers promoting his bill “The Freedom of Choice Dentures Act.” In 1999, his last year in office, it died in committee.[30] Hyde-Smith defeated Rayborn in the Democratic primary and Republican Helen Price and independent Frank Greer in the general election, with 75.36% of the vote.[31]
In the 2003 Democratic primary, Rayborn challenged Hyde-Smith in the newly redrawn state Senate District 39 and lost, 65.47% to 34.53%.[32] Hyde-Smith was unopposed in the general election.
In 2007, Hyde-Smith was unopposed in the Senate District 39 Democratic primary. In the general election, she defeated Republican Edwin V. Case with 79.45% of the vote. This was her last election in the Senate district.[33]
Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
Smith as Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
Hyde-Smith was elected Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce in 2011 and took office on January 5, 2012.[34] She was reelected in 2015, defeating Democratic nominee Addie Lee Green.[35]
On March 21, 2018, GovernorPhil Bryant announced Hyde-Smith as his choice to fill the United States Senate seat held by Thad Cochran, who indicated he would resign the seat due to health issues.[36] Cochran resigned on April 1, and Bryant formally appointed Hyde-Smith on April 2.[2] Hyde-Smith became the first woman to represent Mississippi in the United States Congress.[37] The Senate was in a district work period and was not conducting legislative business at that time, so she did not take the oath of office until the Senate reconvened for legislative business on April 9.[38] Hyde-Smith announced that she would seek election to the seat in the 2018 special election on November 6.[39]
The Trump administration reportedly did not support Hyde-Smith’s Senate appointment because of her history as a Democrat,[40][41] but in August 2018, Trump endorsed her for election.[42] He stumped for Hyde-Smith in suburban northern Mississippi.[43]
In the 2018 special election, Hyde-Smith was challenged by Republican Chris McDaniel, who criticized her past Democratic affiliation. Hyde-Smith responded that she had “always been a conservative” and added that she had the support of Republican Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.[44] She highlighted her support for Second Amendment rights, opposition to abortion, and advocacy for the state’s defense business.[45]
Hyde-Smith declined to debate her Democratic opponent, Mike Espy, before the November 6 special election; Cochran had often done the same.[46] After she and Espy each finished with about 41% of the vote,[47] she agreed to debate Espy on November 20 before the runoff election.[48]
During the runoff campaign, while appearing with cattle rancher Colin Hutchinson in Tupelo, Mississippi, Hyde-Smith said, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be in the front row.” The remark immediately drew harsh criticism, given Mississippi’s notorious history of lynchings and public executions of African-Americans. In response to the criticism, Hyde-Smith downplayed her comment as “an exaggerated expression of regard” and called the backlash “ridiculous.”[49][50][51][52][53][54] She refused to apologize.[55][56]
On November 12, 2018, Hyde-Smith joined Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant at a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, where she was asked repeatedly about her comment by reporters. She repeatedly responded, “I put out a statement yesterday, and that’s all I’m gonna say about it.”[57][58] When reporters redirected questions to Bryant, he defended Hyde-Smith’s comment and changed the subject to abortion, saying he was “confused about where the outrage is at about 20 million African American children that have been aborted.”[59]
On November 15, 2018, Hyde-Smith appeared in a video clip saying that it would be “a great idea” to make it more difficult for liberals to vote.[60] Her campaign said Hyde-Smith was obviously joking and that the video was selectively edited. Both this and the “public hanging” video were released by Lamar White Jr., a Louisiana blogger and journalist.[61]
Also in November 2018, media reports noted that Hyde-Smith attended a school that was created to avoid court-mandated racial integration and made use of various confederate symbols, and that she sent her daughter to a similar school.[9][62]
The runoff election was held on November 27. Hyde-Smith defeated Espy, 53.9%-46.1%.[63][64]
Tenure
On October 16, 2018, Hyde-Smith voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States.[65]
On October 26, 2020, Hyde-Smith voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States.[66]
On January 6, 2021, Hyde-Smith was participating in the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count debate about Arizona’s electoral votes when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol. She and other senators were removed from the Senate floor to an undisclosed location shortly after the Capitol was breached. Her staff had to shelter in her office.[67] During the attack, Hyde-Smith tweeted: “Whatever frustrations any American may have, violence & destruction in the US Capitol, the seat of our democratic government, is unacceptable”.[68] She later said that she was afraid during the storming of the Capitol and called the rioters “criminals who need to be prosecuted”.[69]
Hyde-Smith identifies herself as a conservative Republican.[70] From 1999 to 2010, she served in elected office as a Democrat. She voted in the Democratic primary in 2008[71] and described herself as having been a conservative Democrat during her tenure in the state legislature.[72] She switched to the Republican Party in 2010.
In 2012, Hyde-Smith endorsed Republican nominee Mitt Romney for U.S. President.[73]
FiveThirtyEight reported that as of January 2021, Hyde-Smith had voted in line with Donald Trump’s political positions about 92% of the time.[74] It also reported that as of July 2021, she had voted in line with President Joe Biden‘s political positions about 47% of the time.[75]
2021 United States Electoral College vote count
On January 6, 2021, Hyde-Smith joined four other senators in voting to object to the certification of Arizona’s electoral votes.[76] She said she based her decision on “the erosion of integrity of the electoral process.” Hyde-Smith added that her constituents “do not believe the presidential election was constitutional and cannot accept the Electoral College decision.” Her position differed from that of fellow Mississippi senator Roger Wicker, who supported certification.[77] She also voted not to certify Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.[78] The Jackson Free Press called on Hyde-Smith to “recant or resign” for objecting to the certification of Arizona’s and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.[79]
Following the attack on the Capitol, Hyde-Smith did not support invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remove Trump from office. She also said she would not vote to convict Trump in the event of an impeachment trial.[80]
In 2021, Hyde-Smith expressed opposition to the For the People Act, which would expand voting rights, falsely claiming that the bill would nullify voter identification laws in Mississippi.[82] She also objected to allowing people to vote on Sunday, which is the Christian Sabbath and a day that black churches coordinate rides to polling places for their parishioners.[83][84]
Fiscal policy
Hyde-Smith describes her economic positions as fiscally conservative.[85]
In 2018, Hyde-Smith was one of 29 Republicans who joined all Democrats in opposing Senator Rand Paul‘s bill to cut federal spending by 1% over 5 years, known as the Penny Bill.[86] Republican opponents of the bill said it could threaten federal defense and domestic programs.[86] She faced criticism from the bill’s supporters.[87]
Hyde-Smith supported the Trump-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[88] As a state legislator, she voted in favor of increasing unemployment benefits and in favor of raising taxes on cigarettes.[89] She also voted with all Mississippi Democrats in the state legislature to restore funding that had been previously eliminated due to budget cuts.[90]
In May 2019, Hyde-Smith was a cosponsor of the Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Ben Sasse and Jon Tester intended to reform hours of service for livestock haulers by authorizing drivers to rest at any point during their trip without it being counted against their hours of service and exempting loading and unloading times from the hours of service calculation of driving time.[91]
In July 2019, Hyde-Smith was one of eight senators to introduce the Agricultural Trucking Relief Act, a bill that would alter the definition of an agricultural commodity to include both horticultural and aquacultural products and promote greater consistency in regulation through both federal and state agencies as part of an attempt to ease regulatory burdens on trucking and the agri-community.[92]
Foreign policy
In August 2018, Hyde-Smith co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[93][94]
Health care
Hyde-Smith opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), saying that it “has failed Mississippi.”[95] She is in favor of repealing it but says that she supports keeping provisions ensuring protections for preexisting conditions.[95] While in the Senate, she voted to expand the use of short-term health insurance plans, which can discriminate against people with preexisting conditions.[95]
In July 2019, Hyde-Smith was one of eight senators to cosponsor the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA), a bill intended to strengthen training for new and existing physicians, people who teach palliative care, and other providers who are on the palliative care team that grants patients and their families a voice in their care and treatment goals.[96]
