If Sen. Thad Cochran retires – some say it could happen as soon as next week – it would likely launch the ultimate game of musical chairs in Mississippi politics.
States choose how to handle vacant U.S. Senate seats, and in Mississippi, the solution in this case would be straightforward: Gov. Phil Bryant would appoint a temporary replacement for the seat, effective immediately, and a special election would be held on Nov. 6, 2018. The winner of that race would serve the remainder of the term through 2020.
Four names lead the field of potential replacements, according to several handicappers: Gov. Phil Bryant himself, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper.
Thus the game of musical chairs extends from the Governor’s Mansion, through the Capitol and state office buildings to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Here is a look at potential appointees to fill the U.S. Senate seat if Cochran steps down early:
• Bryant, the 63-year-old governor who is term limited after 2019, was a surrogate for President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the two have remained close.
Trump — who needs Republican allies, particularly in the Senate — would welcome an ally in the Senate who would almost certainly vote in tandem with his policy.
If Bryant appointed himself to the Senate, Reeves would become governor through the current term and would appoint a new lieutenant governor. In this situation, Reeves, who is already mounting a 2019 run for governor, would be eligible to serve for 10 years as governor rather than the constitutional term limit of eight.
• Reeves, the 43-year-old political wunderkind, has already built up a significant war chest for a 2019 gubernatorial run, and he has the political allies, at least in-state, to mount a successful 2018 campaign.
If Reeves were sent to Washington, though, Republicans’ long standing plan for his move to the governor’s mansion in 2019 would likely be spoiled, leaving them with perhaps a tougher outlook against likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood.
If Bryant appointed Reeves to the Senate, Bryant would then get to appoint a new lieutenant governor to serve out the remainder of the term through 2019.
• Hosemann, the 70-year-old secretary of state, has the ambition for a seat in Washington. In 1998, he lost a close election for the House of Representatives to then-Transportation Commissioner Ronnie Shows. Hosemann first had to beat out a nine-candidate GOP primary field, and he raised considerably more money than Shows in the general election.
This appointment could also have 2019 ramifications for the state Republican party. Hosemann is considered the Republican front-runner for the lieutenant governor’s race in 2019, but could become the party’s choice for governor if Reeves were called up to the Senate.
If Hosemann were sent to Washington, Bryant would appoint a new secretary of state to serve out the remainder of the term through 2019.
• Harper, the 61-year-old representative from Pearl, has publicly paired himself with Cochran. On the night Cochran defeated Chris McDaniel in the 2014 primary runoff, Harper introduced the senator to the crowd of supporters.
Harper has growing respect on Capitol Hill. As chairman of the House Administration committee, Harper has been a leading voice in reforming how Congress handles sexual harassment claims. Barring a Senate appointment, Harper is expected to run again in 2018 for his House seat, and he has not faced a formidable challenger from either party since he took the seat in 2009.
If Harper were appointed to the Senate, Bryant would have to set a special election for the vacant House seat within 60 days of the appointment. The winner of that special election would have to run in the normal 2018 election cycle, including a June primary and November general election.
Republish this article
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
- Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
- You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
It was Harper from the get go. Of our 3 GOP reps in the state, he is the closest to voting with Bennie Thompson.
One of his aides left him to work with Cochran a couple years back. In my opinion, it was for the transition of Harper.
Put McDaniel in he should’ve been in the position anyway had it not been for cochrans bs smear and bribe campaign getting Democrat voters to choose their candidate in the republican primaries.
Be real !! Hillbilly Phil going to suck that DEAD HOLE up. Besides WHO ever go will not the power of a toothless hound. The rest of the country doesn’t recognize the state of POOR AS MISSISSIPPI.
Why not Chris McDaniel? It should be his seat anyway!
Cochran’s last election denied Mississippi’s next Senator a few years of stature and experience on Senate committees, which are critical for Mississippi.