Government of Mississippi: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> |
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As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, [[Mississippi]]'s government is based on the [[Separation of powers|separation of legislative, executive and judicial power]]. |
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{{Infobox political system|name='''Government of Mississippi'''|native_name=|image=Seal of Mississippi (2014).svg|image_size=150|caption=[[Seal of Mississippi| Great Seal of the State of Mississippi]]|part_of=[[United States of America]]|constitution=[[Constitution of Mississippi]]|legislature=[[Mississippi Legislature|Legislature]]|legislature_type=[[Bicameral]]|legislature_place=[[Mississippi State Capitol]]|upperhouse=[[Mississippi State Senate|Senate]]|upperhouse_speaker=[[Delbert Hosemann]]|upperhouse_speaker_title=President|lowerhouse=[[Mississippi House of Representatives| House of Representatives]]|lowerhouse_speaker=[[Jason White (politician)|Jason White]]|lowerhouse_speaker_title=Speaker|title_hosag=[[Governor of Mississippi|Governor]]|current_hosag=[[Tate Reeves]]|appointer_hosag=[[Election]]|cabinet_leader=[[Governor of Mississippi|Governor]]|cabinet_deputyleader=[[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi|Lieutenant Governor]]|cabinet_hq=[[Mississippi State Capitol]]|judiciary_head_title=Chief Justice|courts=[[Courts of Mississippi]]|court1=[[Supreme Court of Mississippi]]|chief_judge1=[[Michael K. Randolph]]|court_seat1=[[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]]}}The '''Government of Mississippi''' is the government of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Mississippi]]. Power in Mississippi's government is distributed by the [[Constitution of Mississippi|state's Constitution]] between the executive and legislative branches. The state's current [[Governor of Mississippi|governor]] is [[Tate Reeves]]. The [[Mississippi Legislature]] consists of the [[Mississippi House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and [[Mississippi Senate|Senate]]. Mississippi is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (others being [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Virginia]]). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years in the years preceding [[Presidential election]] years. |
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Executive authority in the state rests with the [[governor of Mississippi]], currently [[Phil Bryant]] (R). The [[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi]], currently [[Tate Reeves]] (R), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi rather than appointed by the governor. |
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== Executive branch == |
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Mississippi is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (The others are [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Virginia]]). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years in the years preceding Presidential election years. Thus, the last year when Mississippi elected a Governor was 2011, and the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2015. |
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{{See also|List of Governors of Mississippi|List of Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi|State Treasurer of Mississippi|Mississippi Attorney General|Secretary of State of Mississippi}} |
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The executive branch of Mississippi state government is composed of the [[governor of Mississippi|governor]], [[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi|lieutenant governor]], [[Secretary of State of Mississippi|secretary of state]], [[Attorney General of Mississippi|attorney general]], [[State Auditor of Mississippi|state auditor]], [[Mississippi State Treasurer|state treasurer]], commissioner of agriculture and commerce, commissioner of insurance, the three-person [[Mississippi Public Service Commission]], and the three-person [[Mississippi Transportation Commission]]. The leaders of these offices are popularly elected to four-year terms. All can be re-elected continuously with the exception of the governor and lieutenant governor, who can only serve two terms consecutively.<ref name= clark>{{cite web| url = https://mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/government-of-mississippi-how-it-functions| title = The Government of Mississippi: How it Functions| last = Clark| first = Eric| date = December 2007| website = Mississippi History Now| publisher = Mississippi Department of Archives and History| access-date = March 17, 2023}}</ref> |
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Legislative authority resides in the [[Mississippi Legislature]], which is the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]]. The Legislature is [[Bicameralism|bicameral]], consisting of the [[Mississippi Senate|Senate]] and [[Mississippi House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The state constitution permits the legislature to establish by law the number of senators and representatives, up to a maximum of 52 senators and 122 representatives. Current state law sets the number of senators at 52 and representatives at 122. The term of office for senators and representatives is four years. |
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The current governor is [[Tate Reeves]], the current lieutenant governor is [[Delbert Hosemann]], the current Secretary of State is [[Michael Watson (Mississippi politician)|Michael Watson]], the current Attorney General is [[Lynn Fitch]], the current Auditor is [[Shad White]], the current Treasurer is [[David McRae]], the current Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is [[Andy Gipson]], and the current Commissioner of Insurance is [[Mike Chaney]]. All of these statewide officeholders are Republicans. |
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{{see also|List of Governors of Mississippi|List of Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi|State Treasurer of Mississippi|Mississippi Attorney General|Mississippi general election, 2007}} |
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== |
== Legislative branch == |
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Legislative authority resides in the [[Mississippi Legislature]], which is the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]]. The Legislature is [[Bicameralism|bicameral]], consisting of the [[Mississippi Senate|Senate]] and [[Mississippi House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The state constitution permits the legislature to establish by law the number of senators and representatives, up to a maximum of 52 senators and 122 representatives. Current state law sets the number of senators at 52 and representatives at 122. The term of office for senators and representatives is four years, with no term limits. |
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Supreme judicial authority rests with the [[Mississippi Supreme Court|state Supreme Court]], which has statewide authority. In addition, there is a statewide [[Mississippi Court of Appeals|Court of Appeals]], as well as Circuit Courts, Chancery Courts and Justice Courts, which have more limited geographical jurisdiction. The nine judges of the Supreme Court are elected from three districts (three judges per district) by the state's citizens in non-partisan elections to eight-year staggered terms. The ten judges of the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts (two judges per district) for eight-year staggered terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected to four-year terms by the state's citizens who live within that court's jurisdiction. |
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== Judicial branch == |
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==Federal representation== |
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[[File:Supreme Court of Mississippi.JPG|thumb|{{center|Carroll Gartin Justice Building – Mississippi Supreme Court}}]] |
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Mississippi has two U.S. Senate seats. One is currently held by [[Thad Cochran]] (Republican) and the other is held by [[Roger Wicker]] (Republican) who was appointed on December 31, 2007 by Mississippi governor [[Haley Barbour]] due to [[Trent Lott]] resigning on December 18, 2007 and who was elected to finish Lott's term on November 4, 2008 (see [[United States Senate special election in Mississippi, 2008]]). |
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Supreme judicial authority rests with the [[Supreme Court of Mississippi|state Supreme Court]], which has statewide authority. In addition, there is a statewide [[Mississippi Court of Appeals|Court of Appeals]], as well as Circuit Courts, Chancery Courts and Justice Courts, which have more limited geographical jurisdiction. The nine judges of the Supreme Court are elected from three districts (three judges per district) by the state's citizens in non-partisan elections to eight-year staggered terms. The ten judges of the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts (two judges per district) for eight-year staggered terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected to four-year terms by the state's citizens who live within that court's jurisdiction. |
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== Politics == |
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As of the 2001 [[Apportionment (politics)|apportionment]], the state has four [[member of Congress|congressmen]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], currently [[Gregg Harper]] (Republican), [[Bennie Thompson]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]), [[Steven Palazzo]] (Republican), and [[Alan Nunnelee]] (Republican). |
