Right on cue, as soon as the polls closed in Mississippi the AP called the Mississippi Democrat presidential primary for Hillary Clinton. As I’ve stated before, this is still Mississippi, as conservative as they come, and no avowed socialist will win here even in a Democrat primary.
Donald Trump was declared the Republican winner in the Magnolia State in less than an hour. Exit polling by various media outlets had him near 50% almost across the demographic spectrum.
Trump has now won Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana, completing an impressive Southern swing.
Out of them all, Mississippi was tailor made for the far right Ted Cruz Crew who blatantly made a play for the evangelical vote in the Deep South using “New York values” to call attention to Trump’s loose past. Yet, exit polling in Mississippi showed Trump winning evangelicals 45-39 over Cruz, a trend that’s becoming more consistent nationwide.
John Kasich and Marco Rubio are both far more suited for the traditional “evangelical” vote than Trump as well, yet are also losing by wide margins.
Stuart Stevens tweeted this as the primary results came in from Mississippi: “Baffled why cultural conservative case hasn’t been made against Trump in South, particularly since he says he’s never asked for forgiveness.”
The argument can be made that the Bible Belt has snapped its buckle. There is no credibility to the term after this cycle given what is transpiring across the South.
Trump is the antithesis to the Moral Majority and the Religious Right. Values voting has been replaced with angry voting because, to be blunt, Bubba has had enough and he’s letting his temper get the best of him in the ballot box.
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ELECTION RESULTS
GOP Primary with likely delegates:
Donald Trump – 47.3 with 24 delegates
Ted Cruz – 36.3 with 13 delegates
John Kasich – 8.8
Marco Rubio – 5.1
Trump won 75 of 82 counties. Cruz won the other 7 counties. Of note, Cruz won DeSoto and Lee counties while Trump won all other population centers, including the metro, the Coast, and the PineBelt. Jones County even went for Trump with 53%, which is notable due to Cruz’s state campaign director’s ties to the Free State.
Democrat Primary with likely delegates:
Hillary Clinton – 82.7 with 29 delegates
Bernie Sanders – 16.5 with 4 delegates
Clinton carried all 82 counties.
Congressional Races:
MS01: Incumbent freshman Republican Congressman Trent Kelly defeated challenger Paul Clever 89-11. Kelly will meet Democrat Jacob Owens in the general election.
MS02: Neither party’s candidate was opposed. Incumbent Democrat Congressman Bennie Thompson will face Republican John Bouie in the general election.
MS03: Incumbent Republican Congressman Gregg Harper defeated challenger Jimmy Giles 89-11. Democrat Dennis Quinn defeated Nathan Stewart 66-34. Harper faces off with Quinn in November.
MS04: Neither party’s candidate was opposed. Incumbent Republican Congressman Steven Palazzo will face Democrat Mark Gladney in the general election.
Senate District 25 Special Election:
Former legislator Walter Michel defeated Bill Billingsley 51-49.
Magnolia Tribune
