The primary elections are over, but the fight is not. The race for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi is underway. MPB's Maura Moed reports on the first punches in this bout.
Incumbent Republican Tate Reeves will face former Democrat, Tim Johnson, a former Republican state senator. Johnson who switched parties February 2015 says Republicans should no longer stand in the way of fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.
"We're running on the fact that we want to expand Medicaid in this state. We think it's very important that we allow those dollars to flow into this state to help our rural hospitals and protect our professional healthcare providers and to help our sick and elderly," says Johnson.
Tate Reeves draws strong comparisons between Johnson and President Barack Obama.
"He has told the voters that he wants to, in essence, run Mississippi government like President Obama is running the federal government. If that's what Mississippians think that they want - if they want President Obama to have four more years in Mississippi - then they ought to look at my opponent," says Reeves.
Reeves also questions the motives of Johnson's change of party.
"It's unusual. You don't see a lot of party-switchers these days in Mississippi. It's a long way philosophically from being a Republican February the 15th to being very pro-Obamacare on March the 15th," says Reeves
Johnson also says he will fight for fully funded education and job expansion. Both candidates await their fate in November.