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During the Reconstruction era, freedmen gained freedom, citizenship, and the franchise. African Americans could vote in the state for the first time. They elected numerous representatives to local and state offices, despite being subject to intimidation and violence at the polls, increasingly so during the 1870s, when the [[Red Shirts (Southern United States)|Red Shirts]], paramilitary groups representing conservative white Democrats, tried to suppress the black vote. Despite efforts to keep black citizens from participating in legislative roles and elections, the first black U.S. congressman, [[Hiram Rhodes Revels|Hiram Revels]], was elected to the Republican Party and represented Mississippi in the Senate from 1870 to 1871. Revels also served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1872 to 1873.<ref>{{Cite web|title=REVELS, Hiram Rhodes {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/REVELS,-Hiram-Rhodes-(R000166)/|access-date=2021-11-11|website=history.house.gov|language=en}}</ref> [[Blanche Bruce|Blanche K. Bruce]], also a Republican, was the 2nd African-American to serve in congress as a Mississippi Senator in 1875–1881.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1887-12-12|title=Hiram Revels was the 1st black man in Congress followed by Blanche K. Bruce. Both Republicans.|pages=1|work=Vicksburg Evening Post|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89158205/hiram-revels-was-the-1st-black-man-in/|access-date=2021-11-18}}</ref> |
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After a biracial Populist-Republican coalition gained power in the late 1880s, the Democrats returned in force to the state government. To prevent such a coalition and to reduce the violence around elections, they decided to expel African Americans from state politics. In 1890 Mississippi passed a new constitution with provisions to [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchise]] most blacks and many poor whites through use of the [[Poll tax (United States)|poll tax]] and [[literacy tests]] for voter registration, with the latter administered by white registrars. The number of black voters fell drastically, as they were prevented from registering. This was the reason the Democratic Party dominated state and federal elections in Mississippi into the 1960s. |
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''(See: [[List of United States Senators from Mississippi]]; [[List of United States Representatives from Mississippi]]; [[List of United States congressional districts#Mississippi|Congressional districts map]])'' |
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From 1876 to 1980, Mississippi was essentially a one-party state, electing Democratic [[governor]]s, federal representatives, and most state officials. When Mississippi's constitution passed a Supreme Court challenge in ''[[Williams v. Mississippi]]'' (1898), other Southern states quickly included such provisions in their own new constitutions, drafting new works through 1908. By 1900, these measures effectively disfranchised nearly all black voters in Mississippi. When the [[grandfather clause]] was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in ''[[Guinn v. United States]]'' (1915), Mississippi and other states which had used it quickly passed other statutes to find other ways to restrict black registration and voting. Disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites continued for more than six decades. |
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==Politics== |
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During the Reconstruction era, blacks being voting after being given the franchise. They elected numerous representatives to local and state offices, despite being subject to intimidation and violence at the polls, increasingly so during the 1870s, when the Red Shirts tried to suppress the black vote. |
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=== Federal politics === |
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in 1890 Mississippi passed a new constitution with provision to [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchise]] most blacks and many poor [[White people|whites]] through use of the poll tax and literacy tests, with the latter administered by white registrars. The number of black voters fell drastically, as they could not register. This was the reason the Democratic Party dominated state and federal elections in Mississippi into the 1960s. |
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{{PresHead|place=Mississippi|whig=yes| source=<ref>{{cite web|url= https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2008&fips=28&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state|title=Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Mississippi|publisher=US Election Atlas|access-date=January 2, 2023|author=Leip, David}}</ref>}} |
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<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} --> |
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{{PresRow|2020|Republican|756,764|539,398|18,313|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|2016|Republican|700,714|485,131|25,243|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|2012|Republican|710,746|562,949|11,889|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|2008|Republican|724,597|554,662|10,680|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|2004|Republican|684,981|458,094|9,290|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|2000|Republican|573,230|404,964|16,732|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1996|Republican|439,838|394,022|59,997|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1992|Republican|487,793|400,258|93,742|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1988|Republican|557,890|363,921|9,716|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1984|Republican|581,477|352,192|6,523|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1980|Republican|441,089|429,281|22,250|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|366,846|381,309|21,205|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1972|Republican|505,125|126,782|14,056|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|88,516|150,644|415,349|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1964|Republican|356,528|52,618|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1960|Dixiecrat|73,561|108,362|116,248|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|60,685|144,498|42,966|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|112,966|172,566|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1948|Dixiecrat|5,043|19,384|167,763|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|11,601|168,479|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|7,364|168,267|193|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|4,467|157,333|342|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|5,180|140,168|686|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|27,153|124,539|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|8,494|100,474|3,494|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|11,576|69,277|1,639|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|4,253|80,422|2,004|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|1,560|57,324|5,599|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|4,363|60,287|2,254|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|3,280|53,480|1,961|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|5,707|51,706|1,642|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|4,819|63,355|1,417|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|1,398|40,030|11,091|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|30,095|85,451|240|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|43,035|77,653|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1880|Democratic|34,844|75,750|6,474|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1876|Democratic|52,603|112,173|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1872|Republican|82,175|47,282|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1860|Southern Democratic|0|3,282|65,813|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1856|Democratic|0|35,456|24,191|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1852|Democratic|17,558|26,896|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1848|Democratic|25,911|26,545|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1844|Democratic|19,158|25,846|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresRow|1840|Whig|19,515|17,010|0|Mississippi}} |
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{{PresFoot|1836|Democratic|9,782|10,297|0|Mississippi}} |
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Mississippi white residents, as in the rest of the South, long supported the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. The policies of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], which included federally appointed [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] governors, led to white Southern resentment toward the Republican Party. Following the [[Compromise of 1877]], federal troops enforcing the provisions of Reconstruction were pulled out of the South. The Democratic Party regained political control of the state in the 1870s, partly by using violence and fraud to suppress black voter turnout and turn elections in their favor. Blacks had favored Republican candidates and the party of Lincoln. |
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For 116 years (from 1876 to 1992), Mississippi was essentially a one-party state, electing Democratic [[governor]]s, federal representatives and most state officials. In 1890, the elite white-dominated Mississippi legislature created a new constitution, the first in the South of what were called [[disfranchisement after Reconstruction era (United States)|disfranchising]] constitutions. They contained provisions, such as [[poll taxes]] and [[literacy test]]s, that in practice effectively [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchised]] most blacks and many poor whites. When Mississippi's constitution passed a Supreme Court challenge in ''[[Williams v. Mississippi]]'' (1898), other Southern states quickly included such provisions in their own new constitutions. By 1900, these measures effectively disfranchised nearly all black voters in the state. When the [[grandfather clause]] was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in ''[[Guinn v. United States]]'' (1915), Mississippi and other states which had used it quickly passed other statutes to restrict black registration and voting. Disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites continued for more than six decades. |
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In the 20th century, after years of indirectly supporting the disfranchisement of blacks in the South, northern Democrats began increasingly to support labor unions and civil rights for blacks. Many conservative white Democrats began to get restless. The first sign of this discontent was in the 1948 presidential election, when the [[Dixiecrat Party|Dixiecrat]] slate of [[Strom Thurmond]] and Mississippi Governor [[Fielding Wright]] won a majority of the state's popular vote, largely by virtue of Dixiecrat supporters taking over the state Democratic machinery. In 1960, a slate of [[unpledged elector|unpledged]] Democratic electors won a plurality of the state's vote. It was the first time the official Democratic candidate had not carried the state since the Reconstruction era. These eight electors cast their electoral votes for conservative Democratic Senator [[Harry F. Byrd]]. |
