Governor Tate Reeves talks to the press announcing his bid for re-election in 2023 as his wife, Elee, looks on.
Reeves will run for a second term in 2023.
On Tuesday, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed his qualifying papers at the Mississippi Republican Party Headquarters to run for re-election.
Governor Reeves, a Republican, won the seat in 2019 after his party primary went to a runoff. He then defeated former Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood in the General Election. Reeves took office on January 14, 2020, and his current term ends on January 9, 2024.
When Governor Reeves was elected in 2003 for his first public office, he became the youngest State Treasurer in the country and the first Republican to hold the office in Mississippi. After two terms as Treasurer, he was elected in 2011 as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor and re-elected four years later.
During a press conference following his Tuesday announcement, Reeves spoke about Mississippi’s successes over the last few of years.
“I think one of the things that is very important, I’ve tried to do this throughout my entire tenure in public office, is make promises to the voters during the election and then going out and fulfilling those promises,” Reeves said.
The Mississippi Governor said that when he ran in 2019, he was not aware of some of the challenges the state would face, including the fourteen natural disasters declared federally within the first fourteen months of his tenure.
“I think what people went to the polls and elected me to do is to be a leader and to stand up and make sure that we were doing the things that we needed to do and whether it’s been a tornado or a hurricane or a water crisis or all things in between, that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do,” Reeves continued.
Since taking office in 2019, Reeves said Mississippi has seen higher incomes, lower unemployment, more jobs, and better educational opportunities.
“We continue to reach new heights as a state, and it’s thanks to the hardworking people who live here. Mississippi has no plans to hit the brakes anytime soon,” Reeves recently said.
As of this reporting, no other candidate – Republican or Democrat – has announced their intention to challenge Reeves for Governor. Candidates have until February 1st to qualify to run for office in the 2023 state elections.
Anne Summerhays
