2007 Mississippi elections

A general election was held in Mississippi on November 6, 2007, to elect to 4 year terms for all members of the Mississippi State Legislature (122 representatives, 52 senators), the offices of Governor of Mississippi, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, and Commissioner of Insurance, plus all three members of the Transportation Commission and Mississippi Public Service Commission.

The election was generally a success for Republicans, as they held all their statewide elected offices, and won the open Secretary of State and Insurance Commissioner seats, leaving Attorney General Jim Hood the only statewide elected Democratic officeholder. However, Democrats regained control of the State Senate and maintained their majority in the House of Representatives, won a 2-1 majority on the Public Service Commission, and held their 2-1 majority on the Transportation Commission.

Mississippi State Legislature

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

Results for the Mississippi Senate

Party		Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
	Democratic	171,993	28	+3
	Republican	161,042	24	-3
	Constitution	10,881	0	0
	Independent	3,818	0	0
Total		347,734	52	0	100.0%

Results for House of Representatives

Party		Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
	Democratic		75	0
	Republican		47	0
	Constitution		0	0
	Independent		0	0
Total			122	0

Statewide officer elections

According to the state constitution, a statewide officer must win both the majority of electoral votes and the majority of the popular vote to be elected.

The number of electoral votes equals the number of Mississippi House of Representatives districts, currently set at 122. A plurality of votes in each House District is required to win the electoral vote for that District. In the event of a tie between the two candidates with the highest votes, the electoral vote is split between them.

In the event an officeholder does not win both the majority electoral and majority popular vote, the House of Representatives shall choose the winner. The Democrats held a large edge (73–46 with three vacancies) in the House, thus ensuring that any contested race will go to the Democratic candidate.

Governor

Main article: 2007 Mississippi gubernatorial election

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Arthur Eaves, Jr.
• William Compton, Jr.
• Fred T. Smith
• Louis Fondren

Results

Democratic primary - Governor
Candidate	Votes	Vote %
John Arthur Eaves, Jr.	314,012	70.3%
William Compton, Jr.	52,343	11.7%
Fred T. Smith	49,170	11.0%
Louis Fondren	31,197	7.0%
TOTALS	446,722	100%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Haley Barbour, incumbent
• Frederick Jones

Results

Republican primary - Governor
Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Haley Barbour (i)	184,036	93.1%
Frederick Jones	13,611	6.9%
TOTALS	197,647	100%

Lieutenant governor

Democratic nomination

Candidates

• Jamie Franks

Republican primary

Candidates

• Phil Bryant
• Charlie Ross

Results

Republican primary - Lieutenant Governor
Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Phil Bryant	112,140	57.1%
Charlie Ross	84,110	42.9%
TOTALS	196,250	100%

General election

Results

2007 Mississippi Lieutenant Governor election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Phil Bryant	431,747	58.6	−1.4
	Democratic	Jamie Franks	305,409	41.4	+4.3

Secretary of State

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Robert H. Smith
• Jabari A. Toins
• John Windsor

Results

Democratic primary - Secretary of State
Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Robert H. Smith	308,003	72.7%
Jabari A. Toins	34,409	8.1%
John Windsor	81,464	19.2%
TOTALS	423,876	100%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Delbert Hosemann
• Mike Lott
• Jeffrey Rupp
• Gene Sills

Results

Republican primary - Secretary of State
Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Delbert Hosemann	102,093	53.8%
Mike Lott	61,697	32.5%
Jeffrey Rupp	17,838	9.4%
Gene Sills	8,128	4.3%
TOTALS	189,756	100%

General election

Results

2007 Mississippi Secretary of State election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Delbert Hosemann	425,228	58.2	+34.7
	Democratic	Robert Smith	304,918	41.8	−29.2

Attorney general

Democratic nomination

Candidate

• Jim Hood, the incumbent Democratic Attorney General, ran unopposed.

Republican nomination

Candidate

• Al Hopkins, the Republican candidate, ran unopposed.

General election

Results

2007 Mississippi Attorney General election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Hood (Incumbent)	440,017	59.8	−2.9
	Republican	Al Hopkins	295,516	40.2	+2.9

State Auditor

General election

Results

2007 Mississippi State Auditor election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Stacey Pickering	399,279	55.0	−21.3
	Democratic	Mike Sumrall	327,033	45.0	+21.3

State Treasurer

Democratic nomination

Candidate

• Shawn O'Hara

Republican nomination

Candidate

• Tate Reeves, incumbent

2007 Mississippi State Treasurer election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Tate Reeves (incumbent)	436,833	60.5	+8.7
	Democratic	Shawn O'Hara	284,789	39.5	−7.1

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce

Lester Spell was elected as a Democrat in 2003, but changed his party affiliation to Republican ahead of the 2007 elections.

Democratic nomination

Candidate

• Rickey Cole

Republican nomination

Candidate

• Lester Spell, incumbent

2007 Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lester Spell (incumbent)	371,191	51.0	n/a
	Democratic	Ricky Cole	308,693	42.4	n/a
	Constitution	Paul Riley	47,647	6.6	n/a

Commissioner of Insurance

General election

Results

2007 Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Chaney	414,718	56.5	+31.7
	Democratic	Gary Anderson	319,287	43.5	−27.9

Public Service Commission

Northern District

2007 Mississippi Public Service Commissioner, Northern District election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Brandon Presley	134,405	57.9
	Republican	Mabel Murphree	97,892	42.1

Central District

2007 Mississippi Public Service Commissioner, Central District election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Lynn Posey	122,417	50.6
	Republican	Charles Barbour	112,782	46.6
	Independent	Lee Dilworth	6,833	2.8

Southern District

2007 Mississippi Public Service Commissioner, Southern District election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leonard Bentz (incumbent)	139,124	55.9
	Democratic	Mike Collier	109,737	44.1

Transportation Commission

Northern District

Democratic incumbent Bill Minor ran unopposed in the general election.

Central District

2007 Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, Central District election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dick Hall (incumbent)	126,145	52.2
	Democratic	Rudolph Warnock	115,534	47.8

Southern District

2007 Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, Southern District election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Wayne Brown (incumbent)	133,029	52.5
	Republican	Larry Benefield	120,293	47.5