Mississippi's GOP governor drops election pledge in huge setback for Trump’s midterm plan
Republicans hoping to hold the U.S. House hit a setback Wednesday when Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves indicated he will not immediately pursue redistricting following a critical Supreme Court ruling, as officials seek to oust the leader of Democrats' January 6 probe.
Following the Supreme Court’s "Callais" ruling on how race can or cannot factor into redistricting, several Republican-led states have moved to redraw congressional maps, arguing for race-neutral approaches — and officials in Jackson quickly took note.
Mississippi lawmakers were primed to convene a special session next week to redraw state Supreme Court and potentially congressional districts, but Reeves canceled the session Wednesday after the judge who ruled the court district maps inhibited Black candidates was overruled — sparking a now-in-limbo effort to oust entrenched former January 6 Committee chairman Bennie Thompson.
"Understand something, that maybe while it may be in the best interest of some individual politicians in Mississippi to talk about congressional redistricting, what happens in Mississippi doesn’t happen in a vacuum," Reeves said in a talk-radio spot Wednesday.
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"I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of Mississippi and I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of America and I’m going work very closely with the Trump administration to accomplish both of those goals."
Reeves pushed back on claims he flip-flopped on congressional redistricting, noting the Magnolia State’s March 10 primary has passed — complicating any change in voting landscape, and also said he was onboard with ending what he called Thompson's 33-year "reign of terror."
However, Reeves suggested it is not a setback to State Auditor Shad White and others' renewed bid to shift the Magnolia State’s GOP representation from 3-1 to 4-0 and oust Thompson.
Thompson, a firebrand Democrat from Hinds County seeking his 18th term representing the predominantly Black and largely impoverished Delta region, is in danger of losing his reliably blue seat when redistricting commences.
Thompson and Reeves briefly sparred on X, with the Democrat depicting an elephant painting Mississippi "white" while Reeves countered that Thompson was wrong to claim ownership of the district with the term "my" versus the people of Mississippi.
"It must be done to go into effect before the 2026 elections," replied voting rights activist Scott Presler, while Pastor William Pierce of Columbia drew a state map that comprised evenly divided 22-24-point Republican districts saying "this must be done now" -— as Reeves said the issue is not "if" but "when" and that he plans for the changes to take effect for the 2027 statewide elections.
White told Fox News Digital he was the first statewide official to publicly consider drawing-out Thompson and creating a 4-0 map, while Reeves rejected claims of pressure from the White House and Republican Party to redraw now.
As the Supreme Court was set to hand down the Callais ruling, Reeves took to Instagram to say he "do[es]n’t typically make news on a Friday afternoon" but made an "exception" to call a special session 21 days after the decision to consider redistricting.
White, a rising star in the GOP following his major anti-fraud and waste investigations, said that Thompson is "the worst congressman in America" and the state's map favoring him must be dealt with promptly.
"Among Mississippians; normal taxpayers, Bennie Thompson is incredibly unpopular," White said in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview Wednesday.
"As chair of the January 6 Committee, anyone who supports President Trump is not happy that Bennie Thompson represents a part of our state."
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"[I]t is absolutely both legally and practically possible to change our districts to a 4-0 state," he said, pointing to Callais and Alabama’s successful bid Monday to get their "Livingston Map" through the courts.
Like Alabama, White said Mississippi officials have "dozens" of already prepared maps to choose from, including some that give each of the four congressional districts an even-keeled level of Trump support totaling 15 points or higher, citing 2024 election results.
"The real question is just whether our politicians here have the courage to actually get Bennie Thompson out. And that question remains unanswered right now," he said.
White said Mississippi has been stuck with maps featuring a Thompson stronghold for decades, as Thompson himself told Jackson’s NBC affiliate it has been Republicans who have drawn the maps since his 1992 election to Congress.
Thompson said that the issue between the lines in the plans is race.
"I have a voting record that no other person in the [Mississippi] delegation can touch for those things that we need the most: Health care, housing, better educational opportunities… but they'd rather put somebody in position who's against those things. And the only difference between Bennie Thompson and the rest of the delegation that represent Mississippi in Washington is that I'm Black," Thompson told Memphis’ NBC affiliate.
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Thompson added Mississippi has a history of requiring federal intervention to provide equal rights to Black people, including during the Civil Rights era and suffrage fights, and compared it to the dynamic today, calling it "Jim Crow 2.0" that he will "fight back with every fiber."
Fox News Digital reached out to Thompson for further comment.
After Reeves’ comments were reported, White told Fox News Digital that he still hopes "Thompson is redistricted-out as soon as possible – even if it’s not going to happen next week."
Fox News Digital also reached out to Mississippi House Speaker Jason White, R-West, and Senate Leader Dean Kirby, R-Brandon for their take on Reeves’ latest move and efforts to redraw the map.
Meanwhile, Shad White pointed to New England as precedent for Mississippi drawing out Thompson, saying Kamala Harris’ 38% performance mirrors the GOP partisan makeup of multi-district blue states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.
State Sen. Michael McLendon, R-Hernando, joined Shad White’s call to redraw the map to "give Speaker Johnson another ‘+1’ and send Bennie Thompson home."
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He disputed timeframe concerns, saying that Democrats successfully sued Mississippi to redraw his region, costing the GOP their supermajority — and he was still able to run in a mid-off-year primary.
"When Democrats demanded redistricting, the establishment’s response was simple: ‘We have a court order, and we’re going to comply,’" McLendon said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. "Now, suddenly, many of those same voices have gone completely silent."
Asked for his view on the matter, U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell, a Republican from Pascagoula, told Fox News Digital that redistricting is handled by the legislature in Jackson and that he trusts leaders there to "follow the law and do what's best" for the state.
"My focus remains on serving the people of South Mississippi and fighting for our conservative values in Congress," Ezell said.
Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville and House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III did not respond to requests for comment.
With hopes of a 4-0 Mississippi map before the midterms dashed, House Speaker Mike Johnson in neighboring Louisiana will have one fewer likely pickup as he battles a series of Republican retirements and independent voter malaise toward Trump in the effort to keep the House red.
Fox News reached out to the White House for comment.