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===Federal politics=== |
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{| class="wikitable" class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin:1em 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%;" |
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|+ '''Mississippi vote<br /> by party in presidential elections''' |
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|- |
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! Year |
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![[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] |
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![[Democratic Party (United States)|DEM]] |
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!Others |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 2008|2008]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''56.2%''' ''724,597'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|43.0% ''554,662'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.8% ''10,680'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 2004|2004]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''59.4%''' ''684,981'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|39.8% ''458,094'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.8% ''9,290'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 2000|2000]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''57.6%''' ''573,230'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|40.7% ''404,964'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.7% ''16,732'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1996|1996]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''49.2%''' ''439,838'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|44.1% ''394,022'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|6.7% ''59,997'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1992|1992]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''49.7%''' ''487,793'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|40.8% ''400,258'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|9.6% ''93,742'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1988|1988]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''59.9%''' ''557,890'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|39.1% ''363,921'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.0% ''9,716'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1984|1984]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''61.9%''' ''581,477'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|37.5% ''352,192'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.7% ''6,523'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1980|1980]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''49.4%''' ''441,089'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|48.1% ''429,281'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.5% ''22,250'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1976|1976]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|47.7% ''366,846'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.6%''' ''381,309'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.8% ''21,205'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1972|1972]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''78.2%''' ''505,125'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|19.6% ''126,782'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.2% ''14,056'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''[[United States presidential election, 1968|1968]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|13.5% ''88,516'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|23.0% ''150,644'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''63.5%''' ''415,349'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1964|1964]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''87.1%''' ''356,528'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|12.9% ''52,618'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.0% ''0'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''[[United States presidential election, 1960|1960]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|24.7% ''73,561'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|36.3% ''108,362'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''39.0%''' ''116,248'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1956|1956]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|24.5% ''60,685'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''58.2%''' ''144,498'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|17.3% ''42,966'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1952|1952]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|39.6% ''112,966'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''60.4%''' ''172,566'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.0% ''0'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''[[United States presidential election, 1948|1948]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|2.6% ''5,043'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|10.1% ''19,384'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|'''87.3%''' ''167,763'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1944|1944]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|6.4% ''11,601'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''93.6%''' ''168,479'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.0% ''0'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1940|1940]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|4.2% ''7,364'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''95.7%''' ''168,267'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.1% ''193'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1936|1936]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|2.7% ''4,443'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''97.1%''' ''157,318'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.2% ''329'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1932|1932]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|3.6% ''5,180'' |
|||
| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''96.0%''' ''140,168'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.5% ''686'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1928|1928]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|17.9% ''27,153'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''82.1%''' ''124,539'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.0% ''0'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1924|1924]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|7.6% ''8,494'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''89.3%''' ''100,474'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|3.1% ''3,494'' |
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|- |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election, 1920|1920]]''' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Republican}}|14.0% ''11,576'' |
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| style="text-align:center; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''84.0%''' ''69,277'' |
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| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.0% ''1,639'' |
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|} |
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In 1964, the white voters in the state swung over dramatically to support [[Barry Goldwater]], who took an unheard-of 87 percent of the state's white popular vote (this was while most African Americans were still disfranchised and effectively could not vote) in the midst of [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s 44-state national landslide.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/images/elections/maps/1964.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127105056/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/images/elections/maps/1964.jpg |archive-date=2008-11-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Goldwater carried several counties with well over 90 percent of the vote, and his five best counties in the nation were all in Mississippi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1964&f=1&off=0&elect=0|title=1964 Presidential Election Statistics}}</ref> |
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Mississippi white residents, as in the rest of the South, long supported the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. The policies of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], which included federally appointed [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] governors, led to white Southern resentment toward the Republican Party. Following the [[Compromise of 1877]], federal troops enforcing the provisions of Reconstruction were pulled out of the South. The Democratic Party regained political control of the state in the 1870s, partly by using methods designed to suppress black voter turnout. Blacks had favored Republican candidates and the party of Lincoln. |
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Since then, there has been a major realignment, with white conservative voters supporting Republicans for the state's federal positions, even though Democrats nominally continued to have a majority of registered voters. Since 1964, Mississippi has supported a Democrat for president only once, in 1976, when Southerner [[Jimmy Carter]] was elected. That year, he narrowly carried the state by two percentage points (15,000 votes).<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential General Election Graph Comparison – Mississippi |publisher=www.uselectionatlas.org |access-date=2007-12-01 |url=http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/comparegraphs.php?year=2004&fips=28&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref> |
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After years of supporting disfranchisement of blacks in the South, northern Democrats began increasingly to support unions and civil rights for blacks. Many conservative white Democrats began to get restless. The first sign of this discontent was in the 1948 presidential election, when the [[Dixiecrat Party|Dixiecrat]] slate of [[Strom Thurmond]] and Mississippi Governor [[Fielding Wright]] won a majority of the state's popular vote, largely by virtue of Dixiecrat supporters taking over the state Democratic machinery. |
