This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/us/mississippi-governor-election-results.html

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Mississippi Primary Voters to Decide Republican Nominee for Governor Mississippi Election Results: Tate Reeves Wins Republican Primary for Governor
(about 4 hours later)
Voters in Mississippi will decide the Republican candidate for governor in a runoff Tuesday between the state’s lieutenant governor and a former chief justice of the State Supreme Court who supports expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. After being forced into a runoff election, Tate Reeves, the lieutenant governor of Mississippi, became the Republican Party’s nominee for governor on Tuesday.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, 45, won nearly 49 percent of the vote in the Republican primary election earlier this month, but was forced into the runoff by failing to achieve a majority. His opponent, William L. Waller, 67, captured about 33 percent of the vote. Mr. Reeves, 45 and a former banker campaigning on a small-government platform in one of the country’s more conservative states, defeated William L. Waller, 67, a former chief justice of the State Supreme Court who supports expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — an idea Mr. Reeves opposes.
[Mississippi Governor Primary: Republican Favorite Is Forced Into Runoff] The Associated Press called the election for Mr. Reeves about two hours after polls closed.
The winner will face off in November against the Democratic candidate, Jim Hood, an anti-abortion, pro-gun populist who could pose a formidable challenge to Republicans even in a deeply conservative state. [Here are the primary results: Mississippi voters also chose candidates for attorney general and several state offices.]
Mississippi is one of the nation’s poorest states, and the campaign for the top elected post has been largely defined by a tension between conservative orthodoxy and some hard realities. In addition to supporting Medicaid expansion, Mr. Waller has also called for raising the state’s gas tax to fund infrastructure improvements. Mr. Reeves’s supporters had hoped he would cinch the nomination in the primary election this month, but he was instead forced into a runoff when he failed to secure a majority of the votes. Mr. Reeves came up just shy of more than 50 percent of votes when his opponents, Mr. Waller and Robert Foster, a state representative, ran on promises to expand health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Supporters of such plans say they are long overdue. A study this year from Navigant Consulting determined that 31 rural Mississippi hospitals were currently at “high financial risk” and facing a high risk of closure. A 2017 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers found that nearly 12 percent of the state’s bridges were “structurally deficient,” and argued that Mississippi’s “deteriorating” infrastructure was impeding its ability to compete for business. Mr. Waller benefited from name recognition — his father, a Democrat, served as governor from 1972 to 1976 — and a perception that Mr. Reeves was not well-liked by some Republicans.
[Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern. We will have live results.] Mr. Reeves, however, had amassed a sizable campaign war chest, and received the endorsement of Gov. Phil Bryant, who is leaving office because of term limits. Mr. Bryant is a staunch conservative and Mr. Reeves has promised to govern in the same mold.
Mr. Reeves, in a recent TV ad full of dark storm clouds and images of the Democratic presidential candidates, slammed Mr. Waller for supporting higher taxes, warning that the United States must choose between a “slide toward socialism” or keeping the country strong. Tuesday’s election was marked with allegations of irregularities. The Clarion-Ledger, the newspaper in Jackson, reported that government officials had found at least three instances in which electronic voting machines had changed voters’ selections.
The ad also compares Mr. Waller to Mr. Hood, the Democratic candidate, noting that Mr. Hood, too, wants “to expand Obamacare in Mississippi.” One instance, captured on video and posted to social media, appeared to show a voter trying to select Mr. Waller’s name, as the machine kept selecting Mr. Reeves.
The newspaper also reported that Pete Perry, the chair of the Republican Party in Hinds County, discovered a glitch that may have improperly allowed Hinds County residents who voted a Democratic ticket in the Aug. 6 primary to vote in the Republican runoff.
In a television ad before the runoff that featured dark storm clouds and images of the Democratic presidential candidates, Mr. Reeves noted Mr. Waller’s wish to “expand Obamacare,” warning that the United States must choose between a “slide toward socialism” and keeping the country strong.
Mr. Reeves now faces a formidable Democratic candidate, Jim Hood, an anti-abortion, pro-gun populist who currently serves as the state’s attorney general, in the Nov. 5 general election.
Like Mr. Waller, Mr. Hood also supports Medicaid expansion, which all but guarantees the general election will at least in part be a referendum on whether Mr. Reeves’s small-government principles remain a good fit in the state. According to one recent study, 31 rural Mississippi hospitals were currently at “high financial risk” and facing a high risk of closure — a problem that Medicaid expansion could potentially ameliorate.