At the close of Tuesday night’s runoff, the race between sitting Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens and his challenger, State Senator Jenifer Branning was too close to call, with Branning nursing a 3,000 vote lead. Magnolia Tribune now projects Branning will defeat Kitchens to take the District 1, Position 3 seat on the High Court after key outstanding votes were counted.
The two big prizes left on the table for Kitchens late Tuesday night were Holmes County and Hinds County’s absentee ballots. When Holmes’ numbers were released this morning, Kitchens netted 1,337 votes.
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As first reported by Magnolia Tribune, when Hinds County’s 1,723 absentee tally came in mid-morning Wednesday, Kitchens gained another 476 votes.
After both Hinds’ absentees and Holmes County’s in-person voting were counted, Branning’s lead fell to 1,216 votes. Reported absentees remaining to be counted in places like Yazoo (127) and Holmes (173) are insufficient to close the gap. Branning won Yazoo County’s in-person voting.
Branning’s absentee ballot counts are also outperforming her in-person support. As an example, she won approximately 24 percent of Hinds County’s in-person voting, but 36 percent of reported absentees. A similar pattern played out in Rankin County, where she won approximately 70 percent of in-person voting, but over 80 percent of absentees.
District 1 is “bright purple” in a state often considered “deep red.” The district consists of the counties of Bolivar, Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo.
Non-Partisan Race Drew Partisan Support, Big Outside Money from Southern Poverty Law Center
Branning has represented State Senate District 18 since 2016 as a Republican. She was supported by the Mississippi Republican Party and prominent Republicans, including Governor Tate Reeves and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann.
Kitchens, who has served on the State Supreme Court since 2008, is a former three-term District Attorney. He was endorsed by high profile state Democrats in each of his prior judicial campaigns. This cycle, Congressman Bennie Thompson and former gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley were among the Democratic leaders backing Kitchens’ re-election.
In 2008, Kitchens initially won the seat with just over 53 percent of the vote in a three-person race. He then won re-election in 2016 over Kenny Griffis, drawing 53.5 percent.
In the November 5th General Election, Branning led the five-person field with nearly 42 percent of the vote. Kitchens came in second with just under 36 percent of vote.
The two advanced to the runoff after raising nearly $1 million ahead of the November 5th election, with Branning’s campaign pulling in nearly two-thirds of the donations.
Kitchens received a late boost from an out-of-state PAC during the runoff. An affiliate of the Southern Poverty Law Center helped Kitchens close with nearly $300,000 in independent expenditures.
The New Southern Majority IE PAC was launched in 2022 with a stated goal of making southern political leadership less white and conservative. It’s formation paperwork in Mississippi lists Seth Levi as the contact. Levi works nationally with SPLC as its Chief Strategy Officer.
The New Southern Majority IE PAC in Mississippi was funded this cycle by a single contribution from the SPLC Action Fund, with the bulk of its expenditures being routed through long-time Democratic operative Brad Chism/Chism Strategies.
The IE campaign included sizable spends on digital advertising and radio, along with smaller spends on mail and cable broadcasting.
The PAC was also active in 2023 gubernatorial race. It spent over $391,000 in opposition to Gov. Tate Reeves and another $22,000 in support of his challenger Brandon Presley. It also supported the district attorney candidacies of Scott Colom and Shamecka Collins.
Russ Latino
