Eleven state executive positions were up for election in 2011 in the state of Mississippi. The general election took place on November 8, 2011.

The primary election was held August 2, 2011, followed by a runoff, where necessary, on August 23. A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Mississippi state law stipulates that an individual can only participate in a party's primary if he or she "intends to support the nominations made in the primary" in which he or she participates. However, this is generally considered an unenforceable requirement. Consequently, Mississippi's primary is effectively open.^[1][2]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

In addition to candidate lists and election results, this page includes information about important dates, how the state's executive branch is organized, as well as a feed with recent news in races across the state.

The following offices were elected in 2011 in Mississippi:

• Governor of Mississippi
• Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
• Mississippi Attorney General
• Mississippi Secretary of State
• Mississippi Auditor
• Mississippi Treasurer
• Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture
• Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance
• Mississippi Public Service Commission (3 seats)

Partisan breakdown[edit]

Heading into the November 2011 general election, the Republican Party held nine out of 11 executive seats up for election in Mississippi. The partisan breakdown remained the same after the election.

Candidates and election results[edit]

Candidates by office[edit]

Office	Incumbent	Assumed Office	Incumbent running?	General Election Candidates	2011 Winner	Partisan Switch?
Governor	Haley Barbour	2008	No	Johnny DuPree Phil Bryant	Phil Bryant	No
Lieutenant Governor	Phil Bryant	2012	No	Tate Reeves Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill	Tate Reeves	No
Secretary of State	Delbert Hosemann	2008	Yes	Delbert Hosemann	Delbert Hosemann	No
Attorney General	Jim Hood	2004	Yes	Jim Hood Steven Simpson	Jim Hood	No
Auditor	Stacey Pickering	2008	Yes	Stacey Pickering Ashley Norwood	Stacey Pickering	No
State Treasurer	Tate Reeves	2004	No	Connie Moran Lynn Fitch Shawn O'Hara	Lynn Fitch	No
Commissioner of Agriculture	Lester Spell	1996	No	Joel Gill Cindy Hyde-Smith Cathy L. Toole	Cindy Hyde-Smith	No
Commissioner of Insurance	Mike Chaney	2008	Yes	Louis Fondren Mike Chaney Barbara Dale Washer	Mike Chaney	No
Public Service Commission	Lynn Posey	2008	Yes	Addie Green Lynn Posey	Lynn Posey	No
Public Service Commission	Brandon Presley	2008	Yes	Brandon Presley Boyce Adams	Brandon Presley	No
Public Service Commission	Leonard Bentz	2006	Yes	Mike Collier Leonard Bentz	Leonard Bentz	No

General election results[edit]

Governor[edit]

Governor of Mississippi, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phil Bryant	61%	544,851
	Democratic	Johnny DuPree	39%	348,617
Total Votes				893,468
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Lieutenant Governor[edit]

Lt. Governor of Mississippi, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tate Reeves	80.3%	644,205
	Reform	Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill	19.7%	157,547
Total Votes				801,752

Attorney General[edit]

Attorney General of Mississippi, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Hood Incumbent	61.1%	536,827
	Republican	Steve Simpson	38.9%	342,086
Total Votes				878,913
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Secretary of State[edit]

Mississippi Secretary of State, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Delbert Hosemann Incumbent	100%	719,734
Total Votes				719,734

Treasurer[edit]

Mississippi Treasurer, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lynn Fitch	58.8%	513,132
	Democratic	Connie Moran	38.2%	333,267
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	3%	26,421
Total Votes				872,820
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Auditor[edit]

Mississippi Auditor, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Stacey Pickering Incumbent	75.6%	596,395
	Reform	Ashley Norwood	24.4%	192,271
Total Votes				788,666
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Public Service Commissioner[edit]

Northern district[edit]

Mississippi Public Service Commission (North/District 3), 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Brandon Presley Incumbent	55.8%	161,099
	Republican	Boyce Adams	44.2%	127,557
Total Votes				288,656
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Central district[edit]

Mississippi Public Service Commission (Central/District 1), 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lynn Posey Incumbent	56.4%	157,675
	Democratic	Addie Green	43.6%	121,653
Total Votes				279,328
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Southern district[edit]

Mississippi Public Service Commission (South/District 2), 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Leonard Bentz Incumbent	60.1%	178,804
	Democratic	Mike Collier	39.9%	118,813
Total Votes				297,617
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Commissioner of Insurance[edit]

Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Chaney Incumbent	62%	538,008
	Democratic	Louis Fondren	34.7%	301,185
	Reform	Barbara Dale Washer	3.4%	29,200
Total Votes				868,393
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Commissioner of Agriculture[edit]

Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cindy Hyde-Smith	56.9%	493,417
	Democratic	Joel Gill	40.6%	352,213
	Reform	Cathy L. Toole	2.5%	21,347
Total Votes				866,977
Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State

Primary and runoff results[edit]

The primary election took place on August 2. Despite some clear wins on August 2, an August 23 runoff election was held to determine the nominees for three offices in which no candidate earned more than 50 percent of the popular vote in the primary.

