Mississippi candidates for statewide offices square off in party primaries

JACKSON, Miss. — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A bitter Republican major for lieutenant governor is one in all a number of races to look at in Mississippi get together primaries.

Republicans presently maintain all eight statewide workplaces and a majority within the state Home and Senate.

Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday.

Major runoffs are Aug. 29. The overall election is Nov. 7, with runoffs Nov. 28. Here’s a preview of statewide contests:

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Republican incumbent Delbert Hosemann is challenged by state Sen. Chris McDaniel and educator Tiffany Longino. In November, the Republican major winner will face enterprise seek the advice of D. Ryan Grover, who’s unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Hosemann is in search of a second time period as lieutenant governor after serving three phrases as secretary of state. He has touted a trainer pay elevate, tens of millions in new funding for public schooling, and a finances surplus. Hosemann has additionally known as McDaniel a “pathological liar” and accused his marketing campaign of “despicable” conduct.

McDaniel, of Ellisville, is a four-term state legislator who has misplaced two races for U.S. Senate previously decade, together with a 2014 election that he refused to concede. He says Hosemann isn’t conservative sufficient and has appointed too many Democrats to committees chairmanships within the state Senate. Each candidates have tied themselves to former President Donald Trump.

Longino, of Brandon, says she needs to increase Medicaid to cowl individuals who work in jobs that pay modest wages and do not present non-public health insurance.

Grover, of Hattiesburg, says he needs to clog Mississippi’s “Mind Drain.” The state is dropping too many educated younger folks, which is hampering financial development, Grover says.

The lieutenant governor presides over the 52-member Mississippi Senate, appoints senators to committees and names the committee leaders.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Republican incumbent Lynn Fitch and Democratic challenger Greta Kemp Martin don’t have get together primaries.

Fitch was first elected lawyer basic in 2019 after two phrases as state treasurer. Beneath Fitch, the state lawyer basic’s workplace argued the case that the U.S. Supreme Court docket utilized in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion rights nationwide.

Kemp Martin is an lawyer for Incapacity Rights Mississippi. She says Fitch was improper to push the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, and girls are worse off as a result of Mississippi and another states have restricted girls’s entry to healthcare.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Republican incumbent Michael Watson and Democratic challenger Shuwaski Younger don’t have get together primaries.

Watson was elected secretary of state in 2019 after three phrases within the state Senate. He says his workplace is working to construct confidence in Mississippi’s election course of. That has included backing a legislation to strengthen proof of citizenship necessities for voting and shoring up paper trails for voting machines. If re-elected, Watson says he’ll conduct post-election audits in all 82 counties.

Younger labored within the Division of Homeland Safety throughout Barack Obama’s presidency and within the Secretary of State’s Workplace underneath Democrat Eric Clark and Republican Delbert Hosemann. Younger launched his marketing campaign for secretary of state after working unsuccessfully for Mississippi’s third District congressional seat in 2022. Younger needs to increase early voting and permit on-line voter registration. He additionally pledged to work with Republicans to watch the state’s voter rolls.

TREASURER

Republican incumbent David McRae and Democratic challenger Addie Inexperienced don’t have get together primaries.

McRae was first elected treasurer in 2019 after working unsuccessfully for the workplace in 2015. He says he opposes screening investments based mostly on companies’ environmental, social and governance methods.

Inexperienced is a former Bolton alderwoman and has run unsuccessfully for different workplaces, together with treasurer in 2019 and state agriculture commissioner in 2015. She says Mississippi ought to set a $15-an-hour minimal wage, up from the $7.25 federal minimal.

AUDITOR

Republican incumbent Shad White and Democratic challenger Larry Bradford don’t have get together primaries.

White was appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant in 2018 and was elected to a full time period in 2019. White’s workplace investigated the misspending of $77 million of federal welfare funds that had been diverted to allies of Bryant. The Republican former governor has not been charged with against the law.

Bradford, a former mayor of Anguilla, says he would deal with defending public cash and wouldn’t get distracted by hot-button social points. He criticizes White for attacking Variety, Fairness and Inclusion initiatives at public universities.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Incumbent Mike Chaney faces challenger Mitch Younger within the Republican major. Bruce Burton is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Chaney was elected insurance coverage commissioner in 2007 after serving within the state Home and Senate. He says he has centered on making insurance coverage extra reasonably priced, and he has touted efforts to analyze complaints and assist residents get better from pure disasters.

Younger, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2015, served within the U.S. Navy from 1979 to 1999. He has additionally labored as a machinist and engineer. Mississippi’s insurance coverage trade must be higher regulated so it might probably keep away from the issues which have beset disaster-prone states like Florida, Younger says.

Burton is a Belzoni-based lawyer. He has run unsuccessfully for different workplaces, most lately in 2022 for a judgeship on the Mississippi Court docket of Appeals.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER

Republican Andy Gipson is a former state consultant who has been agriculture commissioner since 2018, when then-Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him to the vacant job. Gipson was elected agriculture commissioner in 2019.

Three candidates are in search of the Democratic nomination: Robert “Brad” Bradford, Bethany Hill and Terry Rogers.

Bradford is the emergency supervisor director in Adams County. He’s a army veteran and a fourth-generation farmer from the Mississippi Delta.

Hill grew up on a farm in north Mississippi, and she or he publicly supported the hassle to legalize medical marijuana within the state.

Rogers, 19, is the youngest candidate within the race. He says he helps having a Future Farmers of America chapter in every highschool to encourage younger folks to think about agriculture jobs.