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During the fall of 1963, civil rights activists registered 80,000 black voters in Mississippi for the straw [[1963 Freedom Ballot|Freedom Vote]], to demonstrate the people's ambition and eagerness to vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africanaonline.com/orga_cofo.htm|title=Council of Federated Organizations, accessed 13 Mar 2008|access-date=19 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221135459/http://www.africanaonline.com/orga_cofo.htm|archive-date=21 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1964, the [[Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party]] (MFDP) was formed, creating a list of candidates to challenge the official, all-white slate of the state's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. The MFDP also mounted protests at the national Democratic convention, seeking to be seated as official delegates. |
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In 1960, a slate of [[unpledged elector|unpledged]] Democratic electors won a plurality of the state's vote. It was the first time the official Democratic candidate had not carried the state since the Reconstruction era. These eight electors cast their electoral votes for conservative Democratic Senator [[Harry F. Byrd]]. |
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Not until the late 1960s, following passage of the Federal [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965 under President [[Lyndon Johnson]], would most African-American men and women have the chance to register and vote again in Mississippi and other Southern states. In 1967 the first twelve black men ran for office for the first time since Reconstruction in Holmes County; two gained local office and one, teacher Robert G. Clark, was elected to the state house. He continued to be re-elected from Holmes County and in the late 20th century, was elected three times as speaker of the House. |
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In 1964, the white voters in the state swung over dramatically to support [[Barry Goldwater]], who took an unheard-of 87 percent of the state's popular vote (this was while most African Americans were still disfranchised and effectively could not vote) in the midst of [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s 44-state national landslide.<ref>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/images/elections/maps/1964.jpg</ref> Goldwater carried several counties with well over 90 percent of the vote, and his five best counties in the nation were all in Mississippi.<ref>http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1964&f=1&off=0&elect=0</ref> |
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On September 26, 2008, presidential candidates [[Barack Obama]] and [[John McCain]] debated at the [[University of Mississippi]] in the first presidential debate ever hosted in Mississippi. It was also the first official debate for the election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://debate.olemiss.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205002702/http://debate.olemiss.edu./|url-status=dead|title=2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi|archive-date=December 5, 2008}}</ref> The debate focused on [[Foreign policy of the United States|foreign policy]] and national security issues.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-21-debates-candidates_N.htm McCain, Obama agree on fall debates] AP News, August 21, 2008</ref> |
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Since then, there has been a major realignment, with white conservative voters supporting Republicans for the state's federal positions, even though Democrats nominally continued to have a majority of registered voters. Since 1964, Mississippi has supported a Democrat for president only once, in 1976, when a son of the South ran. That year, [[Jimmy Carter]] narrowly carried the state by two percentage points (15,000 votes).<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential General Election Graph Comparison - Mississippi |publisher=www.uselectionatlas.org |accessdate=2007-12-01 |url=http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/comparegraphs.php?year=2004&fips=28&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref> |
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{{Further|Political party strength in Mississippi}} |
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During the fall of 1963, civil rights activists registered 80,000 black voters in Mississippi for the straw Freedom Vote, to demonstrate the people's ambition and eagerness to vote.<ref>[http://www.africanaonline.com/orga_cofo.htm Council of Federated Organizations, accessed 13 Mar 2008]</ref> In 1964, the [[Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party]] (MFDP) was formed, creating a list of candidates to challenge the official, all-white slate of the state's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. The MFDP also mounted protests at the national convention, where they demanded to be seated as official delegates. |
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=== State politics === |
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Not until the late 1960s, following passage of the Federal [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965 under President [[Lyndon Johnson]], would most African-American men and women have the chance to vote again in Mississippi and other Southern states. |
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{{See also|List of counties in Mississippi}} |
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During disfranchisement and majority-white dominance of the Democratic Party and state politics, nearly all races were effectively decided in the Democratic primary, from which blacks were excluded by the "[[white primary]]" and other voter registration tricks. Although civil rights groups mounted legal challenges, Mississippi's constitution was upheld for some time. From 1877 to 1959, the Republicans fielded a gubernatorial candidate only twice. It was not until after the passage of the federal [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] that federal enforcement led to African Americans' being able to register and vote in numbers related to their population in the state. In the first half of the 20th century, many left the oppressive conditions here in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] to the North and Midwest. |
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On September 26, 2008, presidential candidates [[Barack Obama]] and [[John McCain]] debated at the [[University of Mississippi]] in the first presidential debate ever hosted in Mississippi. It was also the first official debate for the election.<ref>[http://debate.olemiss.edu 2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi]</ref> The debate focused on [[Foreign policy of the United States|foreign policy]] and national security issues.<ref>[http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hH6zUr8Zq5qx_S9rqL_TCayRrs4gD92MMRNO0 McCain, Obama agree on fall debates]{{dead link|date=November 2012|bot=Legobot}}</ref> |
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In 1991, [[Kirk Fordice]] became the first Republican to win the governorship since the end of Reconstruction. In 1995, Fordice became the first governor to be reelected to a second term since the adoption of the 1890 constitution. Democrat [[Ronnie Musgrove]] won a close election over U.S. Congressman [[Michael Parker (politician)|Mike Parker]] to become governor in 1999. Musgrove's term was marked by increased concerns over the state budget and a [[Flag of Mississippi#2001 referendum|failed referendum on redesigning the state flag]] which Musgrove had supported. In 2003, Republican [[Haley Barbour]] defeated Musgrove in his bid for reelection. Barbour's governorship was dominated by recovery efforts for [[Hurricane Katrina]] and the 2010 [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]], the state's largest disasters since the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927|1927 Mississippi River floods]]. |
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{{Further2|[[Political party strength in Mississippi]]}} |
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In 2011, Hattiesburg mayor [[Johnny DuPree]] became the first African-American to be nominated as a Democrat for governor. Republican lieutenant governor [[Phil Bryant]] went on to defeat DuPree in the general election with 61% of the vote. In doing so, Bryant became the first Republican to succeed an outgoing Republican governor. Bryant was reelected with 67% of the vote in 2015, the highest percentage ever received by a Republican candidate for governor in Mississippi. |
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===State politics=== |
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Mississippi has 82 [[County (United States)|counties]]. Citizens of Mississippi counties elect the members of their county Board of Supervisors from single-member districts, as well as other county officials. |
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Since the beginning of the 21st century, Republicans have done similarly well in other statewide offices. [[Eddie Briggs]] became the first Republican lieutenant governor when he was elected alongside Kirk Fordice in 1991. This led to the awkward arrangement where Briggs was able to appoint Republican chairmen to committees in the State Senate despite Democrats holding the majority. He lost reelection in 1995. Republicans won a majority of statewide offices for the first time in 2007. Democratic Attorney General [[Jim Hood]] of [[Houston, Mississippi|Houston]] was the last Democrat in statewide office, when he retired in 2020, Republicans were elected to the [[Attorney General of Mississippi|attorney general]] position for the first time since Reconstruction. As a result, 2020 marked the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans held every statewide office in the state. |
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''(See: [[List of counties in Mississippi]])'' |
