JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Latest on the Mississippi governor’s race (all times local):
7:40 p.m.
Two Republican candidates for Mississippi governor say they want to increase teacher pay and shorten the wait time at driver’s license bureaus.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and retired Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. took part in a 30-minute televised debate Wednesday night.
They continued to disagree about increasing the gasoline tax to pay for highways and about expanding Medicaid coverage to the working poor.
Waller advocates both changes, saying infrastructure is crumbling and hospitals are in danger of closing. Reeves opposes both, saying people are paying too much in taxes.
They winner of a runoff Tuesday will be the Republican nominee and will face three candidates, including Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood, in the Nov. 5 general election for governor.
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12:17 p.m.
The Democratic nominee for Mississippi governor says he wants to reduce the state’s 7 percent grocery sales tax to give working people a break.
Attorney General Jim Hood told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he wants to at least cut it in half and possibly eliminate it altogether.
At a locally owned grocery store in Indianola, Hood said the Republican-led Legislature has given millions in corporate tax breaks.
Hood said to keep cities from losing money with a grocery tax reduction, he wants to send revenue from an online sales tax to cities and counties.
Hood spoke hours before a debate between two Republican gubernatorial candidates. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and retired Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. compete in a runoff Tuesday for the party nomination.
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