In October 2019, Hyde-Smith was one of 27 senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer advocating the passage of the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, which was set to expire the following month. The senators warned that if the funding for the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) was allowed to expire, it “would cause an estimated 2,400 site closures, 47,000 lost jobs, and threaten the health care of approximately 9 million Americans.”[97]
In March 2019 Hyde-Smith was one of 12 senators to co-sponsor a resolution in favor of a constitutional amendment limiting the Supreme Court to nine justices. The resolution was introduced after multiple Democratic presidential candidates expressed openness to expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court.[98]
Social issues
Hyde-Smith’s 2018 campaign described her as having a “strong social conservative voting record with a 100 percent pro-life rating [who is] a lifetime member of the NRA.”[37]Gun Owners of America, which supports gun owners’ rights and is in favor of loosening restrictions on guns, gave her a rating of 50% in 2018.[99]
Hyde-Smith opposes abortion.[100] As a state senator, she authored a bill requiring that all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy be performed in a hospital or ambulatory surgical facility; the bill was blocked by federal courts.[101] In 2018, she voted with Senate Republicans to prohibit federal funding from being given to any organization or facility that promotes abortion services or family planning.[102] She opposes Planned Parenthood, describing it as “one of the worst things that has ever happened to us.”[95]
In 2018 Hyde-Smith released a statement supporting the Trump administration’s travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries.[103] Her campaign website says she supports the construction of a wall along the southern US border.[104]
In 2012, as the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Hyde-Smith was personally opposed to a same-sex commitment ceremony at the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum, but instructed the museum to allow it after consulting with Mississippi Attorney GeneralJim Hood. She declared she would seek a change in state law and request from the legislature “clear and straightforward definitions about what activities can take place on the property owned by the State of Mississippi.”[105]
Confederate States of America
In 2007, Hyde-Smith voted for a resolution that praised a Confederate States Army soldier for his efforts to “defend his homeland”.[106] During her first term in the Mississippi Senate, she proposed renaming a state highway after Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but the legislation did not pass.[107] In 2014, Hyde-Smith posted a photo of herself at Davis’s home, Beauvoir, wearing a Confederate cap and carrying a rifle, with the caption “Mississippi history at its best!”[106][108]
Hyde-Smith is married to a cattle farmer, Mike Smith. They are members of the Macedonia Baptist Church. They have a daughter who graduated in 2017 from Brookhaven Academy.[9][111]
Electoral history
Mississippi State Senate
Mississippi State Senate 39th district election, 2003[112][113]
^ abcdPittman, Ashton (November 23, 2018). “Hyde-Smith Attended All-White ‘Seg Academy’ to Avoid Integration”. Jackson Free Press. Retrieved November 24, 2018. There’s \”no doubt that’s why those schools were set up,” said former U.S. Rep Ronnie Shows, a Democrat who was Hyde’s junior high basketball coach at Lawrence County Academy in the 1970s.
Senator Hyde-Smith, as a conservative and small business owner, understands the importance of responsible fiscal policies. The Senator has introduced legislation to amend the U.S. Constitution to require the President to submit, and Congress to approve, a balanced budget each year.
Senator Hyde-Smith supports policies that responsibly reduce the federal tax burden on small businesses, families, and individuals. She strongly believes workers should be able to keep more of their hard-earned money.
Civil Rights
2nd Amendment
Senator Hyde-Smith, who holds an enhanced-carry permit, is a strong advocate for protecting the Constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. The Senator has authored and supported federal legislation defending Second Amendment rights and is committed to supporting efforts that would prevent the federal government from infringing upon those rights.
Economy
Jobs & Economy
Senator Hyde-Smith supports federal policies to foster an economic environment that encourages job growth in Mississippi and the nation. She supports the tax cuts and reforms enacted by President Trump and the Republican-majority Congress. She believes in eliminating burdensome federal regulations that hinder small businesses, farmers, and industry.
The Senator supports policies and opportunities to continue and expand Mississippi’s ability to contribute to national security, high-tech research, agricultural innovation, and energy production.
Senator Hyde-Smith welcomes opportunities to work with local, state, and federal officials to make Mississippi a better place to work and raise families.
Rural Communities
Senator Hyde-Smith believes the Unites States is strong when agriculture and rural America are strong. The Senator understands the unique challenges faced by rural Mississippi to provide residents with basic services, infrastructure, education, and health care. She supports policies that will allow rural communities to expand economically. The federal government should not be a roadblock to the growth and wellbeing of rural America.
Education
Education
Senator Hyde-Smith understands the importance of education to ensure a better future for Mississippi children and their ability to be part of an economically-strong state. The Senator believes in the importance of state and local control of public education, while recognizing the role of the federal government to support educational achievement across the country.
Senator Hyde-Smith is also supportive of the significant federal research and development initiatives involving Mississippi institutions of higher learning—work that, among other things, improves American competitiveness, national security and agricultural production.
Environment
Energy & Environment
Senator Hyde-Smith knows dependence on foreign oil poses economic and national security risks for the United States. The Senator supports responsible exploration and production of Mississippi’s and the nation’s energy resources, including the development of new technologies to support the production of biofuels and other energy sources.
Senator Hyde-Smith understands the importance of conservation and good stewardship of our natural resources. She supports balanced and responsible resource management policies to ensure Mississippi’s forests, wetlands, and coastal region remain assets for future generations to enjoy.
Health Care
Health Care
Senator Hyde-Smith supports common-sense, patient-centered health care reforms to help Mississippi families afford health insurance coverage without expanding the government’s role in providing health care. She believes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, should be repealed.
Senator Hyde-Smith appreciates the role of the state’s universities to support federal research on better prevention and treatment efforts on chronic diseases, like diabetes, that affect Mississippians disproportionally.
Immigration
Border Security & Immigration
Senator Hyde-Smith believes the federal government’s first responsibility is defense of the American people, which includes securing the nation’s borders. She is a strong proponent of strengthening border security and the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. The Senator does not believe in rewarding those who enter the country illegally.
The Senator supports the implementation of a nationwide E-Verify system to ensure a legal workforce and enable American jobs to be filled by legal American workers.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure & Public Works
Senator Hyde-Smith believes rebuilding infrastructure is key to the future of Mississippi and the nation. She understands that aging highways, bridges, and basic public works infrastructure represents an impediment to public safety and economic growth. She includes the need for greater broadband access among these needs. Senator Hyde-Smith is committed to using her committee assignments to support responsible efforts to improve infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.
Safety
Law Enforcement & Public Safety
Senator Hyde-Smith has great respect and admiration for the law enforcement and first responder personnel who dedicate their lives to protecting the public. As a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, she will continue to support programs and policies that enable these public servants to do their jobs more effectively.
Homeland Security
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as the lead agency for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Coast Guard, plays an important role in Mississippi.
Senator Hyde-Smith is committed to working closely with FEMA and other federal agencies to ensure Mississippians are prepared for natural disasters and emergency situations. She supports hazard mitigation policies, which have proven to help save lives and save taxpayer dollars.
The Senator also supports Homeland Security efforts to protect the American people from domestic and foreign threats, which include ensuring a strong and well-equipped U.S. Coast Guard.
FEMA
Senator Hyde-Smith believes preparedness is imperative to protecting lives and property when severe storms and natural disasters hit Mississippi and other areas of the country. A state-level lawmaker when Hurricane Katrina devastated the state, she recognizes the role of the federal government in helping individuals, communities, and the state rebound after such disasters. Senator Hyde-Smith supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency and efforts to improve the agency’s effectiveness.
