On July 27, 2023 the two major candidates for governor, Gov. Tate Reeves and Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, each spoke at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, MS.  Presley spoke for about 10 minutes and Reeves for about 16 minutes; in their remarks they set the tone for a contentious general election campaign.

BRANDON PRESLEY: Thank y'all. Thank y'all so much. Thank you so much. I love that. I love that. Republicans for Presley. Let me say first and foremost it's great to be at the Neshoba County Fair. You know my first time here was in 1991. I was a 13-year old boy, and I'd saved up a little money working at Mr. Jimmy Rogers' [phon] auto parts store in Nettleton and put an ad in a little local publication that said Wayne Dowdy for Governor signed Brandon Presley. And I was 13 years old. Mr. Dowdy called me and asked me to come down for his speech that day, and I met friends from all over and made lifelong connections. Mr. Tom Chiles [phon] is here today, who's been like a daddy to me. And I'll never forget that.
 
I never thought I'd be standing here. As fate would have it, and the world will twist, Wayne Dowdy that year was running against Ray Mabus. And now I'm marrying a Mabus. I'm so proud for Katelyn to be here today. Her, her grandparents started the famous Williams Brothers General Store right here in Philadelphia, and she's gonna make a great first lady.

You know, this is an historic day for lots of reasons. It's a special day. Because in a minute after I get through talking, Governor Reeves is going to come up and he's going to give his last speech as governor of Mississippi at the Neshoba County Fair. Because we're gonna send him to the unemployment line in November.

You know the governor has had a—he's had some distinction this week. We found out a few days ago that he's tied with the governor of Oregon to be the most unpopular governor in America. But he also, hey he ain't done winning yet, he won the prize for being the most unpopular governor in the South.

Now look, coming from where I came from, in that little tiny town and Nettleton, I shouldn't be standing here as a candidate for governor. Folks who grew up the way I grew up don't get a chance to run for governor. My daddy was murdered the first day I was in the third grade, and my mother was a widow and a single parent that struggled every single day just to pay the bills.

My sister Greta is here today. Greta and Greg and I grew up in a house in which sometimes there was no electricity, not because my mama didn't know that the bill was due; it's because she didn't have the money to pay it. Sometimes we didn't have running water.

I understand where working people are in Mississippi. Everybody cannot be born rich and lucky. And that's why you need a governor that will stand up for the people in Mississippi. That'll care. There was no silver spoon in sight in our house. But my Mama made things as best as Mamas do. When the power was cut off, she'd say, You know what, you guys we're gonna act like we're camping out this week.

So while I understand where working people are, Tate Reeves doesn't have a clue. He doesn't have a clue as to what people in Mississippi are struggling with. And when he comes up here in a few minutes, he's gonna do his best to whistle past the problems in Mississippi, including our health care crisis. And much like Nero of old, he's fiddling while our hospitals are burning to the ground. And he doesn't care. He doesn't care.

This man has been caught in the largest public corruption scandal in Mississippi history. And he claims to be, he claims to be a numbers man. We've heard for years he's a numbers man. Well, let me tell you some numbers that this numbers man won't tell you. After he fired the prosecutor in the case that now we call the welfare scandal you know, that's the one where Brett Favre got $5 million for a volleyball court. Y'all remember that. Let me give you some numbers that this numbers man is not gonna talk about.

Thirteen depositions that were delayed because Tate Reeves fired the investigator in the case.

Let's talk about $1,300,000 that the governor himself inspired as a payment to his personal trainer. And this guy's going to jail for 34 years, and he said the lieutenant governor then, Tate Reeves, inspired the money to go to him.

Let's talk about $25,000 in campaign contributions just a few months ago from somebody named named Kent Nicaud, I don't know how you say his name, but at the end of the day ended up just a little bit later being appointed to the Gaming Commission.

Let's talk about 2,253 children that died in a six-year period in Mississippi because of lack of health care.

Let's talk about 157 hospital workers at St. Dominic's Hospital laid off.

