Tate Reeves

Jonathan Tate Reeves (born June 5, 1974) is an American politician serving since 2020 as the 65th governor of Mississippi. A member of the Republican Party, Reeves served as the 32nd lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020 and as the 53rd treasurer of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012.

Born in Florence, Mississippi, Reeves graduated from Florence High School in 1992 and Millsaps College in 1996. After receiving his degree in economics, he became a Chartered Financial Analyst. He began work at Park South Corporation, leaving in 2000 to become a financial portfolio manager at Trustmark.

Reeves entered the race for Mississippi state treasurer after Democratic incumbent Marshall G. Bennett announced he would not run. In the Republican primary runoff, he defeated former Central District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Burkes. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Gary Anderson. He was reelected in 2007 and went on to become lieutenant governor in 2012, holding the position until his inauguration as governor.

Reeves was chosen as his party's nominee in the 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial election, defeating former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. and State Representative Robert Foster. In the general election, he narrowly defeated Attorney General Jim Hood. During his tenure, Reeves signed legislation to change the state flag, removed COVID-19 restrictions earlier than many of his fellow governors, and opposed vaccine requirements and medical cannabis. He was narrowly reelected in 2023, defeating Brandon Presley.

Early life and education Tate Reeves was born on June 5, 1974. A native of Rankin County, Mississippi, he is the eldest son of Terry Reeves and Dianne Peeples. Reeves's father founded a heating and air conditioning company in 1975 that became a multi-million-dollar business. Reeves graduated from Florence High School in Florence and from Millsaps College in Jackson with a degree in economics. He played college basketball for two years before injuring his shoulder. In 2019, yearbook photos surfaced showing members in blackface and Confederate uniforms, but it is unclear whether Reeves was involved. In the 2003 Republican primary election, Reeves faced former Central District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Burkes of Brandon and State Representative Andrew Ketchings of Natchez. In the Republican primary, Reeves led with 49% of the vote, with Burkes in second place. Because no candidate won a majority, Reeves and Burkes had a runoff election; Reeves defeated Burkes in the runoff, which had low turnout.

In the general election, Reeves defeated Democratic nominee Gary Anderson, the state director of finance and administration, 52% to 46%. Anderson had substantially more experience than Reeves, but Reeves's campaign raised and spent substantially more money. and the youngest official elected statewide in the modern history of the state, at 29 years old. 162,857 votes to 123,389. In the November general election, he was elected lieutenant governor, succeeding Phil Bryant, who was elected to his first term as governor. Reeves ran without Democratic opposition; he received 80.35% of the vote; Reform Party candidate Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill received 19.65%.

As lieutenant governor, Reeves was president of the state Senate, and used his position to prevent Medicaid expansion from receiving a floor vote and to block an increase in the gas tax to fund repairs to roads and to Mississippi's many structurally deficient bridges.

Reeves won reelection as lieutenant governor on November 3, 2015, defeating three opponents, including state Senator Timothy L. Johnson, a Republican-turned-Democrat.

Governor of Mississippi (2020–present) Elections 2019 election Reeves ran for governor of Mississippi in the 2019 election. He was the favorite to win the nomination. He enjoyed substantial name recognition from his 16 years in statewide office, and had a significant fundraising advantage over his rivals, former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. and Robert Foster, a first-term member of the state House. Reeves strongly opposed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which he disparaged as the "Obamacare expansion." This position contrasted with that of Waller and Foster, who supported a version of Medicaid expansion to benefit Mississippi's rural hospitals,

During his 2019 campaign for governor, Reeves touted the support of Donald Trump, who carried the state in 2016 and 2020. Reeves promised, "If I'm elected governor, I will work for President Trump."

Reeves defeated the Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Jim Hood, in the November general election. Republicans won all eight statewide offices in 2019, a first in Mississippi history. He took office on January 14, 2020.

2023 election On November 7, 2023, Reeves defeated the Democratic nominee, Brandon Presley, in the 2023 Mississippi gubernatorial election, winning reelection to a second term. Presley conceded to Reeves after unofficial results showed him losing. Governor Tate Reeves gives a speech at his 2024 inauguration.

Confederate iconography In June 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, debate arose about whether to change the flag of Mississippi, which featured a Confederate insignia. Reeves initially said that the flag should be changed only by voter-approved referendum, but later reversed himself, saying that if the Mississippi legislature passed a bill to retire the flag without a referendum, he would sign it. Reeves signed the legislation two days later, removing the last state flag to display a Confederate symbol.

