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Mississippi Republican Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | D. Michael Hurst Jr. |
| House leader | Jason White |
| Senate leader | Delbert Hosemann |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | P.O. Box 60, Jackson, Mississippi 39205 |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red |
| Seats in theU.S. Senate | 2 / 2 |
| Seats in theU.S. House of Representatives | 3 / 4 |
| Seats in theMississippi Senate | 36 / 52 |
| Seats in theMississippi House of Representatives | 76 / 122 |
| Election symbol | |
.svg) | |
| Website | |
| msgop | |
.jpg)
TheMississippi Republican Party is theMississippi state affiliate of theUnited States Republican Party. The party chairman isD. Michael Hurst Jr., and the party is based inJackson, Mississippi. The original Republican Party of Mississippi was founded following theAmerican Civil War, and the current incarnation of the Mississippi Republican Party was founded in 1956. The party would grow in popularity after the1964 Civil Rights Act and is currently the dominant party in the state.
One-third of the delegates to the 1867 convention were black.James D. Lynch opposed theRadical Republicans and resolutions calling for property confiscation.[1]
In 1956,Wirt Adams Yerger, Jr., an insurance agent from Jackson, founded the modern Mississippi Republican Party and served as the first state chairman from 1956 until 1966. He was chairman of the Mississippi delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1956, 1960, and 1964. He was elected to a four-year term as chairman of the Southern Association of Republican State Chairman in 1960. In 2009, the central committee of the Mississippi Republican Party named Yerger Chairman Emeritus. The Mississippi Republican Party would grow in supporters with then PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower, who still twice lost theelectoral votes of Mississippi. On September 24, 1960, Republican presidential candidateRichard Nixon campaigned in the state, the first time a presidential candidate had appeared in the state in more than a century.[2] During the1964 Republican National Convention Mississippi delegates would help nominateBarry Goldwater for president. Goldwater would go on to win 87 percent of the vote in Mississippi in the1964 presidential election, the first time a Republican would win the state since theReconstruction Era.[3] Only once since 1956 has a non-Republican presidential candidate won the state of Mississippi,Jimmy Carter in the1976 presidential election.[4] In 1988, Republican CongressmanTrent Lott would defeat Democratic CongressmanWayne Dowdy to replace retiring SenatorJohn Stennis (D-MS).
In 1963,Rubel Phillips became the first Republican nominee for governor in 80 years, challenging then-Lt. Gov.Paul Johnson, Jr. and garnering 38 percent of the vote. Phillips ran again in 1967 againstJohn Bell Williams but lost again, this time earning 29 percent of the vote. In 1991, for the first time in over a century a Republican would become the Governor of Mississippi, whenKirk Fordice would earn 50.8 percent of the popular vote, defeating DemocratRay Mabus.[5] In the 2003 Mississippi Gubernatorial Election,Haley Barbour defeated then incumbentDemocratRonnie Musgrove with 52.59% of the vote.[6] On November 5, 2019,Tate Reeves was elected Governor of Mississippi and assumed office in January 2020.
While Mississippi Republicans take positions on a wide variety of issues, some of the noteworthy ones include:
The Mississippi Republican Party hold all the eight statewide offices and holds a majority in the Mississippi Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 3 of the state's 4 U.S. House seats.
| District | Member | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Trent Kelly | .jpg) |
| 3rd | Michael Guest | .jpg) |
| 4th | Mike Ezell | .jpg) |
| Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Michael Parker | 370,691 | 48.52% | Lost N |
| 2003 | Haley Barbour | 470,404 | 52.59% | Won Y |
| 2007 | Haley Barbour | 430,807 | 57.90% | WonY |
| 2011 | Phil Bryant | 544,851 | 60.98% | WonY |
| 2015 | Phil Bryant | 480,399 | 66.24% | WonY |
| 2019 | Tate Reeves | 459,396 | 51.91% | WonY |
| 2023 | Tate Reeves | 418,233 | 50.94% | WonY |
