The Mississippi Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. The party chairman is Arnie Hederman and is based in Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...

. The party is the majority in the state.

History

In 1956, Wirt A. Yerger, Jr. founded the modern Mississippi Republican Party and served as the first State Chairman from 1956 until 1966. He was Chairman of the Mississippi Delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1956, 1960 and 1964. He was elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the Southern Association of Republican State Chairman in 1960. In 2009, the Central Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party named Yerger Chairman Emeritus.

Gubernatorial elections

In 1963, Rubel Phillips

Rubel Phillips

Rubel Lex Phillips was a politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi.Phillips was a circuit court judge and a Democrat. But in 1963, he ran for Governor of Mississippi as a Republican. Phillips was only the third Republican to run for governor since 1877. Phillips ran on the slogan of "K.O. the...

 became the first Republican nominee for governor in 80 years, challenging then-Lt. Gov. Paul Johnson, Jr. and garnering 38% of the vote. Phillips ran again in 1967 against John Bell Williams

John Bell Williams

John Bell Williams was an American Democratic politician who was governor of Mississippi from 1968 to 1972.-Biography:...

 but lost again, this time earning 29% of the vote. In the 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election, current governor Haley Barbour

Haley Barbour

Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007...

 defeated then incumbent Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Ronnie Musgrove

Ronnie Musgrove

David Ronald "Ronnie" Musgrove is an American politician who was the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from January 16, 1996 to January 11, 2000 and the 62nd Governor of Mississippi from January 11, 2000 to January 13, 2004 of the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was recently defeated by...

 with 52.59% of the vote. Phil Bryant is the 2012 Republican Governor Elect for Governor of Mississippi.

Policy positions

While Mississippi Republicans take positions on a wide variety of issues, some of the noteworthy ones include:

• Abortion
  Abortion
  Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
  
   - "Protecting and securing the 'life, liberty, and property' of Mississippians begins first with guarding the life of the unborn child. Our policies should honor the sanctity of innocent human life." In November 2011, Governor Haley Barbour voted for Mississippi Initiative 26. Initiative #26 would amend the Mississippi Constitution to define the word “person” or “persons”, as those terms are used in Article III of the state constitution, to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof.
• Education - "Our instructors must have the freedom to teach, our students must have the opportunity to learn, and our policies should focus on the classroom – not the boardroom."
• Energy policy - "Natural resources can both be utilized and protected. This is the balance our environmental policy must seek."
• Voting rights - In January 2009, Republican Senator Joesph Filligane put forward Mississippi Initiative 27 which would amend the Mississippi Constitution to require voters to submit a government issued photo identification before being allowed to vote. This initiative passed on November 8th, 2011
• Private property - Republican Party members supported Mississippi Initiative 31 on the topic of eminent domain. Initiative #31 would amend the Mississippi Constitution to prohibit state and local government from taking private property by eminent domain and then conveying it to other persons or private businesses for a period of 10 years after acquisition.

Current Republican officeholders

The Mississippi Republican Party holds seven of the eight statewide offices and holds a majority in the Mississippi Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 3 of the state's 4 U.S. House seats.

U.S. House of Representatives

• MS-01
  Mississippi's 1st congressional district
  Mississippi's 1st congressional district is in the northeast corner of the state. It includes much of the northern portion of the state including Columbus, Grenada, Oxford, Southaven, and Tupelo....
  
  : Alan Nunnelee
  Alan Nunnelee
  Patrick Alan Nunnelee is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He formerly served as the Mississippi State Senator for District 6.-Early life:...
  
  
• MS-03: Gregg Harper
  Gregg Harper
  Gregory "Gregg" Harper is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes the wealthier portions of the state capital, Jackson, along with most of that city's suburbs. Other cities in the district include Meridian and Natchez.-...
  
  
• MS-04: Steven Palazzo
  Steven Palazzo
  Steven McCarty Palazzo is the U.S. Representative for . The district takes in most of Mississippi's share of the Gulf Coast and includes Biloxi, Gulfport, Pascagoula, Laurel and Hattiesburg. He is a member of the Republican Party. He defeated 10-term Democratic incumbent Gene Taylor with 52% to...
  
  

Statewide offices

• Governor: Haley Barbour
  Haley Barbour
  Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007...
  
  
• Lieutenant Governor: Phil Bryant
• Secretary of State
  Secretary of State of Mississippi
  The Secretary of State of Mississippi is the state secretary of state of the U.S. state of Mississippi.It is a constitutional official originally established under the Article IV, §14 of Mississippi Constitution of 1817, and was reestablished under Article V, §133 of the Mississippi Constitution of...
  
  : Delbert Hosemann
  Delbert Hosemann
  Delbert Hosemann, Jr. is the Republican Secretary of State of Mississippi. Hosemann received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Notre Dame University in 1969. He then went on to earn his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1972. He completed his...
  
  
• State Auditor
  State Auditor of Mississippi
  State Auditor of Mississippi has been an elected position in Mississippi since 1817. The current State Auditor of Mississippi is Stacey Pickering.-State Auditors 1817-Present:* John R. Girault, 1817-1821* John Richards, 1821-1822...
  
  : Stacey Pickering
• State Treasurer
  State Treasurer of Mississippi
  State Treasurer of Mississippi is a post created in 1817 when the state was admitted to the Union. Before the state was formed by splitting the Alabama Territory from the Mississippi Territory, an equivalent post was the Territorial Treasurer General, established in 1802.The elected office of the...
  
  : Tate Reeves
  Tate Reeves
  Jonathon Tate Reeves is the State Treasurer of Mississippi. Reeves, a Republican, is the Lieutenant Governor-elect of Mississippi. Reeves was earlier elected as Mississippi’s fifty-third Treasurer on November 4, 2003 and re-elected to a second term in 2007. He is the first Republican treasurer...
  
  
• Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce: Lester Spell
• Commissioner of Insurance: Mike Chaney