Robert Gray (Mississippi)
Robert Gray was the Democratic candidate for governor of Mississippi in the 2015 elections.[1] Gray won the Democratic primary on August 4, 2015, and was defeated by incumbent Governor Phil Bryant (R) in the general election on November 3, 2015.[2][3]
Biography
Gray is a truck driver and former firefighter. He gained national attention for admitting that he did not vote in the August 4, 2015, primary, saying, "I was in Jackson and had to do a lot of stuff and just lost track of time, to tell you the truth."[4] Gray made the following statement about his primary victory:
| “ |
Actually, it wasn't too much campaigning...It was a couple of events, but even though my opponents did a lot of hard campaigning they only reached a few people. You know, it was just people showing up, voting and, I guess random, voting. [5] |
” |
| —Mississippi Public Broadcasting (2015), [2] | ||
Elections
2015
- See also: Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2015
Eleven state executive offices in Mississippi were up for election in 2015. The general election was held on November 3, 2015, following a primary election on August 4, 2015. Runoffs were scheduled for August 25 in case no candidate received a majority (50 percent plus one) of the popular vote in a given primary race.
Gray defeated Slater and Short in the Democratic primary election; he faced incumbent Phil Bryant (R) and challenger Shawn O'Hara (I) in the general election.[6][7]
| Governor of Mississippi Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Robert Gray |
50.8% | 152,087 | ||
| Vicki Slater | 30.4% | 91,104 | ||
| Valerie Short | 18.8% | 56,177 | ||
| Total Votes | 299,368 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State. | ||||
| Governor of Mississippi, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Robert Gray | 32.4% | 234,858 | |
| Republican | Phil Bryant Incumbent |
66.2% | 480,399 | |
| Reform | Shawn O'Hara | 1.4% | 9,950 | |
| Total Votes | 725,207 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign finance
Pre-election report (July 1, 2015 - July 25, 2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $191,668.5 and spent a total of $140,202.44 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on July 28, 2015.[8]
| Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
Phil Bryant |
Governor of Mississippi | $2,758,188.00 | $123,375.00 | $62,955.00 | $2,818,608.00 |
| Mitch Young |
Governor of Mississippi | $- | $0.00 | $65.00 | $40.00 |
Robert Gray |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Valerie Short |
Governor of Mississippi | $7,112.26 | $5,750.00 | $8,354.48 | $4,507.78 |
| Vicki Slater |
Governor of Mississippi | $35,667.64 | $62,543.50 | $68,827.96 | $29,123.18 |
Shawn O'Hara |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $- | $- | $- |
| Grand Total Raised | $191,668.5 | ||||
| Grand Total Spent | $140,202.44 | ||||
Third periodic report (June 1, 2015 - June 30, 2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $192,964.35 and spent a total of $174,984.23 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on July 10, 2015.[9]
| Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
| Phil Bryant |
Governor of Mississippi | $2,721,336.00 | $165,242.00 | $128,391.00 | $2,758,188.00 |
| Mitch Young |
Governor of Mississippi | $- | $0 | $190.00 | $40.00 |
| Robert Gray |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Valerie Short |
Governor of Mississippi | $- | $3,870.00 | $5,991.74 | $7,112.26 |
| Vicki Slater |
Governor of Mississippi | $52,226.78 | $23,852.35 | $40,411.49 | $35,667.64 |
| Shawn O'Hara |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Grand Total Raised | $192,964.35 | ||||
| Grand Total Spent | $174,984.23 | ||||
Second periodic report (May 1, 2015 - May 31, 2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $206,264.36 and spent a total of $147,326.95 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on June 26, 2015.[10]
| Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
| Phil Bryant |
Governor of Mississippi | $2,649,125.00 | $156,410.00 | $84,198.00 | $2,721,336.00 |
| Mitch Young |
Governor of Mississippi | $100.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $100.00 |
| Robert Gray |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Valerie Short |
Governor of Mississippi | $14,928.57 | $5,528.91 | $11,275.61 | $9,250.64 |
| Vicki Slater |
Governor of Mississippi | $62,507.67 | $44,325.45 | $51,853.34 | $52,226.78 |
| Shawn O'Hara |
Governor of Mississippi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Grand Total Raised | $206,264.36 | ||||
| Grand Total Spent | $147,326.95 | ||||
First periodic report (Jan. 1, 2015 - April 30, 2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $620,707.9 and spent a total of $332,714.7 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on May 8, 2015.[11]
| Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
| Phil Bryant |
Governor of Mississippi | $2,443,915.00 | $485,635.00 | $280,425.00 | $2,649,125.00 |
| Mitch Young |
Governor of Mississippi | $615.07 | $0 | $515.07 | $100.00 |
| Robert Gray |
Governor of Mississippi | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Valerie Short |
Governor of Mississippi | $0 | $30,353.87 | $15,425.30 | $14,928.57 |
| Vicki Slater |
Governor of Mississippi | $0 | $104,419.03 | $36,049.33 | $62,507.67 |
| Shawn O'Hara |
Governor of Mississippi | $0 | $300.00 | $300.00 | $0 |
| Grand Total Raised | $620,707.9 | ||||
| Grand Total Spent | $332,714.7 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
Gray identified the following themes on his campaign website:
| “ |
My Values |
” |
| —Robert Gray's campaign website, [12] | ||
See also
- Mississippi Governor
- Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2015
- Mississippi state executive official elections, 2015
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed March 4, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mississippi Public Broadcasting, "Robert Gray wins Democratic primary for governor," August 5, 2015
- ↑ WHLT News, "Mississippi 2015 State General Election Results," November 3, 2015
- ↑ MS News Now, "Who is Robert Gray?" August 5, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Associated Press, "Mississippi - Summary Vote Results," August 04, 2015
- ↑ Yahoo! News, "Truck driver wins Dem nomination for Mississippi governor," November 5, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filings," accessed July 28, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filings," accessed July 12, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filings," accessed June 26, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filings," May 8, 2015
- ↑ Robert Gray for Governor!, "About," accessed November 3, 2015
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