Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley woke up Friday morning as the Democratic nominee for governor in this November’s general election.
The executive committee of the Mississippi Democratic Party on Thursday night ruled that both of Presley’s opponents in the August party primary — Gregory Wash and Bob Hickingbottom — had not met the eligibility requirements to run for governor.
Neither, the party found, had followed state law. Under state law, the candidates are required to file statements of economic interest with the Mississippi Ethics Commission. Neither Wash nor Hickingbottom had.
Presley will likely face incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in the general election. Reeves will face two little-known candidates in the party primary: John Witcher and David Grady Hardigree.
Independent Gwendolyn Gray also is slated to be on the November ballot.
Mandy Gunasekara of Oxford, who is vying to replace Presley as Northern District Public Service Commissioner, was qualified Thursday by the Mississippi Republican Party. Gunasekara was challenged on the grounds she did not meet eligibility requirements because she previously lived in Washington, D.C., where she worked in the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The rulings of the Republican and Democratic executive committees can be appealed in the state judiciary.
On social media, Gunasekara thanked the Republican Party Executive Committee for its action.
“I have been a citizen of Mississippi my entire life,” she said. “I appreciate their willingness to look at the facts and come to a fair decision. When briefing President Trump in the Oval Office, I always carried my Mississippi-grown principles and values into the room.”
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