Campaign Finance: Republican candidates, led by Governor Reeves, in much better position than Democrats heading into Primary Elections

See where statewide and commission candidates stand in their latest campaign finance reporting for June.

Candidates for state offices in this year’s Mississippi elections were required to file updated campaign finance reports for activity in June 2023 by July 10th.

Below is a rundown of the latest campaign finance filings from each statewide and state commission candidate as filed by their campaigns with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office. You can compare the candidates’ latest filing with the previous filing from June 9th here.

Click on the candidate’s name to be redirected to their updated filing. Some reports either have not been filed at the time of this article or may not yet be loaded on the Secretary of State’s website.

Governor

Incumbent Republican Governor Tate Reeves continues to hold a strong financial position over all gubernatorial candidates, both in the GOP Primary field and over his main General Election rival, Democrat Brandon Presley.

Reeves outraised all statewide candidates in June, bringing in over $1 million for the month, leaving him with over five times the cash on hand as that of Presley.

Presley’s camp, unable to reach the heights of Reeves, was left to compare his current cash position with that of former Attorney General and failed gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood. The Presley team touted that the current Northern District Public Service Commissioner brought in nearly $200,000 more in June than did Hood this time four years ago. Hood went on to lose to Reeves in the General Election in 2019.

Presley’s biggest donors for June came from out-of-state. They were Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys in Louisiana ($25,000), Attorney Steven Phillips in California ($50,000), Ania Management in New Jersey ($25,000), and Kathy Olsen in Tennessee ($15,000).

For Reeves, a group listed as Mississippi Strong out of Washington D.C. donated $500,000 to his campaign.

Interestingly, Presley’s $1.88 million cash on hand is just north of down ticket Republican incumbents State Auditor Shad White ($1.69 million) and Attorney General Lynn Fitch ($1.2 million).

What is becoming more obvious with each reporting is that Democrat donors are throwing everything they have behind Presley in hopes of an upset while leaving every other down ticket Democratic race scratching and clawing for scraps.

No other Democratic candidate for a statewide or commission seat, save one – Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons – has been able to break the $100,000 mark. Most have not reached five digits. Even the most outspoken Democratic candidate this cycle, other than Presley, Secretary of State candidate Shuwaski Young only reported raising $3,200 for June and has $850 cash on hand.

• Republican
  • Tate Reeves (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $1.02 million
    • Cash on hand: $9.6 million
  • John Witcher
    • Raised this period: $5,600
    • Cash on hand: $18,300
  • David Grady Hardigree
    • Raised this period: $100
    • Cash on hand: $0
• Democrat
  • Brandon Presley
    • Raised this period: $514,000
    • Cash on hand: $1.88 million
• Independent
  • Gwendolyn Gray
    • Raised this period: $32,000
    • Cash on hand: $28,800

Lt. Governor

The Lt. Governor’s race in Mississippi continues to be the one to watch heading into the Republican Primary. Incumbent Delbert Hosemann once again maintained his strong financial position, bringing in nearly $548,000 in June and leaving him with ten times more cash on hand than his main opponent, State Senator Chris McDaniel.

When comparing McDaniel’s report to Hosemann’s what jumps out are the dollar amounts from donors. McDaniel’s team is showing low dollar donations – $10, $15, $25 – while Hosemann racked up $500, $1,000 and more.

Hosemann spent over $830,000 during the month, a large portion of which went to media buys across the state as the incumbent seeks to combat an aggressive ground game and social media presence from the McDaniel camp. McDaniel also spent a good bit on media advertising during the month, but nowhere near the amount Hosemann’s team was able to purchase.

The two campaigns have traded jabs for months, and that does not look to let up during this last month before the August Primary Election.

• Republican
  • Delbert Hosemann (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $548,000
    • Cash on hand: $3.4 million
  • Chris McDaniel
    • Raised this period: $97,500
    • Cash on hand: $337,700
  • Tiffany Longino – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
• Democrat
  • D. Ryan Grover – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Attorney General

• Republican
  • Lynn Fitch (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $62,500
    • Cash on hand: $1.2 million
• Democrat
  • Greta Martin
    • Raised this period: $24,200
    • Cash on hand: $17,600

Secretary of State

• Republican
  • Michael Watson (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $104,000
    • Cash on hand: $883,600
• Democrat
  • Shuwaski Young
    • Raised this period: $3,200
    • Cash on hand: $850

State Treasurer

• Republican
  • David McRae (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $0
    • Cash on hand: $205,300
• Democrat
  • Addie Green – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Agriculture & Commerce Commissioner

• Republican
  • Andy Gipson (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $6,800
    • Cash on hand: $192,300
• Democrat
  • Robert Bradford – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
  • Bethany Hill
    • Raised this period: $370
    • Cash on hand: $5,600
  • Terry Rogers – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

State Auditor

• Republican
  • Shad White (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $71,300
    • Cash on hand: $1.69 million
• Democrat
  • Larry Bradford – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Insurance Commissioner

• Republican
  • Mike Chaney (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $38,800
    • Cash on hand: $289,400
  • Mitch Young
    • Raised this period: $0
    • Cash on hand: $0
• Democrat
  • Bruce Burton
    • Raised this period: $0
    • Cash on hand: $0

Public Service Commissioners

Northern District

• Republican
  • Chris Brown – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
  • Tanner Newman – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Central District

• Republican
  • Brent Bailey (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $9,500
    • Cash on hand: $37,200
• Democrat
  • Dekeither Stamps – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Southern District

• Republican
  • Dane Maxwell (incumbent) – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
  • Nelson Wayne Carr – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Transportation Commissioners

Northern District

• Republican
  • John Caldwell (incumbent)
    • Raised this period: $5,000
    • Cash on hand: $119,300

Central District

• Republican
  • Rickey Pennington Jr. – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
• Democrat
  • Willie Simmons (incumbent) – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

Southern District

• Republican
  • Charles Busby – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-
• Independent
  • Steven Brian Griffin – No New Report Showing
    • Raised this period: $-
    • Cash on hand: $-

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The next round of campaign finance reports is due August 1st for the pre-primary election reporting in the lead up to the August 8th Primary Election Day.