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Despite increasing Republican successes in statewide races beginning in the 1980s, Democrats continued to maintain large advantages in the state legislature into the 21st Century. Democrats held supermajorities in both the [[Mississippi House of Representatives|State House]] and [[Mississippi State Senate|State Senate]] following the 1999 elections. Republicans narrowly captured the State Senate and the State House in 2011. Following the 2015 elections, Republicans captured a [[supermajority]] in the State House thanks to [[party switching|party switches]] but actually lost seats in the State Senate. Since 2011, the Democratic caucuses in the state legislature have become majority African-American. |
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During disfranchisement and majority-white dominance of the Democratic party and state politics, nearly all races were effectively decided in the Democratic primary, from which blacks were excluded by the "[[white primary]]" and other voter registration tricks. Although civil rights groups mounted legal challenges, Mississippi's constitution was upheld for some time. From 1877 to 1959, the Republicans only fielded a gubernatorial candidate twice. It was not until after passage of the federal [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] that federal enforcement led to African Americans' being able to register and vote in numbers related to their population in the state. In the first half of the 20th century, many left the oppressive conditions here in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] to the North and Midwest. |
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== County government == |
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However, most Democrats, especially in rural areas, are very [[Conservatism|conservative]] by national standards. In 1991, [[Kirk Fordice]] became the first Republican to win the governorship since 1876. Republicans have since done very well at the state level. They have held the governorship for all but one term, though it would take another decade before they won control of one of the state legislative chambers. |
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Mississippi has [[List of counties in Mississippi|82 counties]] and presents the closest face of government to citizens. Members of the county Boards of Supervisors are elected from single-member districts, and several other county officials, such as sheriff, are elected [[at-large]]. At a time when the state was predominately rural, counties were divided into "beats," with each supervisor responsible for road and bridge maintenance in his beat. This arrangement was useful when areas were lightly settled and communication was difficult, but it persisted in most of the state until 1988. The counties serve both legislative and executive functions; the decentralization into beats with few controls on individual supervisors led to problems with wasteful purchasing, inefficient government and, in some cases, corruption. Unitary and centralized county government is considered more efficient for conducting county business.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nr90mH7ecakC&q=Function+of+beats+in+MS+counties|title=Operation Pretense: The FBI's Sting on County Corruption in Mississippi|first=James R.|last=Crockett|date=July 9, 2003|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-930-5|via=Google Books}}</ref> |
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During the 1980s, some 57 of Mississippi's 410 county supervisors, from 26 of the state's 82 counties, were charged by the federal government with corruption. The FBI had carried out a lengthy investigation and a [[Sting operation|sting]] called [[Operation Pretense]] to gain evidence in these cases. Reform led to an overhaul of the counties' purchasing systems.<ref>Crockett (2011), ''Operation Pretence''</ref> |
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However, in 2011, the Republicans took control of the state house, in the process winning complete control of state government for the first time since 1876. But, this represents a reversal of what Republican and Democratic meant in the 19th century. Since the late 1960s and passage of civil rights legislation by national Democrats and Republicans, most white conservatives in the South have shifted to supporting Republican candidates. African Americans support Democrats by wide margins, as this party nationally supported their drive for protection and exercise of civil rights. Most whites tend to support Republicans. |
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==Issues== |
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On some social issues, Mississippi is one of the more conservative states in the US, with religion often playing a large role in citizens' political views. Liquor laws are particularly strict and variable from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Liquor sales are frequently banned on Sunday. Many cities and counties allow no alcoholic beverage sales ("dry"), while others allow beer but not liquor, or liquor but not beer. Some allow beer sales, but only if it is not refrigerated.<ref>[http://www.oxfordms.net/recent/newordinances.htm Proposed New Ordinances, [[Oxford, Mississippi]]; note section 5-23 paragraph (b), which states in part, "It shall be unlawful in the City of Oxford, Mississippi, for any owner, proprietor, manager or employee of any establishment which has a permit or privilege license authorizing the sale of light wine or beer at retail to... Sell, give or dispense or permit to be consumed any light wine or beer which has been refrigerated."]</ref> In 2001, Mississippi banned adoption by same-sex couples and banned recognition of adoptions by same-sex couples which were done and recognized in other states or countries. In 2004, 86% of voter turnout amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and ban state recognition of same-sex marriages which were done and recognized in other states and countries. |
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Liquor laws in Mississippi are particularly strict, with some variation among jurisdictions. Statewide prohibition of alcohol did not end until 1966, making Mississippi the last state with such a ban in force. Liquor stores may only be opened from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and are disallowed from operating on [[New Year's Day]], [[Good Friday]], [[Thanksgiving]] Day, and [[Christmas]] Day. Currently, state law disallows the operation of liquor stores on Sundays. Many local jurisdictions similarly prevent the Sunday sale of beer for off-site consumption or restrict the Sunday sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants. Many cities and counties allow no alcohol sales at all ("[[dry county|dry counties]]"), while some employ different standards for different types of alcohol (e.g., no liquor sales, but beer sales permitted, or vice versa). In some cities, the sale of refrigerated beer for off-site consumption is prohibited, with such ordinances being notably enforced in the state's largest college towns of [[Oxford, Mississippi|Oxford]] and [[Starkville, Mississippi|Starkville]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordms.net/recent/Alcohol2007-10.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724182649/http://www.oxfordms.net/recent/Alcohol2007-10.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-24 |title=An ordinance amending Chapter 5 of the City of Oxford's Code of Ordinances |at=§ 5-23. Privilege license holder regulated |work=The City of Oxford}}</ref> Despite some of the strictest liquor laws in the country, Mississippi is the only state in the country without a statewide [[United States open-container laws|open container]] law but several cities and counties enforce local ordinances against the consumption of alcohol while operating a vehicle. |
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Mississippi has one of the least progressive records on LGBT rights of any state. Consensual same sex relations were illegal in Mississippi until ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'' struck down all state [[sodomy laws|anti-sodomy laws]] in 2003. Same-sex marriage had been banned in Mississippi by executive order in 1996, and state statute since 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/1997/history/SB/SB2053.htm|title=SB2053 – History of Actions/Background|website=billstatus.ls.state.ms.us}}</ref> In 2004, Mississippi voters approved an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman with 86% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/11-states-ban-same-sex-marriage/|title=11 States Ban Same-Sex Marriage|website=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref> Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional by district judge [[Carlton W. Reeves]] in 2014, but enforcement of his decision was stayed pending appeal by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In June 2015, Mississippi's same-sex marriage ban was struck down by the ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]'' decision. Unlike other Southern states, enforcement of the ''Obergefell'' decision happened almost immediately and without major incident, with county clerks in several counties beginning to offer same-sex marriage licenses the same day the decision was handed down. Same-sex couples were not allowed to jointly adopt children until March 2016, but Mississippi has always permitted adoption by an umarried adult without regard to sexual orientation. Governor Phil Bryant signed a controversial "[[Religious Liberty Accommodations Act|religious freedom]]" law in April 2016. The law was struck down, once again by judge [[Carlton Reeves]], in violation of the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the United States Constitution in July 2016. Attorney General Jim Hood issued a statement indicating he would not pursue to appeal the decision. |
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At the same time, Mississippi has been one of the more innovative states in the country, having been the first state to implement a sales tax and the first state to pass a [[Married Women's Property Act 1882|Married Women's Property Act]]. |
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In regard to other topics, it can be said that Mississippi has at times been one of the more innovative states in the country, having been the first state to implement a sales tax, and in 1882 the first state to pass a [[Married Women's Property Act 1882|Married Women's Property Act]]. |
