Reeves is the Republican frontrunner to be governor in 2019. He raised $1.7 million between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. Reeves raised $5.2 million over the past few years, which gave him $6.7million to spend in 2019. Hood, the Democratic frontrunner to be governor, raised $716,000 in 2018. He had just over $1million cash left going into 2019. “People across Mississippi support this campaign to send the message that Mississippi values matter. Reeves stated in a statement that they won’t allow them to be replaced by the liberal agenda of politicians such as Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Hood. “The best way for us to preserve our values is solid conservative leadership by the governor’s offices, and I’m thankful to everyone who contributed some part of their hard-earned paychecks to that cause.” Hood’s campaign pointed out Thursday that 88 percent came from Mississippi with 60 percent coming from donations less than $200. Hood said that he was proud of the support he received from a broad range of Mississippians who wanted a governor who cares about them and listens to their needs. Hood stated, “Our campaign is all about Mississippi families.” It’s about Mississippi families wanting great schools, safe roads and bridges, quality healthcare; and a governor that is always approachable to our state’s challenges.” Two lesser-known gubernatorial candidates submitted reports on Thursday. They were quite modest by comparison. Robert Foster, a state representative from Hernando raised approximately $20,000 in 2018. Foster announced that he would run to become governor in December. Velesha Williams (a Democrat, and a former director of the Metro Jackson Community Prevention Coalition, Jackson State University), raised approximately $7,000. Williams announced her candidacy in December. These campaign finance reports are the first to be made public since the candidates declared for the governor’s race. Fundraising skills help shape public opinion about candidates’ viability and ability to defeat primary and general election opposition alike. Reeves had $6.7 million in cash 10 months prior to the election, which is a good historical record. In 2003, Republican lobbyist Haley Barbour beat incumbent Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove was defeated by Republican lobbyist Haley Barbour in 2003. Barbour raised $10.9million and spent $11.3million, excluding expenditures from outside-of-state organizations that don’t report expenditures or contributions. Musgrove also raised $6.7 million in that election, which would have been a campaign record if it wasn’t for Barbour’s extraordinary showing. However, a biased fundraising effort doesn’t always determine the outcome of an election. The winner of the 2018 U.S. Senate Midterm between Republican Cindy Hyde Smith and Democrat Mike Espy raised significantly more than the loser in the closely contested statewide election. According to Thursday’s finance reports to the Federal Election Commission, Espy raised $2 million more than Hyde-Smith last year. Espy raised $6.9million to Hyde-Smith’s $4.9million. The differences in contributions were even more striking when individual contributions were added up. Espy received $6.4million in individual contributions, almost twice Hyde-Smith’s $3.3million. Hyde-Smith still defeated Espy by nearly eight percentage points (53.9 percent to 46.1%) in the special election runoff. Bobby Harrison
and Larrison Campbell
contributed to this article.