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William Waller
William Waller was a judge for District 1-Position 1 of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He assumed office in 1997. He left office on January 31, 2019.
Waller (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Mississippi. He lost in the Republican primary runoff on August 27, 2019.
Waller was a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court serving District 1, Place 1. He was elected to the court in November 1996. Waller retired January 31, 2019. He served as chief justice from January 2009 to January 2019. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Biography
Waller received his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in 1974 and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1977. He was an attorney at the firm Waller and Waller until he became a municipal court judge in 1995. He was also a brigadier general with the Mississippi Army National Guard. Waller's father was Bill Waller Sr. (D), who served as Mississippi governor from 1972 to 1976. [1]
Military service
At the time of his service in the supreme court, Waller was assigned to the Retired Reserve. He previously served for over 30 years in the Mississippi Army National Guard and United States Army Reserve.[2]
Career
- 1997-2019: Justice, Mississippi Supreme Court
- 2009-2019: Chief justice
- 2004-2008: Presiding justice
- 1995-1996: Judge, Jackson municipal court, Mississippi
- 1978-1995: Partner, Waller and Waller
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2013: Judicial Excellence Award from the Mississippi Bar Association
- 2011-2012: Judicial Excellence Award from the Capital Area Bar Association and the Jackson Young Lawyers Association
- 2009: Mississippi State University Pre-Law Society’s Distinguished Jurist Award
- 2005: Chief Justice Award
- 2003-2004: Judicial Innovation Award from the Hinds County Bar Association and the Jackson Young Lawyers Association
Associations
- Member, Stennis Institute Advisory Board, Mississippi State University
- Former chairman, Mississippi Public Defender Task Force[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2019
General election
General election for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves defeated Jim Hood, David Singletary, and Bob Hickingbottom in the general election for Governor of Mississippi on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tate Reeves (R) | 51.9 | 459,396 |
 | Jim Hood (D) | 46.8 | 414,368 | |
 | David Singletary (Independent)  | 1.0 | 8,522 | |
 | Bob Hickingbottom (Constitution Party) | 0.3 | 2,625 | |
| Total votes: 884,911 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves defeated William Waller in the Republican primary runoff for Governor of Mississippi on August 27, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tate Reeves | 54.1 | 179,623 |
 | William Waller | 45.9 | 152,201 | |
| Total votes: 331,824 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Hood | 69.0 | 208,634 |
 | Michael Brown | 11.0 | 33,247 | |
 | Velesha P. Williams | 6.9 | 20,844 | |
 | Robert Shuler Smith | 6.7 | 20,395 | |
| Robert Ray | 1.9 | 5,609 | ||
| William Compton | 1.8 | 5,321 | ||
 | Albert Wilson | 1.7 | 5,122 | |
| Gregory Wash | 1.1 | 3,218 | ||
| Total votes: 302,390 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Phillip West (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves and William Waller advanced to a runoff. They defeated Robert Foster in the Republican primary for Governor of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tate Reeves | 48.9 | 187,312 |
| ✔ | | William Waller | 33.4 | 128,010 |
 | Robert Foster | 17.7 | 67,758 | |
| Total votes: 383,080 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2012
- See also: Mississippi judicial elections, 2012
Waller was re-elected on November 6, 2012, defeating Rep. Earle Banks by winning 55% of the vote.[3][4][5][6]
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Waller did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Waller received a campaign finance score of 1.04, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.69 that justices received in Mississippi.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[7]
See also
2019 Elections
External links
- Project VoteSmart, Chief Justice William L. 'Bill' Waller, Jr. (MS)
- The Dispatch, "Judges Aycock, Waller address MSU grads," May 2, 2010
- Mississippi Injury Lawyer Blog, Mississippi Showdown- Guv v. Mississippi Supreme Court, January 30, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 State of Mississippi Judiciary, "William L. Waller, Jr.," accessed November 12, 2018
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, "William L. Waller, Jr.," accessed November 12, 2018
- ↑ The Mississippi Press, "Newcomer Josiah Coleman wins seat on Mississippi Supreme Court," November 7, 2012
- ↑ MS Secretary of State's Office 2012 Candidate Qualifying List
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "State rep files to run against Miss. chief justice," May 11, 2012
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Certified election results," accessed December 28, 2012
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
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