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Also, between the Reconstruction era, when blacks constituted a majority and elected many representatives to local and state office, and since the 1960s, Mississippi has elected more African-American officials (including local offices) than any other state in the United States. <!--I'm guessing - what period is being evaluated?--> Mississippi is one of only a few states to have [[Decriminalization|decriminalized]] the possession of [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], so that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana is punishable only by a fine of $100 – $250 for the first offense with no jail time.<ref>[http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4546 NORML State Guide to Marijuana Laws: Mississippi], accessed 20 Mar 2008</ref> |
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Mississippi is one of a growing number of states, as well as the [[District of Columbia]] to have [[Decriminalization|decriminalized]] the possession of [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], so that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana is punishable only by a fine of $100 – $250 for the first offense with no jail time.<ref>[http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4546 NORML State Guide to Marijuana Laws: Mississippi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061202235349/http://www.norml.org//index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4546 |date=2006-12-02 }}, accessed 20 Mar 2008</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== Federal representation == |
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Mississippi currently has 4 [[Mississippi's congressional districts|House districts]] In the 118th Congress, 3 of Mississippi's seats are held by Republicans and 1 is held by a Democrat. There are as follows: |
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*[[Mississippi's 1st congressional district]] represented by [[Trent Kelly]] (R) |
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*[[Mississippi's 2nd congressional district]] represented by [[Bennie Thompson]] (D) |
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*[[Mississippi's 3rd congressional district]] represented by [[Michael Guest (politician)|Michael Guest]] (R) |
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*[[Mississippi's 4th congressional district]] represented by [[Mike Ezell]] (R) |
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Mississippi's two United States Senators are Republicans [[Roger Wicker]] and [[Cindy Hyde-Smith]], serving since 2007 and 2018, respectively. |
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Mississippi is part of the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi]] and the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi]] in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Houston-based [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]. |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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* [http://www.sos.state.ms.us/ed_pubs/constitution/constitution.asp The Constitution of the State of Mississippi] |
* [http://www.sos.state.ms.us/ed_pubs/constitution/constitution.asp The Constitution of the State of Mississippi] |
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* [http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?ms Mississippi], American Law Sources On-line |
* [http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?ms Mississippi], American Law Sources On-line |
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* [http://www.michie.com/mississippi/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=mscode Mississippi Code of 1972] |
* [http://www.michie.com/mississippi/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=mscode Mississippi Code of 1972] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427185707/http://www.michie.com/mississippi/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=mscode |date=2009-04-27 }} |
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* [http://library.mssc.state.ms.us/mscodeintro.htm Historic Codes of Mississippi] |
* [http://library.mssc.state.ms.us/mscodeintro.htm Historic Codes of Mississippi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120094750/http://library.mssc.state.ms.us/mscodeintro.htm |date=2010-11-20 }} |
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{{Governments of the United States}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Government of Mississippi]] |
[[Category:Government of Mississippi| ]] |
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[[Category:State governments of the United States|Mississippi]] |
Latest revision as of 05:22, 16 July 2024
Government of Mississippi | |
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![]() | |
Part of | United States of America |
Constitution | Constitution of Mississippi |
Legislative branch | |
Name | Legislature |
Typ | Bicameral |
Meeting place | Mississippi State Capitol |
Upper house | |
Name | Senate |
Presiding officer | Delbert Hosemann, President |
Lower house | |
Name | House of Representatives |
Presiding officer | Jason White, Speaker |
Executive branch | |
Head of state and government | |
Titel | Governor |
Currently | Tate Reeves |
Appointer | Election |
Cabinet | |
Leader | Governor |
Deputy leader | Lieutenant Governor |
Hauptsitz | Mississippi State Capitol |
Judicial branch | |
Courts | Courts of Mississippi |
Supreme Court of Mississippi | |
Chief judge | Michael K. Randolph |
Seat | Jackson |
The Government of Mississippi is the government of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Power in Mississippi's government is distributed by the state's Constitution between the executive and legislative branches. The state's current governor is Tate Reeves. The Mississippi Legislature consists of the House of Representatives and Senate. Mississippi is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (others being Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years in the years preceding Presidential election years.
Executive branch
[edit]The executive branch of Mississippi state government is composed of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and commerce, commissioner of insurance, the three-person Mississippi Public Service Commission, and the three-person Mississippi Transportation Commission. The leaders of these offices are popularly elected to four-year terms. All can be re-elected continuously with the exception of the governor and lieutenant governor, who can only serve two terms consecutively.[1]
The current governor is Tate Reeves, the current lieutenant governor is Delbert Hosemann, the current Secretary of State is Michael Watson, the current Attorney General is Lynn Fitch, the current Auditor is Shad White, the current Treasurer is David McRae, the current Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is Andy Gipson, and the current Commissioner of Insurance is Mike Chaney. All of these statewide officeholders are Republicans.
Legislative branch
[edit]Legislative authority resides in the Mississippi Legislature, which is the state legislature. The Legislature is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The state constitution permits the legislature to establish by law the number of senators and representatives, up to a maximum of 52 senators and 122 representatives. Current state law sets the number of senators at 52 and representatives at 122. The term of office for senators and representatives is four years, with no term limits.
Judicial branch
[edit]Supreme judicial authority rests with the state Supreme Court, which has statewide authority. In addition, there is a statewide Court of Appeals, as well as Circuit Courts, Chancery Courts and Justice Courts, which have more limited geographical jurisdiction. The nine judges of the Supreme Court are elected from three districts (three judges per district) by the state's citizens in non-partisan elections to eight-year staggered terms. The ten judges of the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts (two judges per district) for eight-year staggered terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected to four-year terms by the state's citizens who live within that court's jurisdiction.
Politics
[edit]During the Reconstruction era, freedmen gained freedom, citizenship, and the franchise. African Americans could vote in the state for the first time. They elected numerous representatives to local and state offices, despite being subject to intimidation and violence at the polls, increasingly so during the 1870s, when the Red Shirts, paramilitary groups representing conservative white Democrats, tried to suppress the black vote. Despite efforts to keep black citizens from participating in legislative roles and elections, the first black U.S. congressman, Hiram Revels, was elected to the Republican Party and represented Mississippi in the Senate from 1870 to 1871. Revels also served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1872 to 1873.[2] Blanche K. Bruce, also a Republican, was the 2nd African-American to serve in congress as a Mississippi Senator in 1875–1881.[3]
After a biracial Populist-Republican coalition gained power in the late 1880s, the Democrats returned in force to the state government. To prevent such a coalition and to reduce the violence around elections, they decided to expel African Americans from state politics. In 1890 Mississippi passed a new constitution with provisions to disenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites through use of the poll tax and literacy tests for voter registration, with the latter administered by white registrars. The number of black voters fell drastically, as they were prevented from registering. This was the reason the Democratic Party dominated state and federal elections in Mississippi into the 1960s.
From 1876 to 1980, Mississippi was essentially a one-party state, electing Democratic governors, federal representatives, and most state officials. When Mississippi's constitution passed a Supreme Court challenge in Williams v. Mississippi (1898), other Southern states quickly included such provisions in their own new constitutions, drafting new works through 1908. By 1900, these measures effectively disfranchised nearly all black voters in Mississippi. When the grandfather clause was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Guinn v. United States (1915), Mississippi and other states which had used it quickly passed other statutes to find other ways to restrict black registration and voting. Disfranchisement of blacks and poor whites continued for more than six decades.
