Reeves was faced with a couple of Republican challengers, among them former chief justice Bill Waller Jr. who had unexpectedly jumped into the primary. Reeves was subject to constant scrutiny by public school educators and advocates over his handling of controversial voucher funding and teacher pay raise at the end. The Reeves campaign was not worried about the Republican challengers or the legislative setback. Reeves’ campaign and he worked hard to knock Attorney General Jim Hood (then-prestigious Democratic nominee for governor). Your hard work in raising money for Lt. Governor was greatly appreciated. Reeves, our campaign has already got off to a great financial starting, with $7million in the bank,” Brad Todd (Reeves’ long-term political consultant) wrote to the Reeves finance Committee in March. “It is our plan for $5 million more – that’s what it takes to beat Washington liberals who hate Donald Trump and love Jim Hood… This volunteer finance operation is the best in Mississippi politics and will hit our goals.” Things have changed a lot in the five years since Todd sent that email. Waller’s support grew because of prominent Republicans, who publicly attacked Reeves’ leadership style and his leadership style. The third Republican candidate in the GOP primary was State Rep. Robert Foster. He received 18 percent of the first Republican ballot. Reeves chose to ignore his primary opponents, and instead focused his attention on Jim Hood, his general election opponent. He narrowly missed the threshold of 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. This strategy proved to be the most expensive in Reeves’ political life. Reeves spent at most $6.2 million to win the Republican primary. This spending record surpasses the $6.2 million spent in a state election primary by the current governor. Phil Bryant spent $3.1million in the 2011 gubernatorial primaries. Reeves spent $1.5 million on TV ads alone in the three-week runoff. Mississippians will not know the exact amount the lieutenant governor spent during the runoff until the next financial reports are published on October 10. However, Reeves’ once $7 million pot of cash has been reduced to $3 million. It is likely that Reeves spent less. Reeves won the runoff by 8 points over Waller on Tuesday night. Waller did not win the Republican nomination but his victory in the Republican primary was a boon to Democrats in Mississippi. Waller’s success has levelled the financial playing field ahead of the general elections. Reeves had a six-to-1 cash-on hand advantage over Hood in March. Reeves now has a mere 2-to-1 advantage over Hood after the GOP runoff. Hood stated on Tuesday night that if (Reeves), can’t move needle spending so much money (in primary), then I don’t see him doing so in the fall.” “We will be able to address all the negative stuff.” The political climate is favorable for large amounts of national cash to flow into the state with the primaries behind them. Mississippi is one the three states that has gubernatorial election this year. Both the Republican Governor’s Association and Democratic Governor’s Association signaled large media buys for Hood and Reeves. Hood is considered by long-time GOP operatives in Mississippi the best candidate to win the Governor’s Mansion in 16 year. Hood, a moderate Democrat who has won four statewide election, is well-liked by conservatives in Mississippi. National media will be interested in the possibility of a Democratic governor for ruby-red Mississippi, as they attempt to analyze political trends before the 2020 presidential election. Reeves and his team have much to do after a bloody GOP primaries. This divide was evident in voters’ votes on Tuesday with 46 percent voting against Reeves. Hood, on the other side of this aisle, has not had any trouble forming coalitions and gaining broad support from Democrats. Hood won 69 percent of the vote in an eight-strong field of Democratic candidates on Aug. 6.