Veterans
Veterans
Senator Hyde-Smith is committed to ensuring the federal government meets its commitments to the men and women who have bravely served in the Armed Forces. She understands the changing needs of America’s newest generation of veterans and their families, and is dedicated to supporting efforts to make sure they receive the highest-quality medical care possible.
Agriculture
Senator Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer and the former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, understands the importance of the state’s $7.5 billion agricultural and forestry industries. As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the Senator will work on legislation, programs, and policies to allow agriculture and related industries to grow in Mississippi and the nation.
The Senator’s record includes protecting private property rights against eminent domain abuses, helping to open foreign markets for Mississippi agricultural products, and supporting country-of-origin labeling.
Pro-life
As a Christian, Senator Hyde-Smith believes in the sanctity of life and the need for federal policies that strengthen America’s families. She is committed to supporting policies and legislation to protect the lives of unborn children. An opponent of taxpayer funding of abortions, the Senator has a strong record of opposing any measure that encourages abortion, as a matter of law or policy.
Foreign Affairs
Senator Hyde-Smith is committed to supporting foreign affairs policies that ensure the security of the American people first and foremost. She understands the need for the United States to foster and maintain mutually-beneficial relations with allies to promote our national security, freedom, and fair trade.
Mississippi Special
Senator Hyde-Smith cherishes the diversity of the people of Mississippi and celebrates their accomplishments—both past and present.
Current Position: Governor since 2020 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: Treasurer of Mississippi from 2004 – 2012
Featured Quote: This is brand new data worth considering: Further evidence that Risks associated with NOT getting vaccinated > Risks associated with getting vaccinated! Make the right choice, Mississippi!!
Featured Video: MPB LIVE: Governor Tate Reeves 2021 State of the State Address
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has claimed that people living in the state are ‘less scared’ of COVID-19 because they believe in ‘eternal life’ – despite a surge in new infections and hospitalizations.
Reeves delivered his remarks to a group of Republicans at a fundraiser event in Eads, Tennessee, last Thursday, according to the Daily Memphian.
‘I’m often asked by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle about COVID … and why does it seem like folks in Mississippi and maybe in the Mid-South are a little less scared, shall we say,’ Reeves said.
Summary
Current Position: Governor since 2020 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: Treasurer of Mississippi from 2004 – 2012
Featured Quote: This is brand new data worth considering: Further evidence that Risks associated with NOT getting vaccinated > Risks associated with getting vaccinated! Make the right choice, Mississippi!!
Featured Video: MPB LIVE: Governor Tate Reeves 2021 State of the State Address
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has claimed that people living in the state are ‘less scared’ of COVID-19 because they believe in ‘eternal life’ – despite a surge in new infections and hospitalizations.
Reeves delivered his remarks to a group of Republicans at a fundraiser event in Eads, Tennessee, last Thursday, according to the Daily Memphian.
‘I’m often asked by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle about COVID … and why does it seem like folks in Mississippi and maybe in the Mid-South are a little less scared, shall we say,’ Reeves said.
As the 65th Governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves continues to build on his strong record as a conservative leader who fights to guard taxpayers’ dollars, improve educational opportunity, and grow new careers so that our state’s best and brightest can raise their families and thrive here at home.
In his inaugural address, Governor Reeves promised that this would be an administration for all Mississippi. He committed to a mission to create a climate where good careers are plentiful with every Mississippian prepared to pursue them, as he has every single day of his time serving our state.
Upon taking office, Governor Reeves inherited a crumbling corrections department and a scandal-plagued human services department. He took immediate action to stem the existing issues and begin the process of rebuilding, shedding light on the issues and installing the best leadership to help him turn the departments around to work for the people of Mississippi.
While tackling the inherited issues within government agencies to provide for the safety and human dignity of all Mississippians, Governor Reeves simultaneously led our state through historic flooding and tornadoes and a worldwide pandemic—all within his first 100 days in office.
Governor Reeves has continued to make history throughout his public service career. When elected in 2003 for his first public office, Governor Reeves became the youngest state treasurer in our country and the first Republican to hold the office in Mississippi. His business training in the banking sector made him our state’s foremost advocate for balancing the state budget while minimizing state debt.
He was elected in 2011 and re-elected four years later as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor, leading the Mississippi Senate. His conservative management helped fill our state’s Rainy Day Fund to over $550 million—the most in state history—and reduce the overall debt burden. He fought for transparency in how agencies spend tax dollars and stronger reporting requirements on taxpayer-funded incentive programs.
His commitment to long-term growth that creates better careers led Governor Reeves to propose the largest tax cut in state history through the Taxpayer Pay Raise Act, lowering the personal income tax and enabling more Mississippi employers to invest in jobs and better compete in the global marketplace.
Governor Reeves’ upbringing in Florence’s public schools made him driven to reform the education system to increase opportunity for all Mississippians. He has worked to increase investment in the classroom and enacted reforms to save money, strengthen achievement, and effectively communicate school performance. His new mission for our state is to give us more national board-certified teachers per capita than any state in the nation.
Governor Reeves remains committed to his inaugural promise to defend the loving culture that underpins our quality of life and grow our economy that lifts all of our families. He has pledged to work every day to make that promise a reality for all Mississippi.
A Rankin County native, Governor Reeves is a graduate of Florence High School and an honors graduate of Millsaps College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Governor Reeves and his wife, Elee, are the proud parents of three daughters, Tyler, Emma, and Maddie.