So when he wants to talk about numbers, make sure he gives you the full picture of the numbers. Now the fact of the matter is this, the fact of the matter is this. You know it and I know it in our gut. Tate Reeves doesn't care anything about us. He doesn't care anything about working people. If you can't write a campaign check, or you're not part of his little club of buddies and insiders, you're shut out of state government. You're shut out. Because he cares about one thing, himself. That's all he cares about.

It's why in this campaign, and you watch up here today, he will not open his mouth one time to propose ethics reform in Mississippi to stop the welfare scandal from ever happening again, but also to clean up state government.

You and I know we've got a system in Jackson that's bought and sold to the highest bidder for the most cash. We have a system in which the legislature can raise by, and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, can raise money during the legislative legislative session when they ought to have their mind on our business instead of the lobbyists' business, who's gonna carry 'em fishing, who's gonna carry 'em golfing? We need to return state government to the people of the state of Mississippi.

And I am so proud, I'm so proud that in this campaign, we're building a coalition of Republicans and Democrats and independents—people who might not ever agree on many issues—that understand, understand that it is time to end the reign of Tate Reeves and end his corrupt political career once and for all.

Now I'm running this race on values that I learned in my small hometown where I was mayor, where I cut taxes twice. A town that's near and dear to my heart. A town in which my mom raised me, and she was a preschool teacher; she worked at a garment factory. She prayed for us every night, all day every day sometimes. I understand what it is to be a survivor. I understand what it means just to scrape by. I understand where working people are and for all of those in Mississippi that are left out, that Tate Reeves doesn't know exists. Families like mine don't exist in Tate Reeves' mind. When my name goes on the ballot November, your name goes on the ballot in November.

And the values that I learned from my uncle, the late sheriff of Lee County, Harold Ray Presley, who was murdered in the line of duty. This is a badge that belonged to him. And at home in Nettleton, I've got the gun that was on his hip the night he was killed and the flag that was draped across his coffin. So Tate Reeves better not open his mouth to me one time in this campaign about values of standing up for law enforcement. He's never stood where I've stood. He's never been where I've been.

Now, when you go into the voting booth in November, I want you to think about one thing. Which candidate has got the guts and the backbone to stand up for us? Which candidate which candidate has spent an entire career...

Which candidate in this race, which candidate in this race when your right to vote was taken away would stand up for your right to vote? Not Tate Reeves.

Now we understand clearly, we understand clearly in this campaign what it comes down to. Whether you got a governor who has got some guts or somebody will play along with the system, somebody who's been a product of the system.

And we've proposed a bold ethics plan to clean up state government to put corrupt politicians where they belong, in jail.  And I want to send this message; I want to send this message today. To all of Tate Reeves' little insiders and lobbyists and buddies and influence buyers, I want to tell you this. Come November the 7th, in the words of that old Willie Nelson song, "you shut out the lights the party's over."

Thank you very much.

 

TATE REEVES: Good morning Neshoba County!

I'm telling y'all, I'm telling y'all it's great to be back at the Fair. It's great to have Elee here with us. You know I'm kind of a numbers guy, and as I was standing here on this stage earlier, as y'all were cheering so loudly, a few numbers popped into my head. You know, it was 30 years ago this summer that Elee and I met for the first time, the summer before her freshman year at Millsaps. We've had a lot of good times together. We've had one first date, one non-election year engagement, one wedding day, two dogs, three houses three beautiful little girls, and if we both live until November, we will celebrate 22 years of marriage. And there's nothing that Elee and I love more than being governor and First Lady, than being your guest every year at the Neshoba County Fair.

This Fair has become a ritual in our family, just like it's a ritual in yours. This makes 21 years since I first gave a talk from this podium. It is possible that I've given more speeches from this podium than anyone alive today. Now, I know what you' all are thinking. For a guy who's made that many fair speeches, I know you're hoping and praying that I get a little bit better at it.

