Dewey Phillip Bryant (born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 31st lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2008 to 2012 and 40th state auditor of Mississippi from 1996 to 2008. A Republican, Bryant was elected governor in 2011, defeating the Democratic nominee Mayor Johnny DuPree of Hattiesburg. He was re-elected in 2015, defeating Democratic nominee Robert Gray.
Early life and education
Bryant was born in Moorhead in Sunflower County in the Mississippi Delta. He is the son of Dewey C., a diesel mechanic, and Estelle R. Bryant, a mother who stayed home with her three boys. Bryant's family moved to the capital of Jackson, where his father worked for Jackson Mack Sales and was later Service Manager there.
Dewey Phillip Bryant attended Council McCluer High School his junior and senior years.
Bryant studied first at Hinds Community College and received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's degree in political science from Mississippi College in Clinton. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Mississippi College, where he served as an adjunct professor teaching Mississippi political history, both before and during his first term as governor.
Political career
Prior to entering government public service, Bryant was a deputy sheriff in Hinds County from 1976 to 1981; he worked undercover in drug law enforcement and also worked as an insurance claims investigator. After his election to the Mississippi House of Representatives, Bryant served as Vice Chairman of the House Insurance Committee. Notably, he sponsored the Capital Gains Tax Cut Act of 1992.
Bryant was appointed to serve as State Auditor by Governor Kirk Fordice following the resignation of Steve Patterson. He was sworn-in on November 1, 1996. Bryant was subsequently elected to a full term as auditor in 1999 and reelected in 2003. That year he convinced the Mississippi State Legislature to grant law enforcement officers in the auditor's office's investigative division full powers of arrest.
In 2007, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, defeating the Democratic Party candidate, State Representative Jamie Franks.
In 2011, Bryant was elected Governor of Mississippi, defeating the Democratic nominee Johnny DuPree.
After leaving public office in 2019, Bryant became a founding member of BSS Global, a consulting firm.
Governor of Mississippi
2011 election
Bryant won the Republican primary in the gubernatorial election in 2011. He defeated Democratic nominee Johnny DuPree on November 8, with 60.98 percent of the vote compared to DuPree's 39.2 percent.
First term
On January 10, 2012, Bryant was sworn in as the 64th Governor of Mississippi. Former Republican State Chairman Jim Herring, a lawyer from Canton, headed the transition team. Once inaugurated, Bryant signed into law a bill requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at local hospitals in an attempt to "end abortion in Mississippi". At the time, the state had a single abortion clinic, served only by out-of-state doctors who lacked in-state admitting privileges.
2015 re-election
Governor Bryant ran for re-election in 2015, facing off against Mitch Young in the Republican primary, carrying 91.7 percent of the vote. On November 5, Bryant faced the Democratic nominee, truck driver Robert Gray, winning with 66.6 percent of the vote. Because Mississippi is one of the eight U.S. states that have a two-term lifetime limit, he was ineligible to seek a third term in the 2019 gubernatorial election.
Second term
In 2015, Phil Bryant refused to support legislation to change the flag of Mississippi to remove the Confederate battle saltire, even though some members of his party, such as House Speaker Philip Gunn, publicly said the flag needed to change so that it could represent all Mississippians. Bryant took the position that voters should make the decision on the state flag.
On April 5, 2016, Bryant signed House Bill 1523, the HB-1523, which allows government employees and private businesses to cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples seeking a marriage license. The governor said on Twitter that HB-1523, "merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."