At Millsaps College, Reeves was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, a fraternity known for racist activities, including using racial epithets and hosting Confederate-themed dances.[7] He became embroiled in controversy in 2019, when yearbook photos surfaced showing fraternity members in blackface and Confederate uniforms, but it is unclear whether Reeves was involved.[8][5]
Early career
After graduating from college in 1996, Reeves became a Chartered Financial Analyst.[3] He worked at Park South Corporation, a subsidiary of the Deposit Guaranty National Bank,[3] which eventually merged into AmSouth.[6] In 2000, Reeves moved to Trustmark National Bank, where he was a financial portfolio manager until 2003, when he resigned to run for state treasurer.[6]
Political career
Mississippi state treasurer (2004–2012)
Reeves sought the post of Mississippi state treasurer in the 2003 election; it was an open seat, as Democratic incumbent Marshall G. Bennett was retiring.[9] In the 2003 Republican primary election, Reeves faced former Central District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Burkes of Brandon and State Representative Andrew Ketchings of Natchez.[10] In the Republican primary election, Reeves led with 49% of the vote, with Burkes in second place.[11] Because no candidate achieved a majority, Reeves and Burkes had a runoff election; Reeves defeated Burkes in the runoff, which had low turnout.[12]
In the general election, Reeves defeated Democraticnominee Gary Anderson, the state director of finance and administration, 52% to 46%.[13] Anderson has substantially more experience than Reeves, but Reeves’s campaign raised and spent substantially more money.[9] Observers also cited racial prejudice (Anderson is African American) as another factor that may have contributed to Anderson’s loss.[13][9] Reeves’s father contributed $115,000 to his campaign, about one-fifth of its fundraising total.[3]
Reeves’s election made him the first Republican to hold the position of Mississippi state treasurer,[14] as well as the youngest statewide elected official in the modern history of the state.[3]
In 2007, Reeves won reelection with about 60% of the vote, defeating Democratic candidate Shawn O’Hara.[14]
Lieutenant governor of Mississippi (2012–2020)
In February 2011, Reeves entered the race for lieutenant governor. In the August Republican primary, he defeated Mississippi State Senatepresident pro temporeBilly Hewes of Gulfport,[15] 123,389 votes to 162,857.[16] In the November general election, he was elected lieutenant governor, succeeding Phil Bryant, who was elected to his first term as governor. Reeves ran without Democratic opposition; he received 80.35% of the vote; Reform Party candidate Tracella Lou O’Hara Hill received 19.65%.[17]
As lieutenant governor, Reeves was president of the state Senate, and he used his position to prevent Medicaid expansion from receiving a floor vote,[18] and to block an increase in the gas tax to fund repairs to roads and to Mississippi’s many structurally deficient bridges.[19]
Reeves won reelection as lieutenant governor on November 3, 2015, defeating three opponents, including state Senator Timothy L. Johnson, a Republican-turned-Democrat.[20]
Governor of Mississippi (2020–present)
2019 election
Reeves ran for governor of Mississippi in the 2019 election.[21] He was the favorite to win the nomination.[22][23] He enjoyed substantial name recognition from his 16 years in statewide office, and had a significant fundraising advantage over his rivals for the Republican nomination, former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. and Robert Foster, a first-term member of the state House.[23]
During the primary race, three former state Republican party chairs endorsed Waller (who was viewed as more pragmatist), while outgoing governor Phil Bryant, former governor Haley Barbour, and Chris McDaniel endorsed Reeves (who was viewed as more conservative).[24] Reeves strongly opposed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act,[23][22] which he disparaged as the “Obamacare expansion.”[25] This position contrasted with that of Waller and Foster, who supported a version of Medicaid expansion to benefit Mississippi’s rural hospitals,[23] almost half of which were close to bankruptcy before the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] Reeves also opposed increasing the gas tax to fund road and bridge repairs, while Waller supported it.[22][23] Reeves said that “radical liberals” were attacking “Mississippi’s culture and Mississippi’s values.”[26]
In the Republican primary, Reeves and Waller finished in first and second place, respectively. Because no candidate won a majority of the total vote, Reeves and Waller proceeded to a runoff election.[23] Reeves won the nomination in the runoff.[27]
Reeves defeated the Democratic nominee, state Attorney GeneralJim Hood, in the November general election.[28][29] Republicans won all eight statewide offices in 2019, a first in Mississippi history.[29] The election was Mississippi’s first competitive election for governor since 2003.[29] Reeves received 459,396 votes to Hood’s 414,368.[30] He took office on January 14, 2020.[31]
Birth control
In May 2022, Reeves repeatedly refused to deny that he would ban birth control in Mississippi when questioned by anchor Jake Tapper.[32] In particular, he refused to rule out banning IUDs, a form of birth control used by 1 in 7 women.
Voting rights
In November 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Reeves said he would veto any bill that expanded mail-in voting or no-excuse early voting.[33] Mississippi has among the most restrictive laws in the U.S. for pre-Election Day voting.[33]
Trump and Biden
Reeves is a staunch Donald Trump supporter.[34][25] During his 2019 campaign for governor, Reeves touted the support of Trump,[26] who carried the heavily Republican state in both 2016 and 2020.[35] In his 2019 campaign for governor, Reeves promised, “If I’m elected governor, I will work for President Trump.”[25] Trump, his vice president Mike Pence, and his son Donald Trump Jr. all campaigned for Reeves in Mississippi in 2019.[35] At a rally in Tupelo days before the November 2019 election, the elder Trump promoted Reeves’s candidacy while assailing the impeachment inquiry against him over the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[36][37]
After Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, and Trump refused to concede, Reeves supported Trump-backed lawsuits to throw out the election results in several states won by Biden, where Trump and his allies made false claims of fraud.[38] In March 2021, Reeves acknowledged that Biden is the president of the United States and was “duly elected” but repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Biden was “legitimately and lawfully elected” or that the 2020 election was free and fair.[39]
Amid the acceleration of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reeves was accused of undermining efforts to contain the spread of the virus. In early 2020, Reeves closed schools, declared a state of emergency, and told people to trust in the “power of prayer,” but did little to combat COVID-19 transmission.[25] In March 2020, Reeves issued an order deeming most public places to be “essential services.”[40][41] Reeves’s order prompted substantial criticism, largely because it clashed with previously issued local orders and caused confusion as to whether the order overrode local leaders’ decisions to order the closures of businesses and other public places.[40][41][25][42] Leaders of many of Mississippi’s largest cities and counties criticizes Reeves’s declaration.[41] The mayor of Tupelo said that Reeves had engaged in a “abdication of leadership.”[41] Days later, Reeves issued an amended order, clarifying that his previous order was not intended to interfere with local governments’ decisions.[40]
Reeves implemented a “stay-at-home” order on April 2020, but allowed some retail businesses to reopen shortly thereafter.[43] In early May 2020, Mississippi had its largest spike of coronavirus deaths and cases up to that point.[43] Mississippi again had a sharp uptake in COVID-19 cases and deaths in November 2020.[44] In December 2020, although Reeves urged the public to avoid large gatherings to prevent the further spread of the virus, Reeves’s office invited legislators and other officials to at least three holiday parties at the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson.[45][46]
Except for August 4 through September 30, 2020, Reeves did not issue a statewide mask mandate in the state, setting only county-by-county mandates in locations with rapid increases in infections.[44] Of the state’s 82 counties, 16 were under a mask mandate in November 2020, when the mandates expired.[44] Effective April 30, 2021, Reeves ended COVID-19 restrictions (with the exception of the school mask mandate) through May 31, 2021. For the 2021–22 school year, Reeves did not reinstate the mask mandate.[47][48][49] At a political rally in July 2021, Reeves called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘ recommendations on indoor face coverings “foolish” and “harmful.”[50]
When a COVID-19 vaccine was made widely available, Reeves opposed vaccine requirements.[51][52] Mississippi had one of the lowest vaccination rates among U.S. states,[50][53] a fact downplayed by Reeves.[53] After President Joe Biden used his authority under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act to require federal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and to require all employers with more than 100 workers to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive weekly testing, Reeves called the mandate “tyranny” and an “attack on hardworking Americans.”[54][55] Biden responded by calling Reeves’s remark “the worst kind of politics”; the president referenced the 660,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. up to that point and noting that “in Mississippi, children are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio, tetanus and more.”[56][57] Reeves joined a Republican-led lawsuit against the Biden plan.[58]
In August 2021, Reeves argued that Mississippi Christians were “less scared” because “when you believe in eternal life—when you believe that living on this earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don’t have to be so scared of things.”[59][60] That month, Mississippi had the nation’s highest rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita.[59]
During COVID-19, Mississippi suffered a shortage of hospital workers (in particular nurses). Reeves declined to call a special session of the legislature to allocate the state’s $1.8 billion share of federal COVID-19 relief funds to address the crisis.[61]
Race and Confederate iconography
In April 2021, Reeves said, “There is not systemic racism in America.”[62] Earlier that month, Reeves had declared April “Confederate Heritage Month” in Mississippi.[62]
In June 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, debate arose about whether to change the flag of Mississippi, which featured Confederate insignia in the top left. Reeves initially said that the flag should only be changed through a voter-approved referendum,[63][64] but later reversed himself, saying that if the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to retire the flag without a referendum, he would sign it.[64] On June 28, 2020, the legislature voted to change the flag, 91 to 23 in the House and 37 to 14 in the Senate.[65] Reeves signed the legislation two days later, removing the last state flag to display the Confederate symbol.[66]
Criminal justice and prisons
In 2020, Reeves vetoed two criminal justice bills that would have expanded parole eligibility for Mississippi prisoners; one of the bills would have allowed nonviolent offenders to be considered for parole after serving 25% of their sentence, while the second bill would allow those convicted of violent crimes to be eligible for parole consideration after completing 50% of their sentence or 20 years, whichever comes first.[67] In 2021, Reeves signed into law a narrower bill that expanded parole eligibility.[68] Reeves rejected calls to grant a pardon or commutation to Tameka Drummer, a Mississippi inmate serving a life without parole sentence for the possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana; Drummer was sentenced in 2008 under the state’s habitual-offender law.[69][70]
As governor, Reeves was faced with significant problems with the state’s prison system, especially Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman—including widespread, deadly violence and unsanitary, dangerous conditions.[71] After nine prisoners died in one month at Parchman, Reeves acknowledged that the conditions at Parchman were “terrible”; he ordered the closure of part of the notorious prison complex, as well as other reforms.[71][72][73] Several hundred inmates were moved from Parchman’s infamous “Unit 29” to the privately operatedTallahatchie County Correctional Facility.[74][75]
Medical cannabis
In 2020, Mississippi voters approved (by 70%) a medical marijuana initiative; the initiative was subsequently invalidated by the state Supreme Court which ruled that it was improperly placed on the ballot.[76][77][78] Reeves opposed the medical marijuana initiative, but said that he would honor “the will of the voters” who had overwhelmingly voted in favor of medical marijuana.[77] On February 2, 2022, Reeves signed the bill into law, making Mississippi the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis.[79]
Education
Reeves used his 2020 budget proposal to appeal to the conservative base. Echoing Trump, he proposed allocating $3 million to a “Patriotic Education Fund” and said that “across the country, young children have suffered from indoctrination in far-left socialist teachings.”[34] Reeves’s budget proposal recommended bonuses for schoolteachers in high-performing or improving schools, but largely ignored his 2019 campaign pledge to boost teacher pay in each year of his four-year term.[34] He has proposed teacher raises in the 2022 budget.[80]
Taxation and budget
As governor, Reeves pushed legislation to eliminate the state’s personal income tax.[81][82][83] The rating agency Fitch raised concerns in November 2021 that Reeves’s taxation plans may be fiscally unfeasible.[84]
Personal life
Reeves is married to Elee Reeves (née Williams); they have three daughters.[85][44] Reeves and his family attend Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church.[85]
^Stephen D. Shaffer, “Mississippi: Republican Hegemony Persists” in The 2020 Presidential Election in the South. Eds. Scott E. Buchanan & Branwell Dubose Kapeluck. (Lexington Books, 2021), p. 113.
