Municipal elections will dominate local political headlines on Tuesday, Nov. 5, but three Southern gubernatorial elections could bring harbingers of things to come during next year’s huge presidential election.
Donald Trump won Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky en route to the White House in 2016.
Mississippi voters will elect a new governor for the first time since 2011. Two-term Republican Gov. Phil Bryant cannot run for a third time, and voters will choose between Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood and Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves. Both men faced primary contenders on their way to securing their respective parties’ nominations.
President Trump appeared last week at a Mississippi rally for Reeves, in which he lashed out at Democrats after they formalized a U.S. House impeachment inquiry.
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Democrats are "disgracing themselves and bringing shame upon the House of Representatives," Trump charged. "They've been plotting to overthrow the election since the moment I won."
The race between Reeves and Hood is considered the state's toughest governor's race in nearly a generation.
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"While we're creating jobs and killing terrorists," Trump said, "the Democrat Party has gone completely insane."
In Kentucky, Republican Gov. Matt Blevin is facing Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat. Trump is scheduled to travel to Kentucky on Monday to campaign for Bevin.
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In Louisiana, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is seeking reelection after he failed to win a majority of the vote in the state’s all-encompassing October primary. Edwards won 46% of the vote, but he is facing Democrat Eddie Rispone in a runoff.
Louisiana’s runoff will be Nov. 16, and Trump will head to the Bayou State on Wednesday to stump for Rispone.
On Friday, the president will be in Atlanta hosting an expensive fundraiser for U.S. Sen. David Perdue, one of the staunchest critics of the Democratic-led impeachment effort.
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