Mississippi down ballot state executive elections, 2011

Five down ballot state executive positions were up for election in Mississippi 2011. These included: treasurer, state auditor, Chairman of Public Service Commission, Commissioner of Insurance and Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. The Primary election took place on August 2, 2011; the General election was held on November 8, 2011.

• Treasurer
• State Auditor
• Public Service Commission
• Commissioner of Insurance
• Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce

2011 State Executive Official Elections

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The Mississippi Treasurer election of 2011 was held on November 8, 2011, while the primary was August 2, 2011. Tate Reeves, the current Mississippi State Treasurer, is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi in 2011.

In the general election contest, Republican Lynn Fitch defeated Democrat Connie Moran and Reform Party candidate Shawn O'Hara.

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

Democrat Connie Moran did not face a primary challenger, while Republican Lynn Fitch faced a primary and a runoff primary. Shawn O'Hara initially filed to run on the Democratic ticket, but was refused by the state Democratic Party executive committee as he was already a Reform Party candidate for governor. According to state law a candidate can only run for one office at a time. O'Hara appealed the decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court but they refused to hear the request. O'Hara eventually was removed from the gubernatorial ballot as he had filed to run for Treasurer as a Reform Party candidate.

August 23 runoff

Lynn Fitch and Lee Yancey met in a runoff for the Republican nomination on August 23. Fitch won with 53 percent of the vote.

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

August 2, 2011 primary

See also: Mississippi state executive official elections, 2011

A Republican primary took place on August 2. The candidates were as follows:

• Executive Director of the Mississippi State Personnel Board Lynn Fitch
• Adjunct Professor of Law at Mississippi College Lucien Smith
• Current freshman Mississippi state Senator Lee Yancey

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

The Clarion-Ledger endorsed Fitch, citing her experience and qualifications.

Y’all Politics predicted Smith would lead in votes, but that a runoff between him and one of the other two candidates would be necessary.

Campaign ads

Lynn Fitch

Lee Yancey

Lucien Smith

The Mississippi State Auditor election of 2011 was held on November 8, 2011. Since multiple candidates did not file, there was no primary on August 2, 2011.

In the general election contest, incumbent Republican Stacey Pickering defeated Reform Party candidate Ashley Norwood.

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

The Mississippi Public Service Commission elections of 2011 was held on November 8, 2011, with the primary on August 2, 2011. Elections were held for each of the three districts - Northern, Central, and Southern.

Northern District

November 8 general election

Incumbent Democrat Brandon Presley defeated Republican Boyce Adams in the general election.

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

August 2, 2011 primary

Two Republicans sought their party's nomination:

• Executive/Co-owner of BankTEL Systems Boyce Adams
• Tea Party of Mississippi founding member Marvin Cox

Adams easily defeated Cox.

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

Adams was endorsed by the Greenwood Commonwealth.

Ads relating to the campaign

Central District

November 8 general election

Incumbent Republican Lynn Posey was unopposed for his party's nomination. Charles Barbour was slated to run but instead decided to run in Senate district 25. Posey was originally elected in 2007 as a Democrat, having only recently switched parties in December 2010. He defeated Democrat Addie Green in the general election. Independent candidate Danny Ayers had originally filed to run, but his name did not appear on the November ballot.

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

August 2, 2011 primary

Two Democrats sought their party's nomination:

• Bruce Burton
• Addie Green

Green narrowly defeated Burton.

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

Southern District

In a replay of the 2007 race, incumbent Republican Leonard Bentz defeated Democrat Mike Collier in the November 8 general election.

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

August 23 runoff

Blanton and Collier met in a runoff on August 23. An extremely close race, Collier won by 120 votes.

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

August 2, 2011 primary

Democrats saw a three way contest between Thomas Blanton, James Buckhaults, and Mike Collier. Since no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters - Blanton and Collier - met in a runoff on August 23.

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

Incumbent Bentz defeated Rose to secure the Republican nomination.

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

The Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance election of 2011 was held on November 8, 2011. Since multiple candidate did not file, there was no primary on August 2, 2011.

In the general election contest, incumbent Republican Mike Chaney defeated Democrat Louis Fondren and Reform Party candidate Barbara Dale Washer.

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

Campaign ads

The Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce election of 2011 was held on November 8, 2011, while the primary was August 2, 2011. Incumbent Lester Spell is retiring, leaving a vacant seat.

In the general election, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Joel Gill and Reform Party candidate Cathy L. Toole.

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

August 2, 2011 primaries

See also: Mississippi state executive official elections, 2011

Current incumbent Republican Lester Spell is retiring in 2011, having served in the position since 1996.

The Republican primary was a three-way contest between state Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, state Representative Dannie Reed, and Max Phillips. Hyde-Smith won easily, taking 53 percent of the vote.

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

The Clarion-Ledger endorsed Phillips, while Hyde-Smith received the endorsement of Lester Spell and current Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan.

Y’all Politics predicted a close race between Phillips and Hyde-Smith, with Phillips winning.

Democrat Joel Gill and Reform Party candidate Cathy L. Toole did not face primary opposition.

Ads relating to the campaign

See also

• Statewide elections, 2011
• State executive official elections, 2011
• Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2011
• Mississippi lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2011
• Mississippi secretary of state election, 2011
• Mississippi attorney general election, 2011

External links

• 2011 official election results