Reeves declares victory; Presley concedes. Here's how it shaped out

With more than 85% of the vote counted on Tuesday night, Gov. Tate Reeves staff has declared victory and a second term as Mississippi’s highest elected official.

Mississippi Election: See the results from Tuesday's contested general election races

The Associated Press declared Reeves the winner with 91% of the vote counted.

Reeves defeated Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, despite calls that this could be one of the closest gubernatorial elections this century.

Despite many reports and polls suggesting that Brandon Presley was close in polling and that Mississippi might be the new Georgia, Reeves repeated his success from 2019 when he won the Republican nomination in a runoff over Bill Waller by a margin of 8.2%, then defeated Democratic challenger former Attorney General Jim Hood by about 5%.

Before hundreds of supporters in the ballroom at The Refuge in Flowood, Reeves said it is a call for conservatives that Mississippi is and will be a red state.

“Thank you Mississippi,” Reeves said. “I want to thank every single one of you. This victory sure is sweet.”

At 10:40 p.m., with 86% of the vote in, the incumbent governor led Presley by nearly 7 percentage points and nearly 48,000 votes.

Presley, who has been a Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District of Mississippi since 2007, was the youngest person ever elected to that position at age 30. Yet, he could not overcome the fact that he is a Democrat in Mississippi.

“This is an exciting time. We are just so proud of Tate,” said Jan Flurry, a Reeves supporter at Tuesday’s celebration. “He has our best interests at heart and is doing the best things for Mississippi. He is just one of us.”

With Reeves winning his second term, the GOP has won six consecutive elections for governor and eight of the last nine. When Reeves, who also served two terms as Lt. Governor, completes this term, Republicans will have had a hold on state government for 31 of the last 35 years.

This election went much like others this century with GOP candidates with a strangle hold.

Hood garnered more votes as a Democrat (414,000) in 2019 than any in this century and still lost to Reeves by more than 45,000 votes.

In this century, the most votes ever cast was in 2003 (894,487) when Haley Barbour ousted incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, who in 1999 was the last Democrat elected to the state's highest position. In 2003, Musgrove tallied 409,000 votes and still lost by more than 60,000.

“We started this 20 years ago, and we are 15-0,” Reeves said. “I accepted Brandon Presley’s congratulations. We have our differences but want to congratulate him on running hard all the way through.

“I want to thank some one I just spoke to, President Donald J. Trump,” Reeves said. “He wanted to make sure to tell everyone in Mississippi that he loves y’all.”

Many observers thought Presley might have had a chance as the Democrat raised $11.3 million for his campaign this year, compared with Reeves' $6.3 million. However, Reeves started the year with more money. Presley has spent $10.8 million and still has $1.3 million, while Reeves has spent $11 million and still has $1.2 million.

Barbour spoke to the crowd before Reeves declared victory and said that a victory for the Republicans is good for Mississippi.

“Republicans have been in control now for six terms,” Barbour said. “This shows what Mississippians truly want and need.”

Reeves said Mississippi has momentum and this is Mississippi’s time to shine.

“Joe Biden and the liberals threw everything they had at Mississippi and Mississippi did not wilt,” Reeves said. “We believe boys ought to play boys sports and girls to girls sports. Those threats are real. The greatest threat to Democracy is a press that takes sides in a campaign. We saved our state today and over what the biased media would want.”

Throughout the campaign, Presley attacked Reeves' stance on Medicaid expansion and said he believes he could work better with Republican legislators than Reeves could with the other side.

Presley, a second cousin of rock icon Elvis Presley, has also been critical of Reeves as being part the TANF corruption scandal that has been going on for many years.

— This is a breaking story. More details to come.

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or at 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS governor reeves declares victory, presley concedes