2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election

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2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election
Flag of Mississippi (2001-2020).svg
  1999 November 4, 2003 2007  
  Haley Barbour by Gage Skidmore.jpg David Ronald Musgrove (cropped).jpg
Nominee Haley Barbour Ronnie Musgrove
Party Republican Democratic
Electoral vote7646
Popular vote470,404409,787
Percentage52.59%45.81%

2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Barbour:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Musgrove:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

Ronnie Musgrove
Democratic

Elected Governor

Haley Barbour
Republican

The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2003 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour defeated incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove by a margin of 6.78%.

Contents

As of 2024, the election remains the most expensive Mississippi gubernatorial election in state history, with over $18 million having been spent between Barbour and Musgrove. [1] An additional $5 million was spent by the Republican Governors Association, mostly on television advertising. Barbour's victory in the election made him only the second Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction. [2] It was also the last time the governorships of Mississippi and neighboring Louisiana simultaneously flipped to the opposite political party as of 2024.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Musgrove was elected governor in 1999 after a very close election against Michael Parker. As neither candidate had obtained a majority in the election, Musgrove was chosen as governor by the Democratic controlled Mississippi House of Representatives. [2]

As governor, Musgrove had difficulties with the state's legislators. He vetoed the whole budget one year but was overridden by the legislature. However, Musgrove campaigned on having secured the largest pay rise for teachers in the state's history. [3]

Results

Democratic primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ronnie Musgrove (incumbent) 392,264 75.82
Democratic Gilbert Fountain39,6857.67
Democratic Elder McClendon30,4215.88
Democratic Katie Perrone28,1545.44
Democratic Catherine M. Starr26,8215.18
Total votes517,345 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Barbour, a former advisor in the White House during the presidency of Ronald Reagan and Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1996, announced that he would run for governor on February 17, 2003. He had previously failed to be elected to the U.S. Senate for Mississippi in 1982, and in 2002 he travelled the state for several months to gauge support for his gubernatorial bid. [5]

Endorsements

Haley Barbour

Steve Ballmer, President (1998-2000) and CEO (2000-2014) of Microsoft, [6]

Results

Republican primary results [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Haley Barbour 158,284 83.21
Republican Mitch Tyner31,76816.70
Republican Write-ins1710.09
Total votes190,223 100.00

General election

Campaign

Musgrove campaigned as an independent and conservative candidate, downplaying his membership in the Democratic Party and avoiding inviting any national figures to support him. [3] He criticized Barbour for being a lobbyist for the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries. [8] A key message of Musgrove's campaign was that Barbour's support for free trade would cost jobs in Mississippi. [9]

Barbour attacked Musgrove for his flawed leadership of the state, blaming him for the state of the economy of Mississippi. [8] He was helped by the President, George W. Bush, who made three trips to the state to support Barbour. [2] Several other leading Republican figures came to Mississippi to support Barbour including Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush and Rudy Giuliani. [3]

A poll in October 2003 showed Barbour having a narrow lead, with 50% saying they would vote for him as against 45% for Musgrove. [3] However another poll at the beginning of November showed Musgrove with 42% against 41% for Barbour and both sides regarded turnout as key to the election. [9]

Exit polls showed that black voters made up a third of the vote and 94% of them backed Musgrove. However among white voters 77% backed Barbour and a quarter of voters who supported Musgrove in his first election in 1999 now backed Barbour. [10]

Results

CandidatePartyPopular voteElectoral vote
Votes%Votes%
Haley Barbour Republican Party 470,40452.597662.30
Ronnie Musgrove (incumbent) Democratic Party 409,78745.814637.70
John Cripps Constitution Party 6,3170.71
Shawn O'Hara Reform Party 4,0700.46
Sherman Lee Dillon Green Party 3,9090.44
Total894,487100.00122100.00
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Musgrove</span> American politician

David Ronald Musgrove is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Mississippi from 2000 to 2004. A Democrat, he previously served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 1996 to 2000. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2008 special election for one of Mississippi's seats in the United States Senate, losing to incumbent Senator Roger Wicker. Musgrove is a principal at a public affairs consulting firm, Politics. In 2014, he became founding partner of a new law firm in Jackson, Mississippi, Musgrove/Smith Law. As of 2024, he is the last Democrat to hold the office of Governor of Mississippi to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Fordice</span> American politician and businessman (1934–2004)

Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice Jr. was an American politician and businessman who served as the 61st governor of Mississippi from 1992 to 2000. He was the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction, and the state's first governor elected to two consecutive four-year terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haley Barbour</span> American attorney and politician (born 1947)

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References

  1. "Miss. governor race eyed as '04 harbinger - The Boston Globe". archive.boston.com. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Janofsky, Michael (November 5, 2003). "Republicans Win Top Posts In Mississippi and Kentucky". The New York Times . Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Barbour's bid for Mississippi governor draws GOP heavyweights". CNN. October 28, 2003. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  4. "Official Recapitulation of votes cast in the Democratic Party primary held in the State of Mississippi on the 5th day of August, 2003" (PDF). Mississippi Secretary of State.
  5. "Barbour launches bid for Mississippi governor". CNN. February 17, 2003. Archived from the original on November 17, 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  6. "OpenSecrets" . Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  7. "Official Recapitulation of votes cast in the Republican Party primary held in the State of Mississippi on the 5th day of August, 2003" (PDF). Mississippi Secretary of State.
  8. 1 2 "Democrats lose Kentucky, Mississippi governorships". CNN. November 5, 2003. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  9. 1 2 Radelat, Ana (November 2, 2003). "Miss. governor's race looks tight". USA Today . Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  10. "Survey data help explain GOP victories in Kentucky, Mississippi". CNN. November 10, 2003. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2008.