The governor of Mississippi is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and the commander-in-chief of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

military forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the

Mississippi Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and ...

, to convene the legislature at any time, and, except in cases of treason or impeachment, to grant

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

s and reprieves.MS Const. art. V, § 140-141. To be elected governor, a person must be at least 30 years old, and must have been a citizen of the United States for twenty years and a resident of Mississippi for at least five years at the time of inauguration. The Constitution of Mississippi, ratified in 1890, calls for a four-year term for the governor, elected via the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

since a 2020 referendum. Prior to this, the governor was elected by an

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

composed of the districts represented in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...

, with a

contingent election In the United States, a contingent election is used to elect the president or vice president if no candidate receives a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. A presidential contingent election is decided by a special vote of th ...

held in the House in the event no candidate received a majority of district electors. The term length was originally two years, with no limit on how many terms they could serve. The 1832 constitution limited governors to serving no more than four out of every six years. When terms were lengthened to four years in 1868, this limit was removed. The 1890 constitution forbid governors from succeeding themselves, but a 1986 amendment allows them to succeed themselves once.MS Const. art. V, § 116. The office of the lieutenant governor was created in the 1817 constitution, abolished in 1832, and recreated in 1868. When the office of governor becomes vacant for any reason, the lieutenant governor exercises the powers of governor for the remainder of the term. The governor and the lieutenant governor are not officially elected on the same ticket. The current governor is Republican

Tate Reeves Jonathan Tate Reeves (born June 5, 1974) is an American politician serving as the 65th List of governors of Mississippi, governor of Mississippi since 2020. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Reeves served as the ...

, who took office January 14, 2020.

List of governors

Mississippi Territory

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...

was organized on April 7, 1798, from land ceded to the federal government by

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It had four governors appointed by the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

during its 19-year history, including one, David Holmes, who would later serve as state governor.

State of Mississippi

Mississippi was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817. It seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861, and was a founding member of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

on February 4, 1861. During the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

following the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Mississippi was part of the Fourth Military District, which exerted some control over governor appointments and elections. Mississippi was readmitted to the Union on February 23, 1870.

Notes

References

;General * * * * * * * * * ;Specific

External links

Office of the Governor of Mississippi
{{Mississippi

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...