Reeves has focused his messaging on Jim Hood this year, and has mostly ignored his primary rivals. He will be facing Robert Foster, a state representative, and ex-Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. in Aug. 6 primaries. The top two vote-getters in the primary will face off three weeks later if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. Reeves said this week to Ross Adams, a WAPT reporter. It’s difficult to reach 50 when there are only three people. This is our goal. That is our goal. Fordice won the runoff with 61% of the vote. Reeves, in a June 29 interview with Mississippi Today recounted the two most closely contested GOP gubernatorial primaries. In 1999, former Congressman Mike Parker was challenged by former Lt. Governor. Eddie Briggs, four others, as well as the former-Lt. Governor. Dave Dennis, a Gulf Coast businessman, and three others challenged Phil Bryant. Reeves stated, “It almost seems as if some have forgotten the fact that Mike Parker, who was the heavy favorite in 1999’s Republican primaries for governor in a truly contested race,” “The person (Gov. “The person (Gov. Phil Bryant), whose support I’m proud to have, who served for the past eight years as governor, got 57 percent during the primary. We’ll watch how this plays out, but I don’t worry about it.” A NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll released Friday by Mississippi Today shows that Waller would marginally outperform Reeves during a general election against Hood. According to political observers, Foster’s recent controversy could help him win support in the primary election and possibly take votes away from Reeves. Foster, who polled consistently in the upper single-digits to lower two digits this past year, refused to let Mississippi Today reporter Larrison Camp travel alone with Foster, citing the “Billy Graham Rule”. Waller said that he adheres to the rule that a man can’t be married to a woman he doesn’t know. There are two key moments left in the 2019 governor’s race: the only televised debate on July 23 between the GOP candidates and the Neshoba county fair speeches on August 1. Both of these events will give the candidates wide public attention as they will be shown on TV in all parts of the state and covered closely by the media.