Federal politics
[edit]Year | Republican / Whig | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 756,764 | 57.57% | 539,398 | 41.04% | 18,313 | 1.39% |
2016 | 700,714 | 57.86% | 485,131 | 40.06% | 25,243 | 2.08% |
2012 | 710,746 | 55.29% | 562,949 | 43.79% | 11,889 | 0.92% |
2008 | 724,597 | 56.17% | 554,662 | 43.00% | 10,680 | 0.83% |
2004 | 684,981 | 59.44% | 458,094 | 39.75% | 9,290 | 0.81% |
2000 | 573,230 | 57.62% | 404,964 | 40.70% | 16,732 | 1.68% |
1996 | 439,838 | 49.21% | 394,022 | 44.08% | 59,997 | 6.71% |
1992 | 487,793 | 49.68% | 400,258 | 40.77% | 93,742 | 9.55% |
1988 | 557,890 | 59.89% | 363,921 | 39.07% | 9,716 | 1.04% |
1984 | 581,477 | 61.85% | 352,192 | 37.46% | 6,523 | 0.69% |
1980 | 441,089 | 49.42% | 429,281 | 48.09% | 22,250 | 2.49% |
1976 | 366,846 | 47.68% | 381,309 | 49.56% | 21,205 | 2.76% |
1972 | 505,125 | 78.20% | 126,782 | 19.63% | 14,056 | 2.18% |
1968 | 88,516 | 13.52% | 150,644 | 23.02% | 415,349 | 63.46% |
1964 | 356,528 | 87.14% | 52,618 | 12.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
1960 | 73,561 | 24.67% | 108,362 | 36.34% | 116,248 | 38.99% |
1956 | 60,685 | 24.46% | 144,498 | 58.23% | 42,966 | 17.31% |
1952 | 112,966 | 39.56% | 172,566 | 60.44% | 0 | 0.00% |
1948 | 5,043 | 2.62% | 19,384 | 10.09% | 167,763 | 87.29% |
1944 | 11,601 | 6.44% | 168,479 | 93.56% | 0 | 0.00% |
1940 | 7,364 | 4.19% | 168,267 | 95.70% | 193 | 0.11% |
1936 | 4,467 | 2.75% | 157,333 | 97.03% | 342 | 0.21% |
1932 | 5,180 | 3.55% | 140,168 | 95.98% | 686 | 0.47% |
1928 | 27,153 | 17.90% | 124,539 | 82.10% | 0 | 0.00% |
1924 | 8,494 | 7.55% | 100,474 | 89.34% | 3,494 | 3.11% |
1920 | 11,576 | 14.03% | 69,277 | 83.98% | 1,639 | 1.99% |
1916 | 4,253 | 4.91% | 80,422 | 92.78% | 2,004 | 2.31% |
1912 | 1,560 | 2.42% | 57,324 | 88.90% | 5,599 | 8.68% |
1908 | 4,363 | 6.52% | 60,287 | 90.11% | 2,254 | 3.37% |
1904 | 3,280 | 5.59% | 53,480 | 91.07% | 1,961 | 3.34% |
1900 | 5,707 | 9.66% | 51,706 | 87.56% | 1,642 | 2.78% |
1896 | 4,819 | 6.92% | 63,355 | 91.04% | 1,417 | 2.04% |
1892 | 1,398 | 2.66% | 40,030 | 76.22% | 11,091 | 21.12% |
1888 | 30,095 | 25.99% | 85,451 | 73.80% | 240 | 0.21% |
1884 | 43,035 | 35.66% | 77,653 | 64.34% | 0 | 0.00% |
1880 | 34,844 | 29.76% | 75,750 | 64.71% | 6,474 | 5.53% |
1876 | 52,603 | 31.92% | 112,173 | 68.08% | 0 | 0.00% |
1872 | 82,175 | 63.48% | 47,282 | 36.52% | 0 | 0.00% |
1860 | 0 | 0.00% | 3,282 | 4.75% | 65,813 | 95.25% |
1856 | 0 | 0.00% | 35,456 | 59.44% | 24,191 | 40.56% |
1852 | 17,558 | 39.50% | 26,896 | 60.50% | 0 | 0.00% |
1848 | 25,911 | 49.40% | 26,545 | 50.60% | 0 | 0.00% |
1844 | 19,158 | 42.57% | 25,846 | 57.43% | 0 | 0.00% |
1840 | 19,515 | 53.43% | 17,010 | 46.57% | 0 | 0.00% |
1836 | 9,782 | 48.72% | 10,297 | 51.28% | 0 | 0.00% |
Mississippi white residents, as in the rest of the South, long supported the Democratic Party. The policies of Reconstruction, which included federally appointed Republican governors, led to white Southern resentment toward the Republican Party. Following the Compromise of 1877, federal troops enforcing the provisions of Reconstruction were pulled out of the South. The Democratic Party regained political control of the state in the 1870s, partly by using violence and fraud to suppress black voter turnout and turn elections in their favor. Blacks had favored Republican candidates and the party of Lincoln.
In the 20th century, after years of indirectly supporting the disfranchisement of blacks in the South, northern Democrats began increasingly to support labor unions and civil rights for blacks. Many conservative white Democrats began to get restless. The first sign of this discontent was in the 1948 presidential election, when the Dixiecrat slate of Strom Thurmond and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright won a majority of the state's popular vote, largely by virtue of Dixiecrat supporters taking over the state Democratic machinery. In 1960, a slate of unpledged Democratic electors won a plurality of the state's vote. It was the first time the official Democratic candidate had not carried the state since the Reconstruction era. These eight electors cast their electoral votes for conservative Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd.
In 1964, the white voters in the state swung over dramatically to support Barry Goldwater, who took an unheard-of 87 percent of the state's white popular vote (this was while most African Americans were still disfranchised and effectively could not vote) in the midst of Lyndon Johnson's 44-state national landslide.[5] Goldwater carried several counties with well over 90 percent of the vote, and his five best counties in the nation were all in Mississippi.[6]
Since then, there has been a major realignment, with white conservative voters supporting Republicans for the state's federal positions, even though Democrats nominally continued to have a majority of registered voters. Since 1964, Mississippi has supported a Democrat for president only once, in 1976, when Southerner Jimmy Carter was elected. That year, he narrowly carried the state by two percentage points (15,000 votes).[7]
During the fall of 1963, civil rights activists registered 80,000 black voters in Mississippi for the straw Freedom Vote, to demonstrate the people's ambition and eagerness to vote.[8] In 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was formed, creating a list of candidates to challenge the official, all-white slate of the state's Democratic Party. The MFDP also mounted protests at the national Democratic convention, seeking to be seated as official delegates.
Not until the late 1960s, following passage of the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson, would most African-American men and women have the chance to register and vote again in Mississippi and other Southern states. In 1967 the first twelve black men ran for office for the first time since Reconstruction in Holmes County; two gained local office and one, teacher Robert G. Clark, was elected to the state house. He continued to be re-elected from Holmes County and in the late 20th century, was elected three times as speaker of the House.
On September 26, 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain debated at the University of Mississippi in the first presidential debate ever hosted in Mississippi. It was also the first official debate for the election.[9] The debate focused on foreign policy and national security issues.[10]
State politics
[edit]During disfranchisement and majority-white dominance of the Democratic Party and state politics, nearly all races were effectively decided in the Democratic primary, from which blacks were excluded by the "white primary" and other voter registration tricks. Although civil rights groups mounted legal challenges, Mississippi's constitution was upheld for some time. From 1877 to 1959, the Republicans fielded a gubernatorial candidate only twice. It was not until after the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 that federal enforcement led to African Americans' being able to register and vote in numbers related to their population in the state. In the first half of the 20th century, many left the oppressive conditions here in the Great Migration to the North and Midwest.
In 1991, Kirk Fordice became the first Republican to win the governorship since the end of Reconstruction. In 1995, Fordice became the first governor to be reelected to a second term since the adoption of the 1890 constitution. Democrat Ronnie Musgrove won a close election over U.S. Congressman Mike Parker to become governor in 1999. Musgrove's term was marked by increased concerns over the state budget and a failed referendum on redesigning the state flag which Musgrove had supported. In 2003, Republican Haley Barbour defeated Musgrove in his bid for reelection. Barbour's governorship was dominated by recovery efforts for Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the state's largest disasters since the 1927 Mississippi River floods.
