Reeves and Waller to debate Aug. 21

Aug. 21 at 7 p.m., WJTV will present the only televised Republican gubernatorial debate.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. will debate for 30 minutes ahead of the Aug. 27 runoff election. WJTV anchor Byron Brown will host and moderate the debate, and the station will air a 30-minute post-debate show immediately afterward.

Reeves, Waller and state Rep. Robert Foster met in a three-way GOP primary race Aug. 6. No candidate garnered the required 50-percent-plus-one-vote majority for a clear win, necessitating a runoff to secure the party’s nomination, although Reeves was the front-runner with 49 percent of the vote. Waller received 33 percent.

Foster conceded defeat as the third-place finisher, and later gave Waller his endorsement. Reeves received the endorsement of conservative radio host and state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who narrowly lost a GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate to incumbent Thad Cochran in 2014.

The winner of the GOP runoff will meet Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood in the general election in November. Hood was the clear winner in the Democratic Primary in a crowded field of eight candidates, garnering some 70 percent of the vote.

Any voter who voted in the Republican Party primary Aug. 6 (or who did not vote at all that day) can vote in the Republican Party runoff. Voters who voted in the Democratic Party primary are ineligible to cast a vote in the GOP runoff; however, they can vote in a Democratic runoff.