Well, and oh, by the way to those of you wearing blue shirts here today, welcome to the Shelby County Fair. I know this is probably your first time here.

And by the way, I'm going to tell you, about getting a little better about those speeches, I can make no promises about that. But what I can do, is I can stand up here and promise you to tell it like it is—the facts, the math, the whole truth. And that's certainly something you didn't hear from my Democrat opponent.

You know, here in Mississippi, we're mighty proud of all the great fiction writers in our history. Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Willie Morris, and today, Brandon Presley. His campaign is all fiction. To hear Brandon's fiction, Mississippi is just not doing very well, and it's all my fault.

He began his campaign with this simple foundation. Are you taking notes? He said, and I quote, under Tate Reeves' leadership, we are moving in the wrong direction. That's what Brandon Presley said. The math says, Sir, the math says that is pure fiction.

Now, let's talk about the math. You know that numbers are my training. And as governor I keep very close tabs on the numbers. In fact, in government, the numbers are the facts. The numbers and the facts say Mississippi has momentum.

The facts say Our unemployment rate is 3.1%. That's the lowest ever. The facts say that Mississippi attracted $6 billion in new capital investment in last year. $6 billion with a b.  New jobs, new careers, and new stability for Mississippi. Brandon Presley's idea of stability is a welfare check from the government. My idea, my idea is a career full of paychecks that keep getting better and better year after year.

The facts say that Mississippi is number one in the country in reading and math gains. The facts say Mississippi has gone from schools ranked 49th to schools that are better than a majority of the states in this country. Even, even the New York Times had to admit it, and called it quote "the Mississippi miracle." Now look, when I read that in the New York Times, I just about choked on my catfish when I read it. The facts say I delivered the largest teacher pay raise of any governor in Mississippi history. Those, those are the facts. But Brandon Presley's fiction attacks our success in education.

The facts say Mississippi changed America for the better by overturning Roe vs. Wade. And Brandon Presley has no backbone to defend our pro life laws.

The truth, the truth, the eternal truth is that boys are boys and girls are girls.
But Brandon Presley has caved in to the most radical liberals in our country. They want to encourage permanent, damaging changes to children's bodies. He stands with them and opposes Mississippi's law that protects our kids. I have stood up with the children of our state. I have stood against the national liberals and as your governor, I always will.

As I look across this crowd this morning, I will note that many of you are longtime players in Mississippi politics. But what I want you to know is that this year's governor's race is not like any other governor's race in Mississippi history. This year is governor's race is not just a Family Feud. This is not a campaign between two Mississippians offering Mississippi ideas to solve Mississippi challenges. I wish it was but it's not.

The national liberals have made Mississippi their target. They don't like that we improved our schools. They don't like that we've improved our schools and blew up their narrative. They don't like that in our state, we said we're gonna let boys play boys sports and we're gonna let girls play girls sports. Hey, and most of all, they don't like that we got Roe v. Wade overturned.

You know, there's an old rock and roll song with a chorus about sending lawyers, guns and money. And rest assured the national liberals are sending everything they got to Mississippi. Now, we all know we all know they don't believe in shotguns or handguns, but they do believe in hired guns and Brandon Presley's got a bunch of them on his campaign. They may be with him here today. I'm pretty sure you can tell because them boys, they ain't from Mississippi

They're sending lawyers, though to be fair. Brandon's always been thick with the crookedest lawyers in Mississippi. And I'm sure about making that comment, I just caused his favorite convicted felon to write him yet another check.

And that's not gonna be the only check. Brandon Presley is raking in the money from California and New York. He's getting help from every liberal celebrity you can name from Gavin Newsom to Stacey Abrams. She says, she says we're all racist, and he's trying to take our guns. It's hard to keep up with which one of them is worse. And of course, all this help from all these liberals, it ain't just charity to get what they want. They can't just defeat me. They have to defeat you to get what they want. They will not be satisfied with changing governors. They want to change Mississippi. I won't let them and with your help in November, they never, ever will.