In 2011, Hattiesburg mayor Johnny DuPree became the first African-American to be nominated as a Democrat for governor. Republican lieutenant governor Phil Bryant went on to defeat DuPree in the general election with 61% of the vote. In doing so, Bryant became the first Republican to succeed an outgoing Republican governor. Bryant was reelected with 67% of the vote in 2015, the highest percentage ever received by a Republican candidate for governor in Mississippi.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Republicans have done similarly well in other statewide offices. Eddie Briggs became the first Republican lieutenant governor when he was elected alongside Kirk Fordice in 1991. This led to the awkward arrangement where Briggs was able to appoint Republican chairmen to committees in the State Senate despite Democrats holding the majority. He lost reelection in 1995. Republicans won a majority of statewide offices for the first time in 2007. Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood of Houston was the last Democrat in statewide office, when he retired in 2020, Republicans were elected to the attorney general position for the first time since Reconstruction. As a result, 2020 marked the first time since Reconstruction that Republicans held every statewide office in the state.
Despite increasing Republican successes in statewide races beginning in the 1980s, Democrats continued to maintain large advantages in the state legislature into the 21st Century. Democrats held supermajorities in both the State House and State Senate following the 1999 elections. Republicans narrowly captured the State Senate and the State House in 2011. Following the 2015 elections, Republicans captured a supermajority in the State House thanks to party switches but actually lost seats in the State Senate. Since 2011, the Democratic caucuses in the state legislature have become majority African-American.
County government
[edit]Mississippi has 82 counties and presents the closest face of government to citizens. Members of the county Boards of Supervisors are elected from single-member districts, and several other county officials, such as sheriff, are elected at-large. At a time when the state was predominately rural, counties were divided into "beats," with each supervisor responsible for road and bridge maintenance in his beat. This arrangement was useful when areas were lightly settled and communication was difficult, but it persisted in most of the state until 1988. The counties serve both legislative and executive functions; the decentralization into beats with few controls on individual supervisors led to problems with wasteful purchasing, inefficient government and, in some cases, corruption. Unitary and centralized county government is considered more efficient for conducting county business.[11]
During the 1980s, some 57 of Mississippi's 410 county supervisors, from 26 of the state's 82 counties, were charged by the federal government with corruption. The FBI had carried out a lengthy investigation and a sting called Operation Pretense to gain evidence in these cases. Reform led to an overhaul of the counties' purchasing systems.[12]
Issues
[edit]Liquor laws in Mississippi are particularly strict, with some variation among jurisdictions. Statewide prohibition of alcohol did not end until 1966, making Mississippi the last state with such a ban in force. Liquor stores may only be opened from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and are disallowed from operating on New Year's Day, Good Friday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Currently, state law disallows the operation of liquor stores on Sundays. Many local jurisdictions similarly prevent the Sunday sale of beer for off-site consumption or restrict the Sunday sale of alcohol in bars and restaurants. Many cities and counties allow no alcohol sales at all ("dry counties"), while some employ different standards for different types of alcohol (e.g., no liquor sales, but beer sales permitted, or vice versa). In some cities, the sale of refrigerated beer for off-site consumption is prohibited, with such ordinances being notably enforced in the state's largest college towns of Oxford and Starkville.[13] Despite some of the strictest liquor laws in the country, Mississippi is the only state in the country without a statewide open container law but several cities and counties enforce local ordinances against the consumption of alcohol while operating a vehicle.
Mississippi has one of the least progressive records on LGBT rights of any state. Consensual same sex relations were illegal in Mississippi until Lawrence v. Texas struck down all state anti-sodomy laws in 2003. Same-sex marriage had been banned in Mississippi by executive order in 1996, and state statute since 1997.[14] In 2004, Mississippi voters approved an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman with 86% of the vote.[15] Mississippi's ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional by district judge Carlton W. Reeves in 2014, but enforcement of his decision was stayed pending appeal by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In June 2015, Mississippi's same-sex marriage ban was struck down by the Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Unlike other Southern states, enforcement of the Obergefell decision happened almost immediately and without major incident, with county clerks in several counties beginning to offer same-sex marriage licenses the same day the decision was handed down. Same-sex couples were not allowed to jointly adopt children until March 2016, but Mississippi has always permitted adoption by an umarried adult without regard to sexual orientation. Governor Phil Bryant signed a controversial "religious freedom" law in April 2016. The law was struck down, once again by judge Carlton Reeves, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution in July 2016. Attorney General Jim Hood issued a statement indicating he would not pursue to appeal the decision.
In regard to other topics, it can be said that Mississippi has at times been one of the more innovative states in the country, having been the first state to implement a sales tax, and in 1882 the first state to pass a Married Women's Property Act.
Mississippi is one of a growing number of states, as well as the District of Columbia to have decriminalized the possession of marijuana, so that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana is punishable only by a fine of $100 – $250 for the first offense with no jail time.[16]
Federal representation
[edit]Mississippi currently has 4 House districts In the 118th Congress, 3 of Mississippi's seats are held by Republicans and 1 is held by a Democrat. There are as follows:
- Mississippi's 1st congressional district represented by Trent Kelly (R)
- Mississippi's 2nd congressional district represented by Bennie Thompson (D)
- Mississippi's 3rd congressional district represented by Michael Guest (R)
- Mississippi's 4th congressional district represented by Mike Ezell (R)
Mississippi's two United States Senators are Republicans Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, serving since 2007 and 2018, respectively.
Mississippi is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Houston-based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
References
[edit]- ^ Clark, Eric (December 2007). "The Government of Mississippi: How it Functions". Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
- ^ "REVELS, Hiram Rhodes | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
- ^ "Hiram Revels was the 1st black man in Congress followed by Blanche K. Bruce. Both Republicans". Vicksburg Evening Post. 1887-12-12. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
- ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Mississippi". US Election Atlas. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "1964 Presidential Election Statistics".
- ^ "Presidential General Election Graph Comparison – Mississippi". www.uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Council of Federated Organizations, accessed 13 Mar 2008". Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
- ^ "2008 Presidential Debate | The University of Mississippi". Archived from the original on December 5, 2008.
- ^ McCain, Obama agree on fall debates AP News, August 21, 2008
- ^ Crockett, James R. (July 9, 2003). Operation Pretense: The FBI's Sting on County Corruption in Mississippi. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-930-5 – via Google Books.
- ^ Crockett (2011), Operation Pretence
- ^ "An ordinance amending Chapter 5 of the City of Oxford's Code of Ordinances" (PDF). The City of Oxford. § 5-23. Privilege license holder regulated. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-24.
- ^ "SB2053 – History of Actions/Background". billstatus.ls.state.ms.us.
- ^ "11 States Ban Same-Sex Marriage". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ NORML State Guide to Marijuana Laws: Mississippi Archived 2006-12-02 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 20 Mar 2008
External links
[edit]- The Constitution of the State of Mississippi
- Mississippi, American Law Sources On-line
- Mississippi Code of 1972 Archived 2009-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Historic Codes of Mississippi Archived 2010-11-20 at the Wayback Machine