^Bobby Harrison. (15 November 2021). “Gov. Tate Reeves offers his own plan for spending $1.2 billion in federal funds “. MississippiToday.org Retrieved 21 November 2021.
The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without term limits. The Legislature convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.
The legislative roads for two of the most high-profile issues of the 2021 session — a massive tax swap proposal and the legalization of medical marijuana — appear to have reached a dead end.
While the ability of Mississippi legislators to revive an issue should never be underestimated, it appears the joint rules would make it near impossible to bring back to life both issues.
The end came quietly when House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, made a motion to go to conference on a Senate bill that contained the language legalizing medical marijuana. Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, did the same for the House bill that would have enacted the tax swap. Both motions were approved with no fanfare.
Summary
The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without term limits. The Legislature convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.
The legislative roads for two of the most high-profile issues of the 2021 session — a massive tax swap proposal and the legalization of medical marijuana — appear to have reached a dead end.
While the ability of Mississippi legislators to revive an issue should never be underestimated, it appears the joint rules would make it near impossible to bring back to life both issues.
The end came quietly when House Judiciary B Chair Nick Bain, R-Corinth, made a motion to go to conference on a Senate bill that contained the language legalizing medical marijuana. Senate Finance Chair Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, did the same for the House bill that would have enacted the tax swap. Both motions were approved with no fanfare.
The Mississippi Legislature was created as the Mississippi General Assembly in 1800, when Mississippi was still a territory.[2] Starting in 1833, it became known as the Mississippi Legislature.[2]
Powers and process
This brick church was erected in Washington, Mississippi in 1816. The first Constitution of Mississippi was written and adopted here; the state’s first legislature convened here in 1817. The preliminary treason trial of Vice President Aaron Burr occurred under some nearby oak trees.[3]
The Constitution of Mississippi gives the state legislature the authority to determine rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and expel a member with a two-thirds vote of the membership of his or her chamber.[4]
A bill may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other, and must be read by its title on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house dispenses with the rules.[4] The Mississippi Constitution prohibits amending a bill to change its original purpose.[4] Bills amended in the second house, must return for a vote to accept amendments.[4]
The Governor of Mississippi has the power to veto legislation, but legislators can override the veto with a two-thirds decision.
Membership
Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives are elected to four-year terms and Mississippi State Senators are also elected to four-year terms.
Current Position: US Senator since 2007 Affiliation: Republican Former Positions: State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Featured Quote: Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.
Featured Video: GOP Senator Wicker On Prospect Of Infrastructure Bill
Miss. Senators are among 11 lawmakers who signed the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
On Tuesday, pro-life group Live Action claimed that Google abruptly removed pro-life ads pushing a treatment to reverse the abortion pill, a treatment that the pro-life group claims has saved the lives of thousands of unborn babies.
Today, Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are among 11 lawmakers who signed a letter that demands reversal of Google ban on pro-life ads as well as ask Google CEO Sundar Pichai to justify Google’s double standard in censoring advertisements for a pro-life Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) hotline while continuing to allow ads for deadly abortion pills.
Summary
Current Position: US Senator since 2007 Affiliation: Republican Former Positions: State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Featured Quote: Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.
Featured Video: GOP Senator Wicker On Prospect Of Infrastructure Bill
Miss. Senators are among 11 lawmakers who signed the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
On Tuesday, pro-life group Live Action claimed that Google abruptly removed pro-life ads pushing a treatment to reverse the abortion pill, a treatment that the pro-life group claims has saved the lives of thousands of unborn babies.
Today, Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are among 11 lawmakers who signed a letter that demands reversal of Google ban on pro-life ads as well as ask Google CEO Sundar Pichai to justify Google’s double standard in censoring advertisements for a pro-life Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) hotline while continuing to allow ads for deadly abortion pills.
Wicker is the second-highest ranking Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His other committee assignments include the Environment and Public Works Committee; and the Rules and Administration Committee.
Wicker is the ranking member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Vice President of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly. Wicker also serves as a member of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Congressional Board of Visitors.
In the 115th Congress, Wicker authored the “Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas (SHIPS) Act,” which made it the policy of the United States to achieve the Navy’s requirement for a 355-ship fleet. This legislation, which was designed to bolster national security and increase American shipbuilding capacity, was signed into law by President Trump as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Senator Wicker has been a strong advocate for economic development initiatives to help keep Mississippians competitive in a global marketplace. He has been honored by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) for his work on pro-growth, pro-manufacturing policies in Congress.
Senator Wicker has actively supported cancer survivorship programs and efforts to fight heart disease, diabetes, childhood obesity, and Alzheimer’s. He has been recognized as a “champion” of polio eradication for his work to wipe out polio worldwide. Senator Wicker is the co-founder of the Senate Malaria and Neglected Tropical Disease Caucus and has worked to eliminate these preventable diseases.
He has been instrumental in bringing more research funding to Mississippi universities for a wide range of health-related projects to fight disease and improve quality of life. Most notably, Wicker authored the Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research, and Education (MD CARE) Act of 2001, which created NIH centers of excellence to coordinate and enhance muscular dystrophy research. The Wicker Project at Children’s National Medical Center is a leader in muscular dystrophy research.
Prior to his service in the Senate, Wicker was elected seven times, beginning in 1994, to represent Mississippi’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives. Before being elected to Congress, he served in the state Senate on behalf of Lee and Pontotoc counties.
Senator Wicker served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force and then joined the Air Force Reserve. He retired from the Reserve in 2004 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
A native of Pontotoc, Mississippi, the Senator is the son of former Circuit Judge Fred Wicker and the late Mrs. Wordna Wicker. He was educated in the public schools of Pontotoc and received his B.A. and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Wicker is a member of the First Baptist Church Tupelo, where he served as chairman of the deacons, taught Sunday School, and where he still sings in the choir.
