A general election was held in Mississippi on November 4, 2003, to elect to four-year terms all members of the state legislature (122 representatives, 52 senators), the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and commerce, and commissioner of insurance, plus all three members of the Transportation Commission and all three members of the Public Service Commission.
All 122 representatives and all 52 senators are elected for four-year terms with no term limits. The state legislature draws up separate district map for the House of Representatives and for the Senate every 10 years following each census.[1]
Background for statewide elections
According to Article 5, Sections 140-41 of the state constitution, the governor and the other seven statewide officers are elected if they receive a majority of electoral votes and a majority of the direct total popular vote. A candidate wins an electoral vote by winning a plurality of the votes in a state house district. With 122 House Districts, a majority of electoral votes is 62. When no candidate receives both majorities, the House of Representatives decides the election between the two persons receiving the highest number of popular votes.[2][a]
Incumbent DemocratRonnie Musgrove faced Republican challenger Haley Barbour as well as the Constitution Party's John Thomas Cripps, the Green Party's Sherman Lee Dillon, and the Reform Party's Shawn O'Hara. In 1999, Lieutenant Governor Musgrove, won the gubernatorial election against Republican Mike Parker, a former U.S. representative, in a close election that necessitated the Mississippi House of Representatives to decide the outcome because of a tie in the electoral votes. Musgrove lost his re-election bid in 2003 to Barbour after a competitive race.
Amy Tuck, elected to the office in 1999 as a Democrat, had switched to the Republican Party in December 2002 after taking positions on several issues, like re-districting, that opposed the state Democratic Party's stances. In her race for reelection, her challenger was Democratic state senator Barbara Blackmon, who was the first black woman to run for a statewide race. Tuck defeated Blackmon in the election.
Mike Moore, a Democrat who had served four terms starting in 1988, declined to run for re-election. Moore's protégé Jim Hood faced Republican Scott Newton. Newton ran many ads attacking Hood on being soft on crime and especially criticized Hood's handling of a rape case, while Hood focused on Newton's supposed inexperience. Hood won the election over Newton.
Four-term Democrat Marshall Bennett resigned in early 2003 to join a New York City law firm and was replaced by Peyton Prospere, who was appointed by Governor Musgrove to complete the term. With Prospere not seeking election in his own right, Gary Anderson ran for the Democrats. The Republicans chose 29-year-old banker Tate Reeves. In a close race, Reeves won over Anderson.
Republican Phil Bryant, first appointed by Gov. Kirk Fordice in 1996 to fill an unexpired term and then won in 1999, won over Reform Party candidate Billy Blackburn.
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