Robert Ray (Mississippi)
Robert Ray (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Mississippi. Ray lost in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2019.
Ray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
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) | ||||
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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 | ||||
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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 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates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 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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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Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Robert Ray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ray's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Prison Reform Education Health Care
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
Prison Reform - Have worked in the system for decades as a Counselor and know of the corruption first hand and as a Civil Rights worker know it is the crux of the issues for the state of Mississippi.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
Josheph Swedenburg
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
Mississippi Burning
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Integrity and Comprehension of the true issues.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
As a counselor and leader know can and will fix Mississippi.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
Set the record straight. Be governor for all the people.
What legacy would you like to leave?
Mississippi being the first in the nation instead of the last.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
The most important is my friendship with the civil rights workers who were murdered in Philadelphia MS. As a young black man and friend of the group, I was supposed to go that fateful day - considering the stagnation of the state since I am running for Governor.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
At that time worked for the Meridian Cab Company as a dispatcher, which was owned by my uncle. We were in the same building as the COFO office.
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
Racism
A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean do you?
Designating to the most qualified individuals and having a constant dialogue on results.
Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?
All
Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?
Overview
In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?
When the legislature is passing laws that benefit them instead of the people.
If the governor's office in your state does not have the line-item veto power, do you believe it should? Why or why not?
Yes
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?
Delegation.
What do you love most about your state?
The people.
What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?
Racism
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes