Waller, who was the former chief justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, prevented the front-runner from gaining the 50 percent required to avoid an August 27 runoff. “Whether it is tonight or in three week… I can assure you tonight that I will be the Republican nominee to governor. Reeves assured the 50-plus supporters who were still present at his watch party at Table 100, Flowood that tonight they would beat Jim Hood in November. Waller’s supporters gathered on the first floor at Capitol Towers in downtown Jackson earlier in the evening to see a dozen of his staffers make predictions about the night. Many had predicted a runoff between these two candidates and many bet only a few percentage points. One had Waller beating Reeves by just a fraction of one percent. They didn’t disappoint anyone with the result at the end of the night, which had Waller at 34 and Reeves at 48 percent respectively. Waller and Charlotte, his wife, walked in the door at 11:45 p.m. The 60 remaining guests cheered and chanted “Go Bill, go!” as the former chief justice circled the room shaking hands. Waller, a jubilant underdog who was “cautiously optimistic”, that his campaign had accomplished its original goal, making it to the runoff with Reeves, stood at the podium. Waller stated that “Our goal was to be in the runoff from the beginning and it seems right now that 52 per cent of the people who voted” in the primary were unhappy with the leadership that he had right now.” He spoke about his voters and the 18 per cent who voted for Robert Foster, R.Hernando, as well as the other Republican gubernatorial candidates. “We’ve been in this race for five months. We were outspent five times to one–four and-a-half millions dollars. If you consider the opposition having been in statewide office 16 years, then you can see that Waller will have to retain almost all of Foster’s and his voters in order to beat Reeves. He said that he believes he can do this. Waller stated that he spoke to Foster shortly before he took the podium on Tuesday night and that he believed he could count on Foster’s support. “We share many common issues, and I believe Foster’s supporters will be very open to me coming over to his side. I’m sure they will welcome me. Waller stated that it was premature to discuss the matter until we get some official results. Waller and Foster, unlike Reeves and Foster, support expanding Medicaid. They also took Reeves to task for his failed vision of the state. Waller looked into that on Tuesday night. He didn’t name Reeves, but he pointed out the state’s biggest problems. We need to support our teachers, not criticize them. Instead of putting them in the welfare department, we should pay our teachers. Strong hospitals are better than closed ones, I believe. Waller stated, “People, the roads are horrible, we have to do better,” with the crowd cheering every word. Reeves spoke briefly Tuesday night on strategy — “as soon as we get up tomorrow morning, our mission will not change.” However, Reeves’ strategy is almost certain to change in the runoff against Waller because he has focused his campaign messaging almost exclusively on defeating Jim Hood, the Democratic Party’s nominee on Tuesday. Reeves was the only candidate who won counties in all regions of the state, winning more than 70 counties Tuesday night. Reeves was defeated in several key Republican counties on Tuesday. Reeves was defeated in Rankin County by Waller, Reeves’ hometown county. This county is home to the most Republican voters in the state. Preliminary results show that Reeves lost his home county to Waller by around 20 points. Waller won Madison County easily, which is home to the fifth-most GOP voters in the state. Hinds County was home to sixth most GOP voters in the state. Reeves won the Gulf Coast counties Harrison, and Jackson, which are home to the fourth and fifth most GOP voters in the state, but not Jackson and Jackson. Foster received over 60,000 votes on Tuesday including a 10-point victory in DeSoto County over Reeves. In three weeks, those 60,000 votes could be enough to propel Waller or Reeves to victory. To support this important work, you can make a regular donation to us today as we celebrate our Spring Member Drive.
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