Senator Wicker is married to the former Gayle Long of Tupelo. They have three children: Margaret and son-in-law Manning McPhillips; Caroline and son-in-law Kirk Sims; and McDaniel Wicker and his wife Kellee; and seven grandchildren: Caroline, Henry, Maury Beth, and Virginia McPhillips; Evelyn and Joseph Sims; and Philippa Wicker.
Wicker was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, succeeding longtime Representative Jamie Whitten. Wicker served in the House from 1995 to 2007, when he was appointed to the Senate by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the seat vacated by Lott. Wicker subsequently won a special election for the remainder of the term in 2008 and was reelected to a full term in 2012. Wicker served as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2015 to 2017 and is a deputy Republican whip. He was reelected in 2018, defeating Democratic nominee David Baria.
Wicker began his political career in 1980 as House Rules Committee counsel to U.S. Representative Trent Lott.[2] He was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1987, spending $25,000 on the race.[2] He represented the 6th district, which included Tupelo, from 1988 to 1994.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In 1994, Whitten declined to seek reelection; he had represented the 1st District for 53 years, longer than any other congressman at the time. Wicker ran to succeed him, spending $750,000 on his campaign.[2] He finished first in a crowded six-way Republican primary with 7,156 votes (26.62%) and proceeded to a runoff with attorney Grant Fox, who received 5,208 votes (19.37%). Former U.S. Attorney Bob Whitwell finished 600 votes short of the runoff with 4,606 votes (17.14%), 1992 nominee Clyde E. Whitaker came fourth with 4,602 votes (17.12%), 1986 nominee Larry Cobb came fifth with 4,162 votes (15.48%) and 1990 nominee Bill Bowlin took the remaining 1,147 votes (4.27%).[8] In the runoff, Wicker defeated Fox, 11,905 votes (53.07%) to 10,527 (46.93%).[9]
In the general election, Wicker defeated Fulton attorney Bill Wheeler, 80,553 votes (63.06%) to 47,192 (36.94%),[10] making him the first Republican to represent the 1st district in over a century. This was not considered an upset, as the 1st has always been a rather conservative district (especially in the Memphis suburbs). The district had only supported the Democratic nominee for president once since 1956, when Jimmy Carter carried the district in 1976. Although Whitten had a nearly unbreakable hold on the district, it had been considered very likely that he would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
Wicker was reelected six times without serious difficulty, never receiving less than 65% of the vote. In 2004, he was unopposed by a Democratic candidate, facing only Reform Party nominee Barbara Dale Washer, whom he defeated by 219,328 votes (79.01%) to 58,256 (20.99%).[11]
Tenure
Assuming office in 1995, Wicker was president of the freshman class, which included 53 other new Republican representatives, elected as part of the 1994 “Republican Revolution”.[2]
In Congress, Wicker worked on issues related to medical research and on economic development for his home state. He advocated private-public partnerships to bring investment to rural areas. Wicker also worked for veterans’ issues while serving as a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.[12] In his final year as representative, Wicker topped the list in earmarks.[13]
In 2007, Wicker was criticized after securing a $6 million earmark for a defense company whose executives had made significant contributions to his campaign.[14]
On November 26, 2007, Senator Trent Lott announced that he would resign before the end of the year to become a lobbyist. At a press conference on December 31, 2007, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour appointed Wicker to fill the Senate seat Lott vacated on December 18, 2007.[15] He was sworn in by the Senate clerk just before that news conference.[16]
Wicker ran for the remainder of Lott’s term in the November 2008 special election against Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, Barbour’s predecessor as governor. Wicker defeated Musgrove, 683,409 votes (54.96%) to 560,064 (45.04%). Wicker’s resignation from the House also triggered a May 13, 2008, special election to fill the vacancy in the House, which was won by Democratic nominee Travis Childers.
Wicker ran for reelection to a full term in 2012. He was opposed by Robert Maloney and Tea Party activist E. Allen Hathcock in the Republican primary, defeating them by 254,936 votes (89.17%) to 18,857 (6.60%) and 12,106 (4.23%), respectively.[17] In the general election, he defeated Albert Gore, the Chairman of the Oktibbeha County Democratic Party and a distant relative of former Vice President Al Gore, 709,626 votes (57.16%) to 503,467 (40.55%).[18]
Tenure
U.S. Senator Roger F. Wicker meets with U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi in the Dirksen Senate Office building.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker Speaks at Meridian International Center Summit 2018
On September 16, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Wicker as representative of the United States to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.[19]
Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker
In the Senate, Wicker is a member of the Senate Republicans’ whip team and has repeatedly introduced a bill to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision ruling abortion bans unconstitutional. Wicker called the Affordable Care Act the “great fight for the rest of this term, maybe our lifetimes” and later introduced a bill to enable state officials to challenge the law. In the interest of protecting gun owners, he amended a fiscal 2010 transportation spending bill to allow Amtrak passengers to carry firearms and ammunition in checked baggage.[20]
Wicker and Representative Gene Taylor pushed amendments allowing purchasers of federal flood insurance to add wind coverage to their policies, helpful to a hurricane-prone state. As a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) monitoring human rights and other issues, in late 2012 Wicker worked with Senator Ben Cardin to enact a bill imposing penalties on Russians accused of violating human rights. The measure led Russian President Vladimir Putin to announce a subsequent ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian-born children.[20]
Wicker was one of three politicians targeted during the April 2013 ricin letters bioterrorism attack. On April 16, 2013, a letter addressed to Wicker tested positive for the poison ricin as part of a series of letters.[21] The letter was detected by postal officials and law enforcement and prevented from reaching the Capitol.[22] The letter was tested three times, with each test confirming the presence of ricin.[22]
In July 2013, Wicker proposed that the Senate meet to discuss a controversial change to filibuster rules. The Senate held the private meeting in the Old Senate chamber to discuss Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid‘s threat of the so-called “nuclear option”, which would change the rules for Senate votes on Obama’s executive branch nominees. Wicker said he hoped the chamber’s bipartisan past could serve as an inspiration for the debate about the nuclear option: “I think there are concessions that can be made on both sides. And then I would just hope that, institutionally, we can get away from this mindset.”[23]
Wicker supported the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014 (S. 2363; 113th Congress), a bill related to hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation, aimed at improving “the public’s ability to enjoy the outdoors.”[24] He said, “Mississippians know the importance of efforts to preserve our natural resources for future generations.”[24]
In March 2017, Wicker co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[30][31]
In May 2020, a group of Senate Republicans planned to introduce a privacy bill that would regulate the data collected by coronavirus contact tracing apps. The COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act would “provide all Americans with more transparency, choice, and control over the collection and use of their personal health, geolocation, and proximity data”, according to a joint statement. Wicker said the legislation also would “hold businesses accountable to consumers if they use personal data to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.” The act would permit the creation of “platforms that could trace the virus and help flatten the curve and stop the spread – and maintaining privacy protections for U.S. citizens“, Wicker said.[32]
Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker.