COVID-19

Amid the acceleration of the COVID-19 pandemic Reeves closed schools, declared a state of emergency, and told people to trust in the "power of prayer", but did little to combat COVID-19 transmission. His order prompted substantial criticism, largely because it clashed with previously issued local orders and caused confusion as to whether the order overrode local leaders' decisions to order the closures of businesses and other public places. Leaders of many of Mississippi's largest cities and counties criticized Reeves's order. The mayor of Tupelo said that Reeves had engaged in an "abdication of leadership". In early May 2020, Mississippi had its largest spike of coronavirus deaths and cases up to that point. In December 2020, although Reeves urged the public to avoid large gatherings to prevent the further spread of the virus, his office invited legislators and other officials to at least three holiday parties at the Governor's Mansion.

Except for August 4 through September 30, 2020, Reeves did not issue a statewide mask mandate in the state, setting only county-by-county mandates in locations with rapid increases in infections. At a political rally in July 2021, he called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations on indoor face coverings "foolish" and "harmful".

When a COVID-19 vaccine was made widely available, Reeves opposed vaccine requirements. Mississippi had one of the lowest vaccination rates among U.S. states, a fact Reeves downplayed. Biden responded by calling Reeves's remark "the worst kind of politics", referencing the 660,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. up to that point and noting that "in Mississippi, children are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio, tetanus and more." Reeves joined a Republican-led lawsuit against Biden's plan.

In August 2021, Reeves argued that Mississippi Christians were "less scared" because "when you believe in eternal life—when you believe that living on this earth is but a blip on the screen, then you don't have to be so scared of things."

During COVID-19, Mississippi suffered a shortage of hospital workers (in particular nurses). Reeves declined to call a special session of the legislature to allocate the state's $1.8 billion share of federal COVID-19 relief funds to address the crisis.

Criminal justice and prisons In 2020, Reeves vetoed two criminal justice bills that would have expanded parole eligibility for Mississippi prisoners; one would have allowed nonviolent offenders to be considered for parole after serving 25% of their sentence, while the other would allow those convicted of violent crimes to be eligible for parole consideration after completing 50% of their sentence or 20 years, whichever comes first. In 2021, Reeves signed into law a narrower bill that expanded parole eligibility. He rejected calls to grant a pardon or commutation to Tameka Drummer, a Mississippi inmate serving a life without parole sentence for the possession of less than two ounces of marijuana; Drummer was sentenced in 2008 under the state's habitual-offender law.

As governor, Reeves faced significant problems with the state's prison system, especially Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman—including widespread, deadly violence and unsanitary, dangerous conditions. After nine prisoner deaths in one month at Parchman, Reeves acknowledged that Parchman's conditions were "terrible"; he ordered the closure of part of the complex, along with other reforms. Several hundred inmates were moved from Parchman's infamous "Unit 29" to the privately operated Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility.

Medical cannabis In 2020, Mississippi voters approved (by 70%) a medical marijuana initiative; the state supreme court subsequently invalidated the initiative, holding that it was improperly placed on the ballot. Reeves opposed the initiative, but said he would honor "the will of the voters" who had overwhelmingly voted in favor of medical marijuana.

Taxation and budget As governor, Reeves pushed legislation to eliminate the state income tax. The rating agency Fitch raised concerns in November 2021 that his taxation plans were fiscally unfeasible.

Labor unions In 2024, Reeves joined five other Republican governors (Kay Ivey, Brian Kemp, Henry McMaster, Bill Lee, and Greg Abbott) in a statement opposing the United Auto Workers unionization campaign.

Welfare funds scandal

Reeves drew controversy for firing the attorney leading the state's welfare agency lawsuit. His friend Paul Lacoste, a former football player who had become a well-known fitness trainer in Mississippi, was found to have secured a $1.4 million contract for a boot camp fitness program through state welfare funds. He later said that Mississippi would not attempt to restrict contraception. All methods of contraception remain legal in Mississippi as of 2025.

Early voting In November 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Reeves said he would veto any bill that expanded mail-in voting or no-excuse early voting. Mississippi has some of the most restrictive laws in the U.S. for pre-Election Day voting. Reeves's budget proposal recommended bonuses for schoolteachers in high-performing or improving schools, but largely ignored his 2019 campaign pledge to boost teacher pay in each year of his term.

Race In April 2021, Reeves said, "There is not systemic racism in America." Earlier that month, he had declared April "Confederate Heritage Month" in Mississippi.

2020 presidential election After Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, and Trump refused to concede, Reeves supported Trump-backed lawsuits to throw out the election results in several states Biden won, where Trump and his allies made false claims of fraud. In March 2021, Reeves acknowledged that Biden was the president and was "duly elected" but repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Biden was "legitimately and lawfully elected" or that the 2020 election was free and fair.

Personal life Reeves is married to Elee Reeves (née Williams); they have three children.