Mississippi general election, 2003

A general election was held in Mississippi on November 4, 2003 to elect to 4 year terms all members of the state legislature (122 representatives, 52 senators), the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, and Commissioner of Insurance, plus all three members of the Transportation Commission and all three members of the Public Service Commission.

Results for the State Legislature

All 122 representatives and all 52 senators are elected for four-year terms with no staggering of terms. The state legislature draws up separate district map for the House of Representatives and for the Senate, usually after the U.S. Census. There are no term-limits for members of the legislature.

Results for Statewide Offices

According to Article 5, Sections 140-41 of the state constitution, the governor and the other seven statewide officers are elected if they receive a majority of electoral votes and a majority of the direct total popular vote. A candidate wins an electoral vote by winning a plurality of the votes in a state house district; therefore, with there being 122 house districts, there are 122 electoral votes. When no candidate receives both majorities, the House of Representatives decides the election between the two persons receiving the highest number of popular votes.

Governor

Incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove faced Republican challenger Haley Barbour as well as the Constitution Party's John Thomas Cripps, the Green Party's Sherman Lee Dillon, and the Reform Party's Shawn O'Hara. in 1999, Musgrove, then Lt. Gov., just barely won the gubernatorial election against Republican Mike Parker, a former U.S. Representative, with the state House of Representatives deciding the outcome due to a tie in the electoral votes (Musgrove did win 49% of the popular vote compared to 48% by Parker). Musgrove lost his re-election bid in 2003 to Barbour after a very competitive race.

Results for Governor's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Republican	Haley Barbour	470,404	52.59%	76	62.30%
Democrat	Ronnie Musgrove	409,787	45.81%	46	37.70%
Constitution	John Thomas Cripps	6,317	0.71%	0	0.00%
Reform	Shawn O'Hara	4,070	0.46%	0	0.00%
Green	Sherman Lee Dillon	3,909	0.44%	0	0.00%
TOTAL		894,487	100.00%	122	100.0%

Lieutenant Governor

Amy Tuck, elected to the office in 1999 as a Democrat, had switched to the Republican Party in December 2002 after taking positions on several issues, like re-districting, that opposed the state Democratic Party's stances. In this race, her challenger was Democratic State Senator Barbara Blackmon, who was the first black woman to run for a statewide race. Tuck defeated Blackmon by a comfortable margin.

Results for Lieutenant Governor's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Republican	Amy Tuck	542,129	60.98%	84	68.85%
Democrat	Barbara Blackmon	329,454	37.06%	38	31.15%
Reform	Anna Reives	17,481	1.97%	0	0.00%
TOTAL		889,064	100.00%	122	100.00%

Attorney General

Mike Moore, a Democrat who had served four terms starting in 1988, declined to run for re-election. Moore protégé Jim Hood faced Republican Scott Newton. Newton ran many ads attacking Hood on being soft on crime and especially criticized Hood's handling of a rape case, while Hood focused on Newton's supposed inexperience. Hood won convincingly over Newton.

Results for Attorney General's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Democrat	Jim Hood	548,046	62.71%	100	81.97%
Republican	Scott Newton	325,942	37.29%	22	18.03%
TOTAL		873,988	100.00%	122	100.0%

State Treasurer

Four term Democrat Marshall Bennett resigned in early 2003 to join a New York City law firm and was replaced by Peyton Prospere who was appointed by Gov. Musgrove to complete the term. With Prospere not seeking election in his own right, Gary Anderson ran for the Democrats. The Republicans chose 29-year-old banker Tate Reeves. In a very close race, Reeves bested Anderson.

Results for State Treasurer's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Republican	Tate Reeves	447,860	51.80%	66	54.10%
Democrat	Gary Anderson	403,307	46.64%	56	45.90%
Reform	Lee Dilworth	13,507	1.56%	0	0.00%
TOTAL		864,674	100.00%	122	100.0%

State Auditor

Republican Phil Bryant, first appointed by Gov. Kirk Fordice in 1996 to fill an unexpired term and then won in 1999, easily cruised to victory over Reform Party candidate Billy Blackburn.

Results for State Auditor's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Republican	Phil Bryant	587,212	76.31%	119	97.54%
Reform	Billy Blackburn	182,292	23.69%	3	2.46%
TOTAL		769,504	100.00%	122	100.0%

Secretary of State

Three term incumbent Democrat Eric Clark won with token opposition.

Results for Secretary of State's Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Democrat	Eric Clark	610,461	71.02%	117	95.90%
Republican	Julio Del Castillo	201,765	23.47%	5	4.10%
Reform	Brenda Blackburn	47,296	5.50%	0	0.00%
TOTAL		859,522	100.00%	122	100.0%

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce

Democrat Lester Spell was re-elected to a 3rd term.

Results for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Democrat	Lester J. Spell	564,283	66.11%	105	86.07%
Republican	Max Phillips	274,097	32.11%	17	13.93%
Reform	Bob Claunch	15,229	1.78%	0	0.00%
TOTAL		853,609	100.00%	122	100.0%

Commissioner of Insurance

Democrat George Dale won an 8th term.

Results for Commissioner of Insurance Race
Party	Candidate	Popular Votes	Pop. Vote %	Electoral Votes	Electoral Vote %
Democrat	George Dale	610,341	71.27%	114	93.44%
Republican	Aaron DuPuy	211,859	24.77%	8	6.56%
Reform	Barbara Dale Washer	32,969	3.86%	0	0.00%
TOTAL			100.00%	122	100.0%