In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Wicker supported an immediate Senate vote on Trump’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg‘s death, saying that Senate Republicans had “promised to confirm well qualified, conservative judges” and that there was a “constitutional duty” to fill vacancies. In March 2016, Wicker had taken the opposite position by declining to consider Obama’s Supreme Court nominee during a presidential election year, saying that the “American people should have the opportunity to make their voices heard before filling a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court.”[33]
Wicker announced before the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count that he would vote to certify the election on January 6, 2021.[34] He was participating in the certification when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. When the Capitol was secure and Congress returned to complete the certification, Wicker voted to certify the count, with his senate counterpart, Cindy Hyde-Smith objecting to the count.[35] In the wake of the insurrection and certification, Wicker called for perpetrators to be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law” and said, “we must work together to rebuild confidence in our institutions.”[36] Wicker opposed Trump’s removal from office, encouraging a peaceful transfer of power on Inauguration Day.[37]
In March 2021, after Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Wicker highlighted on social media that the bill awarded $28.6 billion of “targeted relief” to “independent restaurant operators” to “survive the pandemic”. In that post, he neglected to mention that he had voted against the bill.[38]
After President Joe Biden said that he planned to select a black woman to appoint to the Supreme Court in January 2022, Wicker told Mississippi radio host Paul Gallo that the nominee would be a “beneficiary” of an affirmative action “quota”,[40] drawing a rebuke from the White House.[41]
Political positions
As of December 2017, Wicker ranks 14th of 98 in the Bipartisan Index compiled by The Lugar Center, which reflects a low level of partisanship.[42]
Confederate States of America
While discussing Mississippi’s previous state flag, Wicker said his confederate military ancestors were “Americans” and were “brave”.[43]
Climate change
In 2015, Wicker was the only U.S. senator to vote against an amendment declaring that climate change is real. Wicker, the incoming chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was the only no vote. The final vote was 98 to 1, with Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader from Nevada, not voting.[44] The amendment affirmed that “climate change is real and not a hoax.”[45]
In 2017, Wicker was one of 22 senators to sign a letter[46] to Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Wicker has received over $200,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012.[47]
Gun law
Wicker’s support for pro-gun legislation and gun rights has earned him an “A+” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA endorsed Wicker during the 2012 election.[48] Wicker has said that he will filibuster any bill that he feels “infringes” on the Second Amendment, including weapon bans.[49] He has received $21,350 in funding from gun lobbyists for his political activities.[50]
In 2009, Wicker introduced a bill allowing Amtrak passengers to check unloaded and locked handguns in their luggage. The law passed 68–30. His rationale for the bill was that people’s Second Amendment rights were violated on a federally subsidized train system if they could not bring their guns.[51]
One day after the 2015 San Bernardino attack, Wicker voted against a bill, co-sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican, that would make background checks mandatory when a person buys a gun. He said he voted against it because he feared it would have “opened the door to a national gun registry.”[52]
In 2017, Wicker voted in favor of “a joint resolution of disapproval aimed at former President Obama’s executive action requiring the Social Security Administration (SSA) place beneficiaries on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System ‘mental defective’ list.”[53]
Secularism
Wicker asked the United States Navy to deny the admission of a secular humanist to the Chaplain Corps, saying, “It is troubling that the Navy could allow a self-avowed atheist to serve in the Chaplain Corps.”[54]
In 2020, Wicker received a score of 74 from the American Conservative Union. He has a lifetime rating of 83.62.[57] The Americans for Democratic Action gave Wicker a score of 0 for the term.
Electoral history
Official photo as U.S. Representative
The following is a partial summary of Wicker’s election results.[citation needed]
2006 Mississippi 1st District United States Congressional election
Roger Wicker (R) (inc.) 66%
Ken Hurt (D) 34%
2004 Mississippi 1st District United States Congressional election
Roger Wicker (R) (inc.) 79%
Barbara Dale Washer (Reform) 21%
1994 Mississippi 1st District United States Congressional election
Roger Wicker (R) 63%
Bill Wheeler (D) 37%
Personal life
Wicker has been married to Gayle Long since 1975. They have three children and six grandchildren. The Wickers reside in Tupelo, where Wicker is a deacon and a member of the First Baptist Church Tupelo choir.[58] He previously served on the Board of Advisors for the Global Panel Foundation [de], a nongovernmental organization that works in crisis areas.[59]
On August 19, 2021, Wicker and fellow senators John Hickenlooper and Angus Kingtested positive for COVID-19.[60] He fully recovered from the disease, saying, “Being fully vaccinated greatly reduced my risk of developing severe complications from the virus. Getting the shot is safe, easy, and free, and it could save your life.”[61]
^“Robert N. Maddox Honor Lecture”. The Delta of Sigma Nu. Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. Fall 2006: 27–28. 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
^“They’re back: Representatives reveal their earmarks”. CNN. April 4, 2009. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2009. The top earmark requester in the House last year—now Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi—has not yet posted any earmarks for this year.
^Everett, Burgess; Seung Min Kim (November 13, 2014). “Roger Wicker wins NRSC race”. Politico. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
Every curated onAir state Hub, like this Mississippi onAir Hub at ms.onair.cc, will have at least one onAir Chapter overseeing the moderation of their Hub’s content and discussions.
The onAir Chapters will be associated with major public universities in each state and be lead by students and a faculty advisor. Each lead onAir Chapter will also help to establish affiliated onAir Chapters at public and private universities throughout the state.
We are currently having discussions with students and faculty at University of Mississippi to establish and manage the lead onAir Chapter for Mississippi onAir. Through its chapters, Mississippi onAir will support the nationwide effort by colleges and universities across the country to make democracy and civic responsibility a central aspect of higher learning.
Every curated onAir state Hub, like this Mississippi onAir Hub at ms.onair.cc, will have at least one onAir Chapter overseeing the moderation of their Hub’s content and discussions.
The onAir Chapters will be associated with major public universities in each state and be lead by students and a faculty advisor. Each lead onAir Chapter will also help to establish affiliated onAir Chapters at public and private universities throughout the state.
We are currently having discussions with students and faculty at University of Mississippi to establish and manage the lead onAir Chapter for Mississippi onAir. Through its chapters, Mississippi onAir will support the nationwide effort by colleges and universities across the country to make democracy and civic responsibility a central aspect of higher learning.
The University of Mississippi’s onAir chapter will initially focus on training interested undergrad and graduate students on how to curate Mississippi onAir content especially submitting Top News articles, events, videos, and information and moderating forums in each post they curate.
Student curators will also work with state senate and house committee chairs to produce aircasts on issues being discussed and bills being proposed in their committees.
During election season, students with other other organizations like the League of Women Voters, will coordinate and produce aircasted debates with candidates.
Founded in 1848, the University of Mississippi, affectionately known to alumni, students and friends as Ole Miss, is Mississippi’s flagship university. Included in the elite group of R-1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity by the Carnegie Classification, it has a long history of producing leaders in public service, academics and business. With more than 24,000 students, Ole Miss is the state’s largest university and is ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing institutions. Its 15 academic divisions include a major medical school, nationally recognized schools of accountancy, law and pharmacy, and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, renowned for a blend of academic rigor, experiential learning and opportunities for community action.
When it chartered the University of Mississippi on February 24, 1844, the Mississippi Legislature laid the foundation for public higher education in the state. The university opened its doors to 80 students four years later, and for 23 years was Mississippi’s only public institution of higher learning. For 110 years, it was the state’s only comprehensive university.
The University of Mississippi embraces its public flagship mission of inspiring and educating our diverse and vibrant community where all individuals are able to intellectually, socially, and culturally thrive through transformative experiences on our campus and beyond. In fulfillment of this mission, we demonstrate the following commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion:
Diversity is an affirmation of the intersecting individual, social and organizational identities that make our community vibrant and transformational. We commit to openly increasing, embracing and recognizing the full spectrum of diversity at all levels of our institution.
Equity is directly addressing the social, institutional, organizational and systemic barriers that prevent members of marginalized groups from thriving in our community. We commit to be both proactive and responsive in mitigating barriers so that all members of our institution are able to reach their full potential.
Inclusion is actively and intentionally creating a welcoming campus where all individuals feel they have a supportive and affirming space to learn, grow and engage. We commit to fostering a campus environment that fully supports, values and engages the intersectional identities of every member of our community.
