Experts and pundits had predicted a nailbiter in the race for the governor’s seat this fall.
There was even talk about a potential runoff, due to candidate Gwendolyn Gray joining Gov. Tate Reeves and his Democratic challenger Brandon Presley on the ballot.
But it was not so.
It was a short night that ended with Reeves claiming, according to current numbers, around a 4.5-point victory over Presley.
Presley made Medicaid expansion the centerpiece of his campaign.
Reeves, on the other hand, boasted a sub-4% state unemployment rate.
While most economists would call that full employment, it is surprising the Presley campaign did not pounce harder on the state’s workforce participation rate, which currently ranks last in the 50 states at just over 55%, according to the latest government data.
“The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutionalized population age 16 and older who are employed or actively looking for work,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It is accurate that almost all able-bodied individuals who want to work in the state currently have employment.
But it is also disheartening that the percentage of willing workers is so low.
What’s also disheartening is the apparent percentage of willing voters.
Nearly 874,000 voters cast ballots in Mississippi’s 2019 general election, which saw Reeves get just under 460,000 votes to challenger Jim Hood’s 414,368.
According to preliminary numbers from this week’s tally, Presley may not break the 400,000 mark, and Reeves may not hit 410,000 votes.
That’s 82,000 votes lost from the last election, granted these are unofficial numbers.
If the numbers hold up, however, it is striking that many Mississippians decided to sit this one out.
Polling earlier this fall did show that the majority of Mississippians tended to agree with Presley on many issues, including his stance on health care, but many of those same people were not willing to jump the fence to the Democratic party.
Presley had always been known as a moderate during his stint as Public Service Commissioner, but when it comes to the national party, the current brand is far from moderate.
It was not difficult for Reeves and his supporters to marry Presley to the radical left.
And while voters may have been hesitant to vote for a Democrat, under current circumstances, many did not vote for the Republican choice either. Nor did they vote for the third choice on the ballot.
It’s hard to know what message that sends to the supermajority GOP, but there are two things we know after this week’s election.
Those who can work and want to work in this state can pretty much get a job.
Those who can vote and wanted to vote this week, voted overwhelmingly for Tate Reeves.
