A Democrat cousin of Elvis Presley hopes to have voters in the Mississippi gubernatorial election all shook up as he’s set to challenge GOP incumbent Tate Reeves.
Democrat Brandon Presley is a second cousin of the king, born a few days before the rock ‘n’ roll legend died in 1977.
While campaigning, Brandon Presley frequently talks about government corruption, focusing on a multimillion-dollar welfare scandal that developed when current Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was lieutenant governor and involves football legend Brett Favre.
The race hasn’t been polled since late April and showed Presley trailing by 11 points despite Reeves holding a low approval rating, according to Real Clear Politics.
Conservative Mississippi is tough territory for Democrats, but the party sees an unusual opportunity this year to unseat first-term Governor Reeves.
They’re pinning hopes in November on a candidate with a legendary last name who has used his own compelling story to highlight the economic plight of working families in a state that has long been one of the poorest in America.
Democrat Brandon Presley, current Northern District Public Service Commissioner and candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, addresses a group of supporters in Greenwood on April 15, 2023
Democrat Brandon Presley is a second cousin of the king, born a few days before the rock ´n’ roll legend died
Presley, an elected member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. He is pushing for Medicaid expansion to help financially strapped hospitals while telling voters about his own difficult childhood.
‘I understand what working families in this state go through,’ Presley told about 75 people at a restaurant in Grenada, a town on the edge of the Mississippi Delta.
The 45-year-old said he was just starting third grade when his father was murdered. His uncle Harold Presley – Elvis’ first cousin – then stepped in to act as a father figure.
Presley’s mother raised him and his brother and sister in the small town of Nettleton, earning modest wages from a garment factory.
In his childhood home, ‘you could see straight through the floors into the dirt,’ he said, and his mother struggled to pay for water and electricity.
‘And let me say this to you clearly: When my name goes on the ballot in November, the names of families who have had their electricity cut off, who are getting up every day working for all they can to help their kids, to small business owners – your name goes on that ballot in November,’ he said.
Mississippi is one of just three states with a governor’s race this year, joining Kentucky and Louisiana.
All are places that historically have supported Republicans for statewide office, though Kentucky’s Democratic governor is seeking a second term.
Presley, an elected member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, described the three contests as ‘away games’ but said Mississippi may be ‘the sleeper’ – a state where the right Democrat could win.
That is despite voters twice heavily backing Donald Trump for president, the GOP holding all statewide offices and a supermajority in the Legislature and a Democrat not winning a Mississippi governor’s race so far this century.
Reeves, who faces two underfunded opponents in the Aug. 8 primary, has the advantage of incumbency: 31 governors of U.S. states or territories sought reelection last year, and only one lost.
The governor had about $9.4million in his campaign fund at the end of May, far more than the $1.7million Presley reported.
Republicans also say national Democrats’ enthusiasm for Presley’s bid could be a liability.
Reeves, 49, was a banker from a Jackson suburb before winning his first statewide office 20 years ago.
He is campaigning on a record of reducing the state income tax, increasing teachers’ pay, restricting abortion access and banning gender-affirming medical care for people younger than age 18.
Reeves also is casting this as an ‘us-versus-them’ election, portraying Presley as part of a national Democratic operation far removed from the realities of life in Mississippi.
Conservative Mississippi is tough territory for Democrats, but the party sees an unusual opportunity this year to unseat first-term Governor Tate Reeves
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, described the three contests as ‘away games’ but said Mississippi may be ‘the sleeper’ – a state where the right Democrat could win
‘My friends, this is a different governor’s campaign than we have ever seen before in our state because we are not up against a local yokel, Mississippi Democrat. We are up against a national liberal machine,’ Reeves told more than 200 supporters at a campaign event in the Jackson suburb of Richland.
‘They are extreme. They are radical and vicious.’
Reeves said outsiders look at Mississippi with ‘scorn,’ but the state has momentum.
‘Are we going to let them stop us?’ Reeves asked, and the crowd responded: ‘No!’
‘Are we going to let them make Mississippi conform to California values?’ Reeves asked. Again, the response was ‘No!’
Presley was 23 when he was elected mayor of Nettleton in 2001. During his second term leading the town of 2,000, he won the northern district seat on the Mississippi Public Service Commission, a three-member group that regulates utilities. He is completing his fourth term this year.
As Presley campaigns, he combines blunt criticism of Reeves with gospel and bluegrass songs that affirm the connection to his famous cousin without leaving the impression that he has chosen the wrong line of work.
Reeves was shown in text messages to have spoken to Favre about getting state funds to build a volleyball arena at his alma mater, according to the Hattiesburg Patriot.
While campaigning, Brandon Presley talks frequently about government corruption, focusing on a multimillion-dollar welfare scandal that developed when current Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was lieutenant governor involving football legend Brett Favre
In Grenada, Presley said a $100million financial package that legislators and Reeves approved for hospitals this year was a ‘cheap, dollar store clearance-aisle Band-Aid’ when Medicaid expansion could bring the state about $1 billion a year from the federal government.
Murphy said Presley’s style has been winning over donors. At an event Presley attended in New Jersey with Murphy, they exceeded their fundraising goal.
‘We’ve got a great candidate. This guy’s the real deal,’ Murphy said. ‘When you listen to what he would do on Day One as governor, you say, `You know what? That’s exactly what Mississippi needs.´’
Four years ago, Reeves won the governorship by defeating four-term Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood by 52 percent to 47 percent, with two lesser-known candidates in the race.
This year, one independent will be on the general election ballot. Republicans like their chances, given the state’s politics and Reeves´ history of five statewide wins: two for state treasurer, starting when he was 29; two for lieutenant governor; and one for governor.
‘Democrats are desperately trying to create a mirage when it comes to Mississippi,’ said Republican Governors Association spokesperson Courtney Alexander.
‘The reality is that Brandon Presley is bought and paid for by national Democrats, while Gov. Reeves´ record of historically low unemployment, historically high graduation rates, and substantial pay raises for Mississippi educators speaks for itself.’
About 38 percent of Mississippi residents are black – the highest percentage of any state – and Black voters are vital for Democrats to have any chance of winning statewide.
Janie Houston, a retired kindergarten teacher who attended Presley’s event in Grenada, said some black voters might not bother to show up in November because Republicans drew legislative districts specifically to protect wide majorities in the Legislature.
‘That’s the point of doing all that gerrymandering,’ Houston said.
Democrats, she added, are not putting enough support behind down-ballot candidates to offset that advantage.