Now, that's not to say that we don't need even more positive change. That's not to say we don't need more positive change. We do. For instance, we need to change our income tax. We need to change the income tax rate to zero without raising any other taxes. Now we've made big tough cuts, but we need to get rid of it once and for all. We cannot be satisfied just taking jobs from Arkansas and Alabama. Mississippi is competing with Florida and Tennessee and Texas and with your help, we can win.

We need to keep changing our test scores in our schools. We're almost in the top 20 in America and with Mississippi's momentum, we can get all the way to the top. We need to change our expectations. Brandon Presley and his party are happy to see people go on welfare. He campaigns on wanting more welfare. He thinks welfare is a destination. I think, I think we need to insist that a job is the destination for everyone in Mississippi—a job with benefits. A job with benefits and health care and a chance to move up in the world. And that chance to move up in the world is something else that we're changing. We're now recruiting the same kind of jobs that Mississippi used to beg for.

This year we broke ground on a new plant just up the road in Lowndes County that will pay an average of almost 100 grand a year. No doubt there are people on this fairgrounds right now that will find not only a job but a career at that new industry. That company made that decision to grow in a Mississippi economy that is already rolling.

In March while we were still celebrating their plans, our unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%. That's pretty good. In fact, it was a new record for our state. But then April came; it got better: 3.4% But then May came the jobs kept coming: 3.2%, another record. Three months in a row. Now does anybody want to guess what happened in June? Yeah, you guessed it. Another new record. 3.1% unemployment in state, best in state history.

Now my friends. This is not an accident. It is the result of good decisions made by conservative leaders. It is the result of a deep commitment by Mississippi educators and parents. It is the result of unbreakable resilience by Mississippi workers and Mississippi companies.

We have invested in workforce training. We have created a miracle in our schools. We have momentum in Mississippi and this is Mississippi's time.

Now, now, I'm getting to the end. I'm getting to the end. My campaign for governor is pretty simple. It's not about me. It is about results. It's not about what I have done. It's about what we have done together.

The largest tax cuts in state history, the largest teacher pay raise in state history, the lowest unemployment in state history, the most capital investment in state history. Mississippi has momentum and this is Mississippi's time.

Now, now, to believe Brandon Presley's campaign, you gotta believe that none of that is true. Listen to what he said. He said the reason to vote for him is we're moving in quote the wrong direction. To support him, ou gotta believe we are on the wrong track. You got to believe that our culture is wrong, and that our values are bad. You want to say yes to that, Sir? Because you believe it. You believe it, don't you? Yes, Sir. You got to believe that our culture is wrong and that our values are bad. You got to think that the state would be better off run by Bennie [Thompson], Biden and Brandon.
 
You'd have to forget facts that you've seen with your own eyes. Mississippi has momentum. I know it and you know it. You see it in our schools. You see it with your friends at church. You see it in your businesses. You can even read about it in the newspapers, though not usually in the Jackson newspapers.

Mississippi's momentum did not happen overnight. It was built on the good character of our people. But it took work. As a state, we came together and we decided 20 years ago to break the Democrat monopoly in government. We spent the first 10 years undoing their mess. We spent the next 10 years putting conservative policies in place. And I've been proud of being a part of it every step of the way. I've been proud to argue for hard decisions even when I had to stand alone. I'm not always done what was politically popular. I've not always done what was easy. I have not sugar coated it. I have not gone alone to get along, but I have fought for Mississippi and her values.

Chances are, now look chances are, chances are this is my last political campaign. You're not gonna like my next part very much. But this will not be my last trip to the podium at this historic pavilion. With your help, with your help, we will make a stand this November. We will tell the world that right is right and wrong is wrong. We will tell the world that Mississippi protects the unborn, and we will never back down. We will tell the world that Mississippi is open for business. We will tell the world that Mississippi is ranked last no more. We will tell the world that Mississippi has momentum, and that this is Mississippi's time.

Thank you all in the Neshoba County. God bless you and may God bless Mississippi.