Governor[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Governor - Democratic primary runoff results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	aJohnny DuPree	55%
	Democratic Party	Bill Luckett, Jr.	45%
Total Votes			323,284

Gubernatorial Democratic Primary election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	aJohnny DuPree	43.5%
	Democratic Party	aBill Luckett, Jr.	39.2%
	Democratic Party	William Bond Compton, Jr.	9.8%
	Democratic Party	Guy Dale Shaw	7.3%
Total Votes			412,530

Republican primary[edit]

Gubernatorial Republican Primary election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	aPhil Bryant	59.5%
	Republican Party	Dave Dennis	25.7%
	Republican Party	Ron Williams	8.8%
	Republican Party	Hudson Holliday	4.7%
	Republican Party	James Broadwater	1.2%
Total Votes			289,788

Lieutenant Governor[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

No candidates filed

Republican primary[edit]

Lieutenant Governor Republican Primary election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	Billy Hewes	43%
	Republican Party	aTate Reeves	57%
Total Votes

Attorney General[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

• Incumbent Jim Hood ran unopposed Democratic primary.

Republican primary[edit]

• Steven Simpson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Secretary of State[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

No candidates filed

Republican primary[edit]

Secretary of State -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	Delbert Hosemann a	83%
	Republican Party	Richard "Ricky" Dombrowski	17%
Total Votes			268,137

Treasurer[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

• Connie Moran ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary[edit]

Treasurer - Republican primary runoff results[3]
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	aLynn Fitch	53%
	Republican Party	Lee Yancey	47%
Total Votes			156,006

Treasurer -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	aLynn Fitch	38%
	Republican Party	aLee Yancey	34%
	Republican Party	Lucien Smith	29%
Total Votes			269,726

Auditor[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

No candidates filed

Republican primary[edit]

Incumbent Stacey Pickering ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Insurance Commissioner[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Louis Fondren ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary[edit]

Incumbent Mike Chaney ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Agriculture Commissioner[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Joel Gill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary[edit]

Commissioner of Agriculture -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith a	53%
	Republican Party	Rep. Dannie Reed	12%
	Republican Party	Max Phillips	35%
Total Votes			268,421

Public Service Commissioner Northern District[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Incumbent Brandon Presley ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary[edit]

Public Service -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	Boyce Adams a	65%
	Republican Party	Marvin Cox	35%
Total Votes			55,174

Public Service Commissioner Central District[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Public Service -- Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	Addie Green a	52%
	Democratic Party	Bruce Burton	48%
Total Votes			102,433

Republican primary[edit]

Incumbent Lynn Posey ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Public Service Commissioner Southern District[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Public Service - Democratic primary runoff results[4]
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	aMike Collier	50%
	Democratic Party	Thomas Blanton	50%
Total Votes			83,748

Public Service -- Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	aMike Collier	38%
	Democratic Party	aThomas Blanton	34%
	Democratic Party	James Buckhaults	27%
Total Votes			98,274

Republican primary[edit]

Public Service -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	Leonard Bentz a	56%
	Republican Party	Travis Rose	44%
Total Votes			112,805

Key deadlines[edit]

Voter registration[edit]

For full information about voting in Mississippi, contact the state election agency.

Voters in Mississippi can register to vote by filling out registration forms at county clerk offices. The Mississippi Secretary of State also offers a mail-in application that must be accompanied by a copy of a government-issued photo ID, utility bill, paycheck or bank statement. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is also capable of handling voter registration as part of driver's license applications. Residents can register to vote up to 30 days prior to the next election.^[5]

The following qualifications must be met to successfully register to vote in Mississippi:^[5]

☐ U.S. citizenship
☐ At least 18 years old by the next general election
☐ Residency in Mississippi and county of registration for at least 30 days
☐ Not under order of imprisonment for felony conviction
☐ Have not been judged "mentally incompetent" in court

State executive organization[edit]

Executive officials in Mississippi are part of a three-pronged government structure that includes state legislators and state judges. The following chart details the relationship among different branches of Mississippi's state government:

Recent news[edit]

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mississippi + state + executive + elections"

Additional reading[edit]

• Mississippi's 2011 runoffs: governor, treasurer and public service commissioners
• 2011 Mississippi primaries: Governor and Lieutenant Governor
• 2011 Mississippi primaries: Secretary of State and Attorney General
• 2011 Mississippi primaries: State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner and Public Service Commission

See also[edit]

• Portal:Elections
• State executive official elections, 2011
• Mississippi state executive offices

External links[edit]

• Mississippi Office of the Secretary of State: Elections & Voting

Footnotes[edit]

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