Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use mdy dates The lieutenant governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking elected executive officer in the U.S. state of Mississippi, below the governor of Mississippi, and is the only official in the state to be a member of two branches of state government. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state in 1817, abolished for a few decades in the first half of the 19th century, and restored later in the century. The lieutenant governor serves a four-year term with a two consecutive term limit. The current lieutenant governor is Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, who has held the office since 2020.

The lieutenant governor is constitutionally ex officio President of the Mississippi State Senate. As such, they rule on points of order, sign all passed bills, and can cast tie-breaking votes in the body. They are empowered by Senate rules to determine the composition of its committees and refer bills to them. Lieutenant governors have used this power to exert wide influence over the progress of legislation. In the event of a temporary or permanent vacancy in the governorship, the lieutenant governor assumes the higher office's responsibilities as acting governor.

History

The office of lieutenant governor of Mississippi was established by the state's 1817 constitutionTemplate:Sfn and it and the governorship were the only popularly elected statewide positions at the time,Template:Sfn with both serving two-year terms.Template:Sfn The first lieutenant governor was Duncan Stewart, who took office on October 7, 1817.Template:Sfn The role was eliminated in the 1832 constitutionTemplate:Sfn and replaced with a President of the Senate chosen by the body's own members.Template:Sfn It was reintroduced in the 1869 constitution and absorbed the responsibilities of presiding over the Senate,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn with the holder serving a term of four years.Template:Sfn During the Reconstruction era in the early 1870s, Alexander Kelso Davis served as one of the first black lieutenant governors in the country. Evelyn Gandy, who served as lieutenant governor from 1976 to 1980, was the first woman to hold the office in the state and in the Southern United States.Template:Sfn Brad Dye, who held the office over three terms from 1980 to 1992, was the state's longest-serving lieutenant governor. Unlike previous holders of the office, he used his appointment power in the Mississippi Senate to strategically place his allies on committees to advance his own political goals.Template:Sfn

In January 1986, two state senators sued the lieutenant governor, challenging the legality of his legislative prerogatives on the grounds that they violated the separation of powers language in the state constitution. The case escalated to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which ruled in 1987 that the Senate could award significant legislative powers to the official at its wish. One justice dissented, arguing that the ruling made the lieutenant governor "a powerful legislative creature, a super-senator, vested with sufficient legislative authority to virtually dominate the entire Senate." Following a reduction in the powers of the speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives that year, a group of senators unsuccessfully attempted to strip the lieutenant governor of their power to appoint committees and refer bills to them.Template:Sfn In 1992 the constitution was amended to limit the office holder to serving two consecutive terms.Template:Sfn Following the assumption of office of Republican Phil Bryant in 2007, several Democrats in the Senate considered restricting his position's powers, but ultimately did not follow through on their proposals. The incumbent lieutenant governor, Delbert Hosemann, was sworn-in to the office on January 9, 2020.

Election

Like the seats in the Mississippi State Legislature and the other seven statewide-elected offices, the Mississippi lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years in the November preceding a United States presidential election year.Template:Sfn The lieutenant governor is elected independently of the governor and candidates' qualifications for the former office are the same as for the latter.Template:Sfn They serve a four-year termTemplate:Sfn and are limited to serving two consecutive terms in office, with no limits on nonconsecutive terms.Template:Sfn

Powers, duties, and structure

File:Mississippi New State Capitol Building in Jackson.jpg

The lieutenant governor keeps an office in the Mississippi State Capitol.

Political scientists often describe Mississippi's lieutenant governor as one of the most powerful such officers in the country. The lieutenant governor is the only official in Mississippi to be a member of two branches of state government, legislative and executive;Template:Sfn the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled this state of affairs an exception to Mississippi's general separation of powers doctrine.Template:Sfn They are constitutionally ex officio President of the Senate, while the Senate empowers the lieutenant governor through its rules to determine the composition of its committees and refer bills to them.Template:Sfn Historically, the lieutenant governor has determined the composition of all Senate committees except the Rules Committee,Template:Sfn of which they are a member. As the Mississippi Senate has no seniority system, lieutenant governors are relatively unrestricted in appointing committees that suit their personal policy preferences. As a result of their powers over committee composition and bill referrals, the official can wield wide authority over the progress of legislation in the Senate; historically, lieutenant governors have enjoyed the ability to pass most bills they favor through the Senate and block most they dislike.Template:Sfn

The constitution empowers the lieutenant governor to participate in legislative debates and to cast tie-breaking votes both in the Senate and in joint resolutions of both houses of the State Legislature.Template:Sfn As presiding officer in the Senate, they rule on points of order, sign all passed bills,Template:Sfn and are entitled to serve on the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.Template:Sfn They are also empowered to appoint two of the members of the Mississippi Board of Education.Template:Sfn In the event the incumbent governor of Mississippi dies, is incapacitated, or leaves the state, the lieutenant governor assumes their responsibilities as acting governor.Template:Sfn In the event the lieutenant governor is unavailable in the State Senate, the body's president pro tempore assumes their responsibilities there.Template:Sfn

The lieutenant governor is constitutionally required to collect the same compensation as the speaker of the House.Template:Sfn Their salary is $60,000 per year but is set to increase to $85,000 annually in 2024. If serving as acting governor, the lieutenant governor collects the same pay as the governor.Template:Sfn They maintain an office on the third floor of the Mississippi State Capitol.Template:Sfn

Lieutenant governors and presidents of the Senate

Parties

1. REDIRECT Template:Legend inline
2. REDIRECT Template:Legend inline
3. REDIRECT Template:Legend inline

Lieutenant governors (1817–1832)

