Gov. Tate Reeves kicks off campaign where it’s mattered most: the Gulf Coast

GULFPORT — Republican Gov. Tate Reeves formally launched his reelection marketing campaign Tuesday night time simply yards from the Gulf Coast shoreline, signifying the significance of the area to the state GOP and the political stranglehold the governor has on the realm. 

Reeves advised a crowd of supporters and state lawmakers gathered on the Lynn Meadows Discovery Heart that he wished to carry his first marketing campaign occasion in Gulfport due to how strongly the area supported him throughout his first gubernatorial marketing campaign.

“We’re right here tonight as a result of in 2019, y’all fought for us each single day of that marketing campaign,” Reeves, flanked by marketing campaign indicators and cheering supporters, advised the group of about 75. “In 2019, I promised that I might spend day-after-day combating for the Mississippi Gulf Coast as governor, and that’s precisely what I’ve carried out.”

The occasion setting chosen by Reeves, a metro Jackson native, underscores an essential actuality for the first-term governor: that the state’s “backside six” counties of George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone are his political firewall.

In 2019, going through a formidable Democratic challenger in former Legal professional Normal Jim Hood, Reeves gained by simply 45,000 whole votes. Within the backside six counties alone, Reeves bested Hood by 35,000 votes, leaving a wanted margin of victory of simply 10,000 votes within the state’s different 76 counties.

Dealing with two Republican main opponents and one other powerful Democratic challenger later this 12 months, the Gulf Coast wins of 4 years in the past will nearly definitely stay at high of thoughts for the Reeves camp.

“4 years in the past, we realized early on the momentum that Tate was gaining down right here,” Todd Reeves, Tate’s brother who spoke earlier than Reeves took the stage, mentioned on the Tuesday occasion. “Because the outcomes rolled in from the Coast on election night time, it not solely touched Tate and (First Girl) Elee (Reeves), but it surely meant quite a bit to our whole household.”

One motive the Gulf Coast has flocked to Reeves is the symbiotic relationship he has strategically cultivated with the realm his whole political profession.

Throughout his two phrases as lieutenant governor between 2012-2020, Reeves went out of his method to go to the Coast. Lengthy eyeing an eventual run for the Governor’s Mansion, he hosted a number of city halls and press conferences over these years, sometimes targeted on funding alternatives for the area.

Since he began his time period as governor in January 2020, nonetheless, the governor doubled down on that focus, sprinkling the area with a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands in federal grants administered by state companies that report back to him. Although most of these funds should be designated for and spent on Coast-based initiatives, Reeves has by no means missed a chance to take full credit score. In his three-and-a-half years as governor, he has held greater than a dozen press conferences in not less than eight “backside six” cities to formally announce the initiatives earlier than native TV cameras.

“The Coast’s success is Mississippi’s success, and that is one other nice victory,” Reeves mentioned in a press launch simply this week saying that he signed a invoice that designates federal grant spending in a number of Coast cities and counties.

Aiding Reeves’ political prospects on the Gulf Coast this 12 months is the truth that he has a a number of years head begin within the area on his Democratic opponent, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley. Presley, a northeast Mississippi native, enjoys minimal identify ID on the Coast and might want to spend appreciable money and time to construct up a base of assist right here.

Politics apart, the general public who attended the occasion advised Mississippi Immediately they wished a governor who plans to develop the state’s financial system and needs to enhance public Ok-12 training. 

“If these issues occur, it could possibly encourage individuals exterior of Mississippi to take a look at our state as a chance. And I believe Tate Reeves has completed that,” mentioned Gulfport businessman Dave Dennis, a 2011 candidate for governor.

Due to the realm’s sturdy displaying for Reeves, the governor has choked out any severe competitors from the realm and almost locked down key supporters.

Secretary of State Michael Watson, a Republican from Jackson County, explored difficult Reeves within the GOP main by utilizing his hometown roots to chip away on the governor’s Coastal grip.

As a substitute, Watson bowed out and opted to run for reelection to secretary of state, just about leaving the governor with none severe menace to the GOP nomination.

“We’re very happy with our governor,” mentioned Mississippi GOP Chairman Frank Bordeaux, a longtime Gulf Coast resident. “We’re happy with the form that our state’s in, and the Coast has despatched an enormous message tonight that that is his place.”