The polls have now closed in Mississippi following an election day that will decide the state’s next governor.
Republican Tate Reeves and Democrat Jim Hood have run a highly contentious race as they are each hoping to succeed Governor Phil Bryant, who is nearing the end of his second & final term.
To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of the popular vote and win a majority of the state’s 122 House districts. Check out the results below:
Precincts Reporting: 99%
Jim Hood (D) – 46.5%
Tate Reeves (R) – 52.3%
Bob Hickingbottom (Constitution) – 0.3%
David Singletary (Ind.) – 1.0%
If no candidate reaches the two needed benchmarks, the next governor will be decided by the Mississippi House of Representatives.
The last time that a Mississippi gubernatorial election was decided in that fashion was the 1999 race between Democrat Ronnie Musgrove and Republican Mike Parker. Musgrove won the popular vote, but the House districts were split. The Democrat-controlled House at the time then selected Musgrove.
The process to elect a governor in Mississippi was challenged in a recent lawsuit, in which the plaintiffs argued that the system weakened the African-American vote in the state, but a judge decided not the block the law that has been on the books since 1890.
