Hopson won’t seek re-election to state Senate or run for Attorney General

• The Senate Appropriations Committee chairman will be turning in his gavel in January 2028, deciding to step away from the Mississippi Legislature after five terms.

State Senator Briggs Hopson said Monday that he would not be running for statewide office in the 2027 election cycle.

He will also not seek re-election to the Mississippi Senate District 23 seat that he has held for five terms.

The Republican Senate Appropriations Committee chairman had been rumored to be on a short list of potential candidates considering a run for Attorney General next year. The Attorney General seat is now an open seat following Lynn Fitch’s announced gubernatorial bid.

“Over the last few weeks, I’ve had many encouraging conversations with friends and colleagues across Mississippi about a potential statewide run for office next year,” Hopson wrote on social media. “However, after serious consideration, Ali and I have decided that this is not the right time for us to undertake such a tremendous commitment.”

Had Hopson entered the Attorney General’s race, he would have been pitted against fellow Republican Sean Tindell, the current Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.

Tindell, a former state senator himself as well as a former judge, announced his campaign to be Mississippi’s chief legal and law enforcement officer in mid-August. Since his announcement, Tindell has picked up key endorsements from county sheriffs, district attorneys, police chiefs and others in the law enforcement community across the Magnolia State.

Hopson was viewed as one of the few who could give Tindell a serious challenge, due to the state senator’s network and his sizable campaign war chest of nearly $1 million.

Regarding his decision to not run for Attorney General next year, Hopson said any successful candidate “must be 100% committed to the campaign,” and that was going to be impossible for him due to his obligations to his “legal clients who deserve my attention to their personal and business matters, my Senate constituents, and colleagues who trust me to oversee the Appropriations Committee.”

“I take these obligations very seriously and feel they deserve my full focus, which would be nearly impossible if I were a statewide candidate,” Hopson said.

Hopson concluded his social media announcement by saying, “I greatly appreciate the encouragement and support I have received during this exploratory process, but I will not be a candidate for office in 2027.”

He told Magnolia Tribune early Tuesday morning it has been “a good 20 years (after next year)” and that he plans to look for opportunities to serve his community and Mississippi in other ways in the future.

Hopson’s current term ends in January 2028.