The conservative Mississippi region is a difficult one for Democrats. However, the party believes it has a unique opportunity to unseat the first-term Republican Governor this year. Tate Reeves. Tate Reeves.

Democrat Brandon Presley was born a couple of days before Elvis Presley died. Brandon Presley often talks about government corruption during his campaign, and focuses on a welfare scandal worth millions of dollars that occurred when Reeves served as lieutenant governor.

Presley is the only Democrat running for governor. He was elected to the Mississippi Public Service Commission and has no opposition. He wants to expand Medicaid in order to assist financially strapped hospitals, while also telling voters about his difficult childhood.

Presley said to 75 people in a restaurant at Grenada, which is a small town near the Mississippi Delta: “I know what the working families of this state have to go through.”

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The 45-year old said that he had just started third grade when the murder of his father occurred. Presley was raised by his mother in Nettleton with her brother and sister, who earned modest wages at a clothing factory. Presley said that in his childhood home “you could see through the floor into the dirt” and his mother struggled with paying for electricity and water.

“Let me make this clear: My name will be on the November ballot, along with the names of the families whose electricity has been cut off and who work every day to support their children, as well as small business owners.

Mississippi is just one of three states that have a race for governor this year. The other two are Kentucky and Louisiana. All three states have historically supported Republicans in statewide offices, although Kentucky’s Democratic Governor is seeking his second term.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association described the three contests in the same way as “away games”, but suggested that Mississippi could be the “sleeper” – a state which the right Democrat might win. This is despite the fact that voters have twice backed Donald Trump for President, the GOP holds all statewide office and a supermajority of the Legislature and a Democrat has not won a Mississippi Governor’s race this century.

Reeves has an advantage over his two underfunded opponents. Only one of the 31 U.S. governors or territorial leaders who sought reelection in 2017 lost. Reeves reported about $9.4million in his campaign account at the end May. This is far more than Presley’s $1.7million. Republicans say that the enthusiasm of national Democrats for Presley could also be a liability.

Reeves was 49 when he won his first statewide position in 1992. He had been a Jackson-area banker for 20 years. He’s running on his record of reducing state income taxes, increasing teacher pay, restricting access to abortion, and banning gender affirming medical care for those under 18 years old. He is also portraying this election as “us versus them”, portraying Presley’s role as part of an international Democratic operation that is far removed from reality in Mississippi.

“My friends, we’re not facing a local yokel or Mississippi Democrat. This is a completely different campaign.” Reeves said to more than 200 supporters in Richland, a suburb of Jackson. “We are up against a liberal national machine.” “They’re extreme.” “They are extreme and violent.”

Reeves says that outsiders view Mississippi with “scorn,” yet the state is gaining momentum.

Reeves asked the crowd, “Are they going to stop us?” The response was “No!”

Reeves asked, “Are you going to let California make Mississippi conform to California Values?” The answer was again “No!”

Presley was only 23 years old when he became mayor of Nettleton, in 2001. In his second term as mayor of the town with a population of 2,000 people, Presley won the northern district position on the Mississippi Public Service Commission. This is a three member group that regulates utility companies. This year, he will complete his fourth term.

Presley’s campaign combines gospel and bluegrass music that confirms the relationship to his famous cousin, without giving the impression that Presley has chosen the wrong career.

Presley, in Grenada, said that the $100 million package of financial aid approved by legislators and Reeves for hospitals was a “cheap dollar-store clearance-aisle band-aid” when Medicaid expansion would bring the state an estimated $1 billion a yearly from the federal government.

Murphy claimed that Presley’s charisma has won over donors. Presley and Murphy exceeded their fundraising goals at an event they attended together in New Jersey.

“We have a fantastic candidate.” Murphy said, “This guy is the real deal.” When you hear what he’d do as governor on his first day, you think, “You know what?” “That’s what Mississippi needs.”

Reeves, a four-term Democratic Attorney-General Jim Hood, won the Governorship in 2004 by beating two lesser-known candidates by a margin of 52% to 47%.

One independent will appear on the ballot for this year’s general election. Republicans are optimistic about their chances given the politics of the state and Reeves’ history, which includes five statewide victories: two as state treasurer (starting when he was 29, two as lieutenant governor, and one as governor).

Courtney Alexander, spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association, said that Democrats are trying desperately to create a false impression when it comes Mississippi. “The truth is that Brandon Presley was bought and paid by national Democrats while Gov. Reeves’ record of historically low unemployment rates, historically high graduation rate, and substantial raises in Mississippi educator pay speaks for itself.

Black voters are crucial for Democrats to win statewide.

Janie Houston is a retired kindergarten educator who attended Presley’s Grenada event. She said that some Black voters may not bother to vote in November, because Republicans have drawn legislative districts to protect large majorities in the Legislature.

Houston stated, “That is the purpose of all this gerrymandering.”

She added that Democrats do not support candidates on the lower ballots enough to counteract this advantage.

She said, “They have to face Black voters as well as any other voter.” “That’s the way things are.” “I just don’t believe they’re spending enough money to encourage people to turn out in their communities.”

Bennie Thompson is the most influential Black politician of Mississippi.