In a pivotal victory for Mississippi Republicans, GOP State Senator Jenifer Branning has unseated longtime Democrat Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens in their tightly contested race. The Magnolia Tribune first projected Branning’s win on Wednesday morning after late absentee ballots and unreported county results tipped the scales decisively in her favor.
When counting stopped Tuesday night, the race remained too close to call. Early results showed Branning leading Kitchens by a razor-thin margin of just 518 votes, with significant absentee ballots and one unreported county still outstanding. By morning, the numbers had shifted dramatically.
Magnolia Tribune is projecting that Jenifer Branning will unseat sitting Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens in their hotly contested race for the state’s High Court. pic.twitter.com/kmZP1FY8a8
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) November 27, 2024
Rankin County, the state’s second-largest in the contested district, played a decisive role. With 3,009 absentee votes counted there, Branning secured 2,445, gaining a net 1,881 votes over Kitchens. Additional absentee returns from Lauderdale and Neshoba counties added more than 600 votes to Branning’s tally, pushing her lead well beyond the recount threshold according to Magnolia Tribune.
Branning’s win represents a major flip for Republicans in Mississippi’s judiciary. Kitchens, a Democrat-leaning justice known for his progressive rulings, had served on the court since winning in 2008.
“The number of outstanding ballots is larger than Branning’s lead, so at this point we are waiting for those absentee ballots to come in and affidavit ballots,” Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office Communications Director Elizabeth Jonson said early Wednesday. “We don’t know if it’s going to be this week.”
“The race is too early to call, and we may not have our answer until next week,” the Kitchens campaign wrote on Facebook. “There are thousands of votes left to count, but we remain hopeful and prayerful.”
According to the Magnolia Tribune, the latest count from Hinds County’s 1,723 absentee ballots, reported mid-morning Wednesday, added 476 votes to Kitchens’ total. Following the tally of both Hinds County’s absentee ballots and Holmes County’s in-person votes, Branning’s lead shrank to 1,216 votes. The remaining uncounted absentee ballots in places like Yazoo (127) and Holmes (173) are not enough to bridge this gap.
Branning’s performance with absentee ballots outstripped her in-person vote results. In Hinds County, for instance, she captured about 24 percent of the in-person votes but increased her share to 36 percent in the absentee ballots. A similar trend occurred in Rankin County, where she won about 70 percent of the in-person votes and over 80 percent of the absentee votes according to The Tribune.
Since 2016, Branning has represented State Senate District 18 as a Republican, with support from key figures like Governor Tate Reeves and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann. Opposing her, Kitchens, a State Supreme Court Justice since 2008 and former District Attorney, has been backed by prominent Democrats, including Congressman Bennie Thompson.
In the November 5th General Election, Branning led a five-candidate field with 42 percent, while Kitchens followed with 36 percent, leading to a runoff. Ahead of the runoff, both candidates raised nearly $1 million, with Branning’s campaign receiving the majority.
Kitchens received substantial support from the New Southern Majority IE PAC, an affiliate of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which contributed nearly $300,000 to his campaign. This PAC, aimed at diversifying Southern political leadership, also invested in the 2023 gubernatorial race, supporting Democratic candidates and opposing Governor Tate Reeves.
So? California stole another U.S. House seat, giving us a razor-thin margin which is quickly erased with Murky Lisa and Vampiress Collins.
Why do we sit here and put up with this election fraud?
Do I understand correctly?….rigged election when they win, a fair election when you win?
Yeah only it’s a fair not stolen win butt pirate
Yea, that’s how it is.
Print as many fake ballots as you can and slip them in, unnoticed, whenever you can!
This Is The Democrats Over-all Plan, afterall, Democrats can’t run on their accomplishments, they have none that help The People! Only themselves…
Even The People in Mississippi are tired of the bullshit! They want positive change by The People for The People TOO!!!!!
First time in history of a republican win in a late count of mail in ballots weeks after the election was over.
It’s nice to see that the people have spoken and we have run out a lot of the corrupt people in our government. Now we need to hope that the newly taken majority doesn’t abuse their power to do the same thing. Our voting procedure needs to change as well. Vote in person, ID required, absentee votes are ok but for military that is out of the country, elderly people who can not get out. We need to get out all of the scumbags we have in our government and the judicial system. The list goes on but this is a good start. We also need to stop the dirty money coming in from communists like George Soros and other corrupt sources.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a worthless leftwing organization that supports anything that is anti-American or immoral. I hope Trump dismantles this evil bunch of scum.