Jim Hood
Jim Hood (Democratic Party) was the Attorney General of Mississippi. He assumed office in 2004. He left office on January 9, 2020.
Hood (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Mississippi. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.
Prior to becoming attorney general, Hood served as the Third Judicial District attorney of North Mississippi and as an assistant attorney general.
Biography
A fifth-generation Mississippian and career public servant, Hood was born in New Houlka and obtained both his undergraduate degree and J.D. from the University of Mississippi.[1]
After graduating from law school in December of 1988, Hood clerked for Mississippi State Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins. He then spent eight years as a district attorney for the Third Circuit Court District in North Mississippi. In 2005, he successfully prosecuted Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers.[2] Hood then served for five years under former Attorney General Mike Moore as a special assistant attorney general in the drug asset forfeiture unit.[3]
Education
- Chickasaw County Public Schools
- Bachelor's degree - University of Mississippi
- J.D. - University of Mississippi (1988)
Political career
Mississippi Attorney General (2004-2020)
Hood was first elected in 2003. He won re-election in 2007, 2011 and 2015.[4][5]
Elections
2019
See also: Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2019
General election
General election for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves defeated Jim Hood, David Singletary, and Bob Hickingbottom in the general election for Governor of Mississippi on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tate Reeves (R) | 51.9 | 459,396 |
 | Jim Hood (D) | 46.8 | 414,368 | |
 | David Singletary (Independent)  | 1.0 | 8,522 | |
 | Bob Hickingbottom (Constitution Party) | 0.3 | 2,625 | |
| Total votes: 884,911 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves defeated William Waller in the Republican primary runoff for Governor of Mississippi on August 27, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tate Reeves | 54.1 | 179,623 |
 | William Waller | 45.9 | 152,201 | |
| Total votes: 331,824 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Hood | 69.0 | 208,634 |
 | Michael Brown | 11.0 | 33,247 | |
 | Velesha P. Williams | 6.9 | 20,844 | |
 | Robert Shuler Smith | 6.7 | 20,395 | |
 | Robert Ray | 1.9 | 5,609 | |
| William Compton | 1.8 | 5,321 | |
 | Albert Wilson | 1.7 | 5,122 | |
| Gregory Wash | 1.1 | 3,218 | |
| Total votes: 302,390 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Phillip West (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Mississippi
Tate Reeves and William Waller advanced to a runoff. They defeated Robert Foster in the Republican primary for Governor of Mississippi on August 6, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tate Reeves | 48.9 | 187,312 |
| ✔ | | William Waller | 33.4 | 128,010 |
 | Robert Foster | 17.7 | 67,758 | |
| Total votes: 383,080 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2015
| Mississippi Attorney General, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jim Hood Incumbent |
55.4% | 400,110 | |
| Republican | Mike Hurst | 44.6% | 322,648 | |
| Total Votes | 722,758 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Hood ran unopposed in the Democratic primary election, and faced challenger Mike Hurst (R) in the general election.[6]
2011
| Mississippi Attorney General, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jim Hood |
61.1% | 536,827 | |
| Republican | Steve Simpson | 38.9% | 342,086 | |
| Total Votes | 878,913 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
2007
| Mississippi Attorney General, 2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jim Hood Incumbent |
59.8% | 440,017 | |
| Republican | Al Hopkins | 40.2% | 295,516 | |
| Total Votes | 735,533 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
2003
| Mississippi Attorney General, 2003 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jim Hood |
62.7% | 548,046 | |
| Republican | Scott Newton | 37.3% | 325,942 | |
| Total Votes | 873,988 | |||
| Election results via Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jim Hood did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
2012
Mississippi Sunshine Act
On May 22, 2012, Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signed a bill to restrict the power of the Mississippi Attorney General.[7] Known as the Mississippi Sunshine Act, House Bill 211 addressed the need, according to the law's supporters, to "rein in the troublesome practice of awarding contingency fee contracts to plaintiffs' lawyers who are also major campaign contributors to the state attorney general."[8] The issue stemmed from the office's ability to select private lawyers whose contracts and fees were arranged at the attorney general's discretion. The Sunshine Law requires the attorney general to appoint outside counsel to represent a state agency or elected official in the event that the attorney general either refuses or is in conflict with the agency or official. Effective July 2012, the attorney general's office lost its ability to bring suits unilaterally on behalf of a state agency or elected official. Instead, an agency or elected official has seven working days to object and seek out alternate counsel, which is then subject to approval by a commission comprised of the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state. If an objection is made, the attorney general is required to withdraw from representing the relevant agency or official.
According to Associated Press reports from May 2012, Hood threatened to sue over the limits it imposed on the attorney general's power. He also claimed that partisan bias was a factor in creating a law that targeted his office's authority, as his was the only Democratic-controlled statewide office at the time. He pointed to the all-Republican composition of the newly-formed commission to which he had to submit under the conditions specified above.[9]
Other changes enacted by the Sunshine Law included requiring outside counsel to keep detailed time and expense records and capping the total fee paid to contingency lawyers at $50 million.[9]
2010
Healthcare reform
The day after the United States House of Representatives passed the Senate reconciliation bill on health care reform, Republican Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour called upon the state's attorney general to "challenge the federal government over the constitutionality of requiring individuals to purchase health insurance." He threatened that if Hood refused to do so then he would act on the state's behalf in his stead.[10]
While promising not to interfere with the governor's suit, Hood did, however, argue that he believed it would be "cheaper for Mississippi to join the lawsuit once it gets to the U.S. Supreme Court, if some viable cause of action arises during the years of litigation."[11]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hood currently resides in Mississippi with his wife, Debbie, and their three children - Rebecca, Matthew and Annabelle.
Contact information
Mailing address:
MS Attorney General's Office
Post Office Box 220
Jackson, MS 39205
Street address:
MS Attorney General's Office
Walter Sillers Building
550 High Street, Suite 1200
Jackson, MS 39201
Phone: 601-359-3680
E-mail: msag05@ago.state.ms.us
See also
2019 Elections
External links
- Official Mississippi Attorney General website
- Official campaign website for Jim Hood
- Project Vote Smart - Jim Hood biography
Footnotes
- ↑ Bloomberg Business, "Jim Hood Attorney General, Mississippi Attorney General's Office," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi Attorney General, "About your attorney general," May 11, 2011
- ↑ National Association of Attorneys General, "Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood," May 11, 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedreelec - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named2015results - ↑ Associated Press, "Mississippi - Summary Vote Results," August 04, 2015
- ↑ Forbes, "Mississippi Reins In Use Of Contigency-Fee Lawyers," May 21, 2012
- ↑ Businesswire.com, "U.S. Chamber Applauds Signing of Landmark Mississippi Outside Counsel Sunshine Law," May 22, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Yahoo.com, "Bryant signs law limiting attorney general's power," May 23, 2012
- ↑ The Clarion Ledger, "Bill draws praise, fire" 23 March, 2010
- ↑ The Mississippi Link, "Attorney general won't stop health care lawsuit" 12 April, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mike Moore (D) |
Mississippi Attorney General 2004-2020 |
Succeeded by Lynn Fitch (R) |
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