Presley Gets Mississippi Democratic Nod for Governor Without Party Primary, After Court Ruling

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Utility regulator Brandon Presley is now uncontested for the Democratic nomination for Mississippi governor this year after the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that another Democratic candidate waited too long to challenge being kept off the ballot.

Presley is trying to block Republican Gov. Tate Reeves from winning a second term in a deeply conservative state where the GOP holds all statewide offices.

Justices ruled that Bob Hickingbottom waited too long to ask a judge to put him on the Democratic primary ballot after the state party's executive committee excluded him in February. The Supreme Court reversed a decision issued May 26 by Circuit Judge Forrest A. Johnson Jr., who was appointed to hear the case.