JACKSON, Miss. — President Donald Trump is tweeting that Tate Reeves, the Republican nominee in the Mississippi governor’s race, has his “Complete & Total Endorsement.”
Reeves, the current lieutenant governor, faces Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood and two other candidates in the Nov. 5 election.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant is barred by state law from seeking a third term, and he endorsed Reeves months ago.
President Trump wrote in two tweets Wednesday night: “Tate is strong on Crime, tough on illegal immigration, and will protect your Second Amendment. … He loves our Military and supports our Vets! Democrat Jim Hood will never give us his vote, is anti-Trump and pro-Crooked Hillary. Get out and Vote for Tate Reeves on November 5th. He has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”
Reeves tweeted in response : “Thank you Mr. President! The Democrats are out-of-control and Jim Hood is completely with them. We have to stand together for the future of our great state.”
The Trump endorsement of Reeves came a day after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appeared at a fundraising event for Reeves in Belden, which is also in north Mississippi. Bush was among the Republicans who lost to President Trump for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
Briden did not immediately respond to a question about whether President Trump will travel to Mississippi to campaign for Reeves. The president’s schedule is usually announced shortly before events take place.
President Trump traveled to Mississippi in 2018 to campaign for Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who had been appointed to the Senate by Bryant after longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran retired. Hyde-Smith had to run in a special election to fill the final months of the six-year term Cochran started, and she defeated Democrat Mike Espy, a former congressman and former U.S. secretary of agriculture.