Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi

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 constitution and it and the governorship were the only popularly-elected statewide positions at the time, with both serving two-year terms. The first lieutenant governor was Duncan Stewart, who took office on October 7, 1817. The role was eliminated in the 1832 constitution and replaced with a President of the Senate chosen by the body's own members. It was reintroduced in the 1869 constitution and absorbed the responsibilities of presiding over the Senate, with the holder serving a term of four years. 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. Brad Dye, who held the office over three terms from 1980 to 1992, was the state's longest-serving lieutenant governor.