Tommy Duff speaks at Lamar County Republicans, October 13, 2026
- Should businessman Tommy Duff enter the 2027 gubernatorial race in Mississippi, he would be joining a crowded Republican field that currently includes Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, former Speaker Philip Gunn, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch. State Auditor Shad White is likely to join the lot after the midterm election and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann is also said to be considering entering the fray.
Businessman Tommy Duff raised further speculation that he would run for Governor of Mississippi this week when he spoke at the Lamar County Republican meeting on Tuesday.
Duff told attendees that over the past year he has traveled across the Magnolia State to listen and learn more about the communities, saying he has become “more and more impressed with the state, our citizens and the opportunities that we have.”
He opened his keynote remarks by telling the Republicans gathered that it was important for them to go to the polls November 3 to re-elect U.S. Cindy Hyde-Smith and the GOP congressional delegation.
“Frankly, the only reason they will not be elected is if we don’t show up,” he said. “If we’re going to continue to advance the agenda of President Trump, we need these elected officials.”
Duff went on to talk about the future of Mississippi and how he views what is on the horizon.
“I’m not a politician. I’ve been involved in business all my life,” he said. “I spent 42 years thinking about my family, my church and my business and that’s all I was ever really involved in and liked.”
Duff said 12 years ago, former Governor Phil Bryant invited him to sit down and talk. Bryant asked Duff to serve on the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, which Duff said surprised him, but he agreed to serve.
The businessman said he took an interest in the financial side of IHL, where he saw engrained bureaucracy.
“We found things and I learned. First, we had the University of Mississippi Medical Center. They’re doing a $1.5 billion in business, 32% of their customers never pay. That’s a pretty tough way to be in business,” Duff said. “But they didn’t have a financial statement and the reason I think they didn’t have a financial statement is because they were losing about $30 million a year.”
Duff said he and the IHL Board required financial reporting, “And I can tell you today that UMMC is a prosperous hospital.”
“In spite of having that kind of write off of people who don’t pay, they are making money. It is run correctly, and I attribute that to a Board that was aggressive and wanted to have things done right,” he added, noting the push that followed to consolidate bond indebtedness at IHL which led to hundreds of millions in cost savings.
Duff told the Lamar County Republicans that using commonsense approaches to government is possible.
Business Acumen
His business acumen is well documented. Duff’s father was a lawyer in the Pine Belt. In 1973, Ernest Duff started Southern Tire Mart as a side business.
When Tommy came to work for the business after college, it was in dire straits. But he and his brother James were able to turn it around and grow the enterprise by leaps and bounds.
Through an aggressive acquisition strategy, the brothers grew Southern Tire Mart into the largest commercial retailer of tires in North America. The pair then turned that success into a number of other business investments, including KLLM trucking, T.L. Wallace Construction, and a series of automobile dealerships.
Forbes released its updated listing of the world’s billionaires in September, with the Mississippi brothers making the annual rankings once again.
The reported net worth of the two is $4.5 billion each. James and Tommy came in at No. 978 and No. 982, respectively, on the global rankings. In the U.S. alone, the brothers rank 380 out of Forbes’ top 400 richest Americans.
Competing with Neighboring States
Duff recalled recent meetings with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) where they spoke about school choice, business opportunities, and what their states are doing to advance economic development. Duff said he came away seeing that Mississippi must do more to compete with its neighbors.
“Are we doing well educationally? Yes. Are we growing our state? No,” Duff said. “Interesting enough, in looking at the states that surround us – Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana – we look at these states – Alabama – can say, ‘Why are they prospering?'”
Duff said the head of J.P. Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, peppered him with questions at an event, asking why Mississippi’s population is down, why the median income is what it is, and why does the state have the lowest workforce participation rate in the country. Duff said Dimon’s questions were aimed at, “What is Mississippi and how can it grow.”
“The thing that I finally told him was what’s missing are opportunities for our people,” Duff said. “Good paychecks. We talk about everything from health to welfare to all these symptoms that are going on in our state, but let me tell something that I’ve learned being in business – a good job is important. A good job gives you dignity. A good job means that your children are proud.”
He said a “good job” allows people to buy a home, care about their community, and even has health and life expectancy benefits, all leading to a better life.
“Those are the opportunities our state has that are interesting to me,” Duff said. “We can sit here and talk about all of the little ills, and I guess if I was at a Republican meeting I could be talking about all of the Republican red meat items and all the things that everybody’s aware of. That’s just table steaks.”
Putting the Pedal Down
Duff said Mississippi is a “great conservative state.”
“We know what’s right. We know what’s wrong,” he said. “We know what the dignity of work is and we know that opportunities can come our way.”
Duff complimented the work of former Governors Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant and sitting Governor Tate Reeves for their work in improving Mississippi, particularly in education, saying, “They have done a great job. They have worked hard with the resources they had.”
“But it’s like you and I have been driving around at 30 miles an hour, and that feels pretty good. The winds in your hair, those that have it, and you’re smiling and you’re happy and you’re saying, ‘Mississippi’s doing well. We’re going 30 miles an hour,'” Duff said. “But the problem is the car from Alabama’s going 65 and the pickup truck in Arkansas is going 62, and we’re still cruising along at 30. We think we’re doing well. We are doing well – 30’s a lot better than 15. But what’s happening with the other states around us – it’s a competitive nature out there.”
Duff further said the next generation of leaders in Mississippi have to say where we are, even with the improvements, is not good enough.
“We’ve got to make sure that 30 miles an hour isn’t appropriate anymore. We need to be going 55 or 60 or 65 so that we catch them and surpass them. We have the opportunity here,” he said. “What tools do we need to do it? We have a Legislature that wants to be successful, wants our state to move forward. We have state officials who want that but can we pull it off?”
Duff said his vision for the state is to continue advancements in education but focus on improving workforce development and training. Government should take care of core functions, he said, and Mississippi needs strong families and strong communities.
State of the Governor’s Race
Should Duff enter the 2027 gubernatorial race in Mississippi, he would be joining a crowded Republican field that currently includes Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, former Speaker Philip Gunn, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
State Auditor Shad White is likely to join the lot after the midterm election and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann is also said to be considering entering the fray.
In terms of campaign finances, Fitch reported a cash on hand balance of $3.55 million to end the 2025 reporting period. She entered the race second in fundraising among the potential candidates for governor, according to the January 2026 reports.
Auditor White reported $3.8 million while Hosemann showed $2.85 million.
Gunn listed $591,000 and Gipson reported $256,000.
Duff’s political action committee reported $1,000 cash on hand but it is widely known that the billionaire businessman could self-fund a campaign should he decide to enter the race.
Unlike the other potential GOP candidates for governor, most of whom have run a statewide campaign, Duff’s challenge will be raising his name ID and endearing himself to voters, which will take money.
On the Democrat side, Priscilla Williams Till, cousin of Emmett Till, has announced a run for governor. She entered the gubernatorial race after an unsuccessful bid to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate this year. She came in second to Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom in the three-person Democrat Primary in March, pulling in just under 19% of the vote.
During her brief Senate campaign, Till was only able to raise $8,500, according to campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission.
It is speculated that former Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, who ran unsuccessfully in 2023, will make another run for governor as a Democrat in 2027. There are also rumors that a former Democratic governor could be exploring a return to office.
