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Tag: Tate Reeves

  • Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, wins reelection, CBS News projects

    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, wins reelection, CBS News projects

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    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, has won reelection, CBS News projects, fending off a hard-fought challenge from Democrat Brandon Pressley.

    Reeves will serve a second term in office with his victory, which extends Republicans’ two decades of control of Mississippi’s governorship.  

    Presley, a second cousin of Elvis Presley, campaigned on expanding Medicaid in the nation’s poorest state, and on supporting the state’s sweeping abortion ban. Presley has been a member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission since 2008, and before that, served as mayor of Nettleton, Mississippi. Presley was born days before Elvis Presley’s death in 1977.

    Why was Tate Reeves vulnerable? 

    Reeves, running for a second term, has been dogged by scandal. At least $77 million in federal funds intended for Mississippi’s poor were either misspent or given to wealthy and connected Mississippians in the years between 2017 and 2020, when Reeves was lieutenant governor, according to the state auditor’s office. Reeves has denied any wrongdoing. 

    The former director of the state’s welfare agency pleaded guilty last year in a conspiracy to misspend the millions of dollars in the largest public corruption case in the state’s history. Presley hasn’t shied away from blasting Reeves over the matter. 

    But under Reeves’ leadership, Mississippi boasted a $4 billion surplus in 2022.

    Presley campaigned on expanding Medicaid as soon as possible in the state with the lowest per capita income and highest poverty rate, while Reeves has insisted he’ll push for better jobs that offer health insurance. 

    “Expanding Medicaid in Mississippi would create 16,000 good paying healthcare worker jobs – and keep 220,000 working Mississippians healthy. Let’s get it done,” Presley tweeted Monday.

    A statewide Democratic win in Mississippi would go against the grain of the state’s conservative composition. 

    Reeves won the governor’s mansion in 2019 with 52.1% of the vote, for Democrat Jim Hood’s 46.6% of the vote, a relatively close election in Mississippi. In 2020, Donald Trump won 57.6% of the vote to Joe Biden’s 41.1%.

    Kathryn Watson


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    Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.

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  • Ron DeSantis’ popularity compared to other governors is abysmal

    Ron DeSantis’ popularity compared to other governors is abysmal

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    Ron DeSantis is one of the most unpopular governors in the country as he records a disapproval rating in the Sunshine State above nearly all others, according to a poll.

    Morning Consult released its quarterly U.S. Senator and Governor Approval Ratings report on Tuesday, showing that 45 percent of people in Florida disapprove of the job DeSantis is doing as governor, with 51 percent approving.

    The rating places DeSantis second in terms of highest disapproval ratings, with Iowa’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds in first place at 47 percent (49 approve) and Mississippi’s Republican Governor Tate Reeves in third at 44 percent (46 approve).

    Newsweek reached out to DeSantis’ office via email for comment.

    DeSantis is currently running for president but is trailing former president Donald Trump in the GOP primary polls. While his net approval rating is still positive, the Morning Consult survey may be a blow to the Florida governor, who is usually considered a popular Republican figure in the state. He cruised to re-election in November 2022, beating his Democratic challenger, Charlie Christ, by nearly 20 points.

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event in Tampa on October 5, 2023. A poll has found that DeSantis has one of the highest governor disapproval ratings in the country.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    The results also suggest that DeSantis is losing his support in Florida. The previous Governor Approval Ratings report in July showed that DeSantis had a 54 percent approval rating, three points higher than the new survey, with a 42 percent disapproval rating, three percent lower than his latest figures.

    In 2019, a Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce survey found that 64 percent of Florida voters approved of the job DeSantis is doing as governor, compared to just 24 percent who disapprove.

    According to the latest Morning Consult poll, Reynolds also saw her disapproval ratings in Iowa rise from 39 percent in the last quarter to 47 percent rise partially because of ties with DeSantis.

    “Her unpopularity increased partly because of a surge in negative sentiment among independent and Republican voters during a year in which she signed a strict anti-abortion law and took a lashing from former President Donald Trump over her apparent closeness with Gov. Ron DeSantis,” a summary of the polls states.

    In September, DeSantis appeared in Iowa, which will hold the first-in-the-nation caucus in January 2024, as part of his presidential campaign to watch the football game between the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. DeSantis sat in the stands alongside Reynolds and also met fans with her outside the stadium.

    Elsewhere, the Morning Consult survey showed that Vermont Republican Phill Scott is the most popular governor in the U.S., with an 83 percent approval rating. Wyoming governor Mark Gordan, a Republican, is second with 73 percent approval, with GOP governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire in third at 67 percent.

    Hawaii Governor Josh Green is in fourth place overall and the most popular Democratic governor, with a 66 percent approval rating.

    The results also reveal that Republican Wyoming Senator John Barrasso is the country’s most popular senator, with a 70 approval rating, followed by Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, who has a 65 percent approval rating in Hawaii.