Mississippi Republican Party

Last updated
Mississippi Republican Party
Chairperson Frank Bordeaux [1]
House leader Jason White (politician)
Senate leader Delbert Hosemann
Founded1956
HeadquartersP.O. Box 60,
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
Ideology Conservatism
National affiliation Republican Party
Colors  Red
Seats in the U.S. Senate
2 / 2
Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
3 / 4
Seats in the Mississippi Senate
36 / 52
Seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives
76 / 122
Election symbol
Republican Party Disc (alternate).svg
Website
msgop.org
Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi. Haley Barbour (5560120989).jpg
Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi.

The Mississippi Republican Party is the Mississippi state affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Frank Bordeaux, and the party is based in Jackson, Mississippi. The original Republican Party of Mississippi was founded following the American Civil War, and the current incarnation of the Mississippi Republican Party was founded in 1956. The party would grow in popularity after the 1964 Civil Rights Act and is currently the dominant party in the state.

Contents

History

Platform adopted by the Republican party of Mississippi, in convention assembled, in the City of Jackson, September 10-11, 1867 Mississippi Republican Party 1867.jpg
Platform adopted by the Republican party of Mississippi, in convention assembled, in the City of Jackson, September 10–11, 1867

One-third of the delegates to the 1867 convention were black. James D. Lynch opposed the Radical Republicans and resolutions calling for property confiscation. [2]

In 1956, Wirt Adams Yerger, Jr., an insurance agent from Jackson, founded the modern Mississippi Republican Party and served as the first state chairman from 1956 until 1966. He was chairman of the Mississippi delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1956, 1960, and 1964. He was elected to a four-year term as chairman of the Southern Association of Republican State Chairman in 1960. In 2009, the central committee of the Mississippi Republican Party named Yerger Chairman Emeritus. The Mississippi Republican Party would grow in supporters with then President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who still twice lost the electoral votes of Mississippi. On September 24, 1960, Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon campaigned in the state, the first time a presidential candidate had appeared in the state in more than a century. [3] During the 1964 Republican National Convention Mississippi delegates would help nominate Barry Goldwater for president. Goldwater would go on to win 87 percent of the vote in Mississippi in the 1964 presidential election, the first time a Republican would win the state since the Reconstruction Era. [4] Only once since 1956 has a non-Republican presidential candidate won the state of Mississippi, Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. [5] In 1988, Republican Congressman Trent Lott would defeat Democratic Congressman Wayne Dowdy to replace retiring Senator John Stennis (D-MS).

Gubernatorial elections

In 1963, Rubel Phillips became the first Republican nominee for governor in 80 years, challenging then-Lt. Gov. Paul Johnson, Jr. and garnering 38 percent of the vote. Phillips ran again in 1967 against John Bell Williams but lost again, this time earning 29 percent of the vote. In 1991, for the first time in over a century a Republican would become the Governor of Mississippi, when Kirk Fordice would earn 50.8 percent of the popular vote, defeating Democrat Ray Mabus. [6] In the 2003 Mississippi Gubernatorial Election, Haley Barbour defeated then incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove with 52.59% of the vote. [7] On November 5, 2019, Tate Reeves was elected Governor of Mississippi and assumed office in January 2020.

Policy positions

While Mississippi Republicans take positions on a wide variety of issues, some of the noteworthy ones include:

Current Republican officeholders

The Mississippi Republican Party hold all the eight statewide offices and holds a majority in the Mississippi Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 3 of the state's 4 U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

DistrictMemberPhoto
1st Trent Kelly
Trent Kelly, Official Portrait, 115th Congress (cropped).jpg
3rd Michael Guest
Michael Guest, official portrait, 116th Congress (cropped 2).jpg
4th Mike Ezell
Rep. Mike Ezell official photo (cropped).jpg

Statewide offices

State Legislative Leadership

Mississippi State Republican chairmen

Electoral history

Gubernatorial

Mississippi Republican Party gubernatorial election results
ElectionGubernatorial candidateVotesVote %Result
1999 Michael Parker 370,69148.52%LostRed x.svg
2003 Haley Barbour 470,40452.59%WonGreen check.svg
2007 Haley Barbour 430,80757.90%WonGreen check.svg
2011 Phil Bryant 544,85160.98%WonGreen check.svg
2015 Phil Bryant 480,39966.24%WonGreen check.svg
2019 Tate Reeves 459,39651.91%WonGreen check.svg
2023 Tate Reeves 418,23350.94%WonGreen check.svg

See also

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References

  1. "Deltabusinessjournal". Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  2. Abbott 1986, p. 131.
  3. Nash, Jere and Taggert, Andy. Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2006. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006. pp. 41-42
  4. Nash and Taggert pp. 45-46
  5. Nash and Taggert pp. 55
  6. Nash and Taggert pp. 230
  7. Election results sos.state.ms.us [ dead link ]
  8. "MSGOP.org | Mississippi Republican Party | About". Archived from the original on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  9. http://www.sunherald.com/2011/11/03/3552207/barbour-votes-for-personhood-prop.html%5B‍%5D
  10. "Secretary of State :: Elections". Archived from the original on 2011-10-29. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  11. 1 2 "Secretary of State :: Elections". Archived from the original on 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  12. "Cochran names Brad White chief of staff". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  13. "Miss. House majority hangs in balance as GOP leads". Deseret News . 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.

Works cited