Global Engagement at The University of Mississippi
The Office of Global Engagement (OGE) is responsible for the development, promotion, and support for all global engagement activities on campus. Our goal is the comprehensive internationalization of the university, and the development of our students, faculty, and staff as global citizens. OGE fosters the growth of multidisciplinary and collaborative partnerships both within the university community and around the world, in support of our institutional position as the flagship university of the State of Mississippi, and as a renowned global public research university.
Our Office of Global Engagement is a multidisciplinary network of people and programs that continuously strive to bring the world to Mississippi and take Mississippi to the world in ways that engenders the development of global citizenship, scholarship, and human development. We partner with academic and non-academic units across the university in the drive to enhance the global content of our academic and non-academic programs, and in so doing promote a seamless international engagements in all disciplines. In the increasingly global village that is currently our world, The University of Mississippi strives to produce global leaders from all disciplines through our international studies programs that include international internships and service learning, study abroad, exchange programs, a vibrant international students population together with extensive research and educational partnerships with leading education and research institutions around the globe.
Since 1917, ASB has led the effort in advocating for the students at the University of Mississippi. We work to serve selflessly and to represent justly the student body.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Associated Student Body is to serve selflessly and to represent justly the student body, in accordance with The University of Mississippi’s Creed by prioritizing students’ interests and needs above personal ambition and prejudice. ASB is a student organization committed to our role of supporting each and every single student to be prepared for the next season of life by engaging student opinion about the nature of our university and campus and elevating the student voice to campus leadership. The Associated Student Body has three branches – executive, legislative, and judicial. These three branches together provide an advocacy resource for students on campus.
Internships can provide meaningful opportunities to gain experience in your chosen field of interest. These experiences are important to not only solidify your career path, but to build a strong resume. Whether you are taking part in a paid or unpaid internship, credit or non-credit internship, part-time job on or off campus, campus organizations, or volunteer work, taking advantage of opportunities to increase your experience on your resume while you are attending college is imperative to your success after graduation.
An internship is an experimental learning opportunity for you to gain hands-on experience in a field of professional work that interests you. Benefits include:
• Gaining valuable work experience that increases your employment marketability • Develop new skills while refining others • Reinforcement of classroom learning to workplace settings • Exploring potential career options • Meet and work with professionals • Building your professional network • Adding experience to your resume • Can lead to full-time job offers
There are several different ways you can find internship opportunities!
Political science is the study of political institutions and political behavior at the local, state, national, and international levels. Students of political science will develop critical thinking, writing, and oral communication skills essential to effective citizenship, as well as many careers.
The Department is organized around three fields of study: American politics, Comparative politics, and International politics.
American politics offers a variety of courses including ones on constitutional rights and liberties, political behavior, parties and elections, the Congress, and the Presidency. The gateway class for these upper-division classes is POL 101, Introduction to American Politics. We strongly urge that you take this course first in the first or second year of your academic program.
Comparative politics includes coursework in the politics of major regions of the world (western and eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia) as well as theoretical approaches for integrating and contrasting these regional studies. The gateway course for these Comparative politics upper-division courses is POL 102. Please take this course first before considering advanced 300-level offerings.
International Relations is the study of politics that transcend the nation-state. These courses include the study of American foreign policy, international political economy, conflict, and international organizations. Please take POL 103 as an introduction to this field.
While we are diverse in our offerings and organization, the Political Science Department shares a common mission. That mission is to prepare informed, active, and critical citizens. The major should provide you with skills and knowledge for advanced studies and government-related careers. Our students prepare for careers in a wide variety of fields. While many go to law school, many others find careers in business, teaching, the Foreign Service, the armed forces, federal, state, and local government, law enforcement, lobbying, and non-profit organizations. Some of our alumni serve in Congress, at the White House, in state government and in U.S. embassies abroad, while others are attorneys and business professionals. Some of our alumni have successful careers teaching at the higher & secondary education levels. We invite you to discuss with our faculty your career and academic goals.
A major in political science for the B.A. degree consists of 33 semester hours chosen from the subfields of American government and politics, comparative government and politics, international relations, and political analysis, including Pol 101, 102, 103, and 251.
At least 18 hours must be in non-Z-graded courses at the 300 level or above. Grades lower than C in political science courses will not be counted toward the political science major or minor.
Research, scholarship, and innovation at the University of Mississippi is accomplished by individual and collaborative efforts of its faculty, staff, and students. Continuously engaging in the discovery, creation, and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of society informs further inquiry, enhances educational experiences, improves the economic status of citizens in Mississippi, and raises the quality of life for individuals throughout the world.
Division of Research Development
The primary mission of the Division of Research Development is to assist the UM community in developing nationally prominent programs of research and scholarly activities, and to bring recognition and reward for outstanding accomplishments in these areas.
Services
Provides Internal Grants Programs and Financial Support for Research
Handles other requests from researchers, chairs, and deans for additional needs, such as publication subventions, hosting workshops, conferences, and symposia, campus visits of potential collaborators and agency representatives, start-up expenses for new faculty, and other major equipment or facilities costs.
As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, Mississippi’s government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the Governor, currently Tate Reeves (R). The lieutenant governor, currently Delbert Hosemann (R), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi rather than appointed by the governor.
Mississippi is one of five states that elects its state officials in odd-numbered years (the others are Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Virginia). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years, always in the year preceding presidential elections.
In a 2020 study, Mississippi was ranked as the 4th hardest state for citizens to vote in.
Current Position: US Senator since 2018 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: State Senator from 2000 – 2012
Featured Quote: Today the Mississippi congressional delegation (@SenHydeSmith, @SenatorWicker @CongPalazz0 @RepTrentKelly& @RepMichaelGuest and House Pro-life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith led more than 200 members of Congress to file an amicus brief in the Dobbs late-term abortion case:
Featured Video: Sen. Hyde-Smith’s full statement on Trump’s impeachment trial | Trump impeachment trial
Current Position: Governor since 2020 Affiliation: Republican Former Position: Treasurer of Mississippi from 2004 – 2012
Featured Quote: This is brand new data worth considering: Further evidence that Risks associated with NOT getting vaccinated > Risks associated with getting vaccinated! Make the right choice, Mississippi!!
Featured Video: MPB LIVE: Governor Tate Reeves 2021 State of the State Address
The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members. Both representatives and senators serve four-year terms without term limits. The Legislature convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.
Current Position: US Senator since 2007 Affiliation: Republican Former Positions: State Senator from 1995 – 2007; State Delegate from 1988 – 1995
Other Positions: Chair, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Featured Quote: Federal regulations should not become overly burdensome for Mississippi farmers and small business owners. I’m working to codify the Trump Administration’s rules, which recognizes state control over local waters.
Featured Video: GOP Senator Wicker On Prospect Of Infrastructure Bill
Every curated onAir state Hub, like this Mississippi onAir Hub at ms.onair.cc, will have at least one onAir Chapter overseeing the moderation of their Hub’s content and discussions.
The onAir Chapters will be associated with major public universities in each state and be lead by students and a faculty advisor. Each lead onAir Chapter will also help to establish affiliated onAir Chapters at public and private universities throughout the state.
We are currently having discussions with students and faculty at University of Mississippi to establish and manage the lead onAir Chapter for Mississippi onAir. Through its chapters, Mississippi onAir will support the nationwide effort by colleges and universities across the country to make democracy and civic responsibility a central aspect of higher learning.
Current Position: US Senator since 2018
Current Position: US Senator since 2007
Current Position: US Representative for MS 1st District since 2015
urrent Position: US Representative for MS 2nd District since 1993
urrent Position: US Representative for MS 3rd District since 2019
Current Position: US Representative for MS 4th District since 2011