Image	Lt. Governor	Term	Party	Source
	Duncan Stewart	1817–1820		Template:Sfn
	James Patton	1820–1822		Template:Sfn
	David Dickson	1822–1824		Template:Sfn
File:Gerard Chittocque Brandon.jpg	Gerard C. Brandon	1824–1826*		Template:Sfn
File:Abram M. Scott (Mississippi Governor).jpg	Abram M. Scott	1828–1832	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	Fountain Winston	1832–1832		Template:Sfn

Presidents of the Senate (1833–1869)

Image	Senate President	Term	Party	Source
File:Charles Lynch.png	Charles Lynch	1833–1834	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	Parmenas Briscoe	1834–1836	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	William Van Norman	1836–1837		Template:Sfn
File:Alexander G. McNutt.jpg	Alexander G. McNutt	1837–1838	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Adam Lewis Bingaman.jpg	A. L. Bingaman	1838–1840		Template:Sfn
	George B. Augustus	1840–1842		Template:Sfn
File:JSpeight2.jpg	Jesse Speight	1842–1843	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	A. Fox	1843–1844		Template:Sfn
File:JSpeight2.jpg	Jesse Speight	1844–1846	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	George T. Swann	1846–1848	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	Dabney Lipscomb	1848–1850		Template:Sfn
File:John Isaac Guion (Mississippi Governor).jpg	John Isaac Guion	1850-1851	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:James whitfield Gov.jpg	James Whitfield	1852–1854	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:John J. Pettus.jpg	John J. Pettus	1854–1858	Democrat	Template:Sfn
	James Drane	1858–1865		Template:Sfn
File:John M. Simonton 1st Mississippi Infantry Regiment.jpg	John M. Simonton	1865–1869		Template:Sfn

Lieutenant governors (1870–present)

Image	Lt. Governor	Term	Governor(s) served under	Party	Source
File:Ridgley Ceylon Powers.jpg	Ridgley C. Powers	1870–1871	James L. Alcorn	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:Alexander Kelso Davis.png	Alexander K. Davis	1871–1876	Ridgley C. Powers Adelbert Ames	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:John M. Stone.jpg	John M. Stone	1876–1878	Adelbert Ames	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:William Sims.jpg	William H. Sims	1878–1882	John M. Stone	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:G D Shands.jpg	G. D. Shands	1882–1890	Robert Lowry	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Marion M Evans.jpg	M. M. Evans	1890–1896	John M. Stone	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:James Henry Jones.jpg	J. H. Jones	1896–1900	Anselm J. McLaurin	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:James T Harrison.jpg	James T. Harrison	1900–1904	Andrew H. Longino	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:J P Carter.jpg	John Prentiss Carter	1904–1908	James K. Vardaman	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Luther Manship.png	Luther Manship	1908–1912	Edmond Noel	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Theodore Bilbo (cropped).jpg	Theodore G. Bilbo	1912–1916	Earl L. Brewer	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Lee M. Russell (Mississippi Governor).jpg	Lee Maurice Russell	1916–1920	Theodore G. Bilbo	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Homer Casteel.jpg	Homer Casteel	1920–1924	Lee M. Russell	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Dennis Herron Murphree in 1927.jpg	Dennis Murphree	1924–1927	Henry L. Whitfield	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Bidwell Adam.jpg	Bidwell Adam	1928–1932	Theodore G. Bilbo	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Dennis Herron Murphree in 1927.jpg	Dennis Murphree	1932–1936	Martin Sennet Conner	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:J B Snider.jpg	Jacob Buehler Snider	1936–1940	Hugh L. White	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Dennis Herron Murphree in 1927.jpg	Dennis Murphree	1940–1943	Paul B. Johnson Sr.	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Fielding L. Wright, 1948.jpg	Fielding L. Wright	1944–1946	Thomas L. Bailey	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Sam Lumpkin.jpg	Sam Lumpkin	1948–1952	Fielding L. Wright	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Carroll Gartin.jpg	Carroll Gartin	1952–1960	Hugh L. White James P. Coleman	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Inauguration, Johnson, 1964 (12209667594) (cropped).jpg	Paul B. Johnson, Jr.	1960–1964	Ross Barnett	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Carroll Gartin.jpg	Carroll Gartin	1964–1966	Paul B. Johnson Jr.	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Charles L. Sullivan.png	Charles L. Sullivan	1968–1972	John Bell Williams	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:William F. Winter.jpg	William F. Winter	1972–1976	Bill Waller	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Evelyn Gandy-reg.jpg	Evelyn Gandy	1976–1980	Cliff Finch	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Lt Gov Brad Dye 1988.jpg	Brad Dye	1980–1992	William Winter William Allain Ray Mabus	Democrat	Template:Sfn
File:Sen Eddie Briggs 1988.jpg	Eddie Briggs	1992–1996	Kirk Fordice	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:David Ronald Musgrove (cropped).jpg	Ronnie Musgrove	1996–2000
File:AmyTuck.jpg	Amy TuckTemplate:Efn	2000–2002	Ronnie Musgrove	Democrat	Template:Sfn
		2002–2008	Ronnie Musgrove (Democratic) Haley Barbour (Republican)	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:Secretary Perry with Govt Phil Bryant KSS2455 (32743097363) (cropped 2).jpg	Phil Bryant	2008–2012	Haley Barbour	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:Tate Reeves 2019 (cropped).jpg	Tate Reeves	2012–2020	Phil Bryant	Republican	Template:Sfn
File:Delbert Hosemann.jpg	Delbert Hosemann	2020–present	Tate Reeves	Republican	Template:Sfn

External links

• Template:Sister-inline