Candidates emerge for open Mississippi agriculture commissioner post
Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson is running for governor in 2027, leaving an open race to lead the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Magnolia Tribune reported. According to state law, the commissioner must have a competent knowledge of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, statistics and general industries and be an experienced and practical agriculturist, and the law assigns the office duties in development, marketing, regulation and investigation related to agriculture and commerce.
Gipson has held the post since 2018 after being appointed by former Gov. Phil Bryant, Magnolia Tribune reported. The Republican won a full four-year term in 2019 with more than 58% of the vote and was re-elected in 2023 by a similar margin, facing no primary challengers in either statewide race, the outlet said.
Several names have begun to surface as possible Republican contenders, Magnolia Tribune reported. Dane Maxwell, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Mississippi state director for Rural Development, was appointed to that role in May 2025 by President Donald Trump and previously served four years as Southern District public service commissioner, the Tribune said. State Rep. Vince Mangold, a third-term legislator who chairs the House Ethics Committee and is vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and State Sen. Neil Whaley, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also have been mentioned, the report said.
The Tribune said Kyle Cockrell, owner of Cockrell’s Farmers Market and a former Smith County Republican Party chairman, has begun active campaigning, rolling out logos and yard signs. Magnolia Tribune noted Cockrell ran for the state House in 2023 and received 28% in the Republican primary against State Rep. Mark Tullos.
On the Democratic side, Magnolia Tribune reported that Rickey Cole, a former state Democratic Party chairman who ran for agriculture commissioner in 2019 and received just over 41% of the vote, and Robert Bradford, a fourth-generation Delta farmer and Adams County emergency management director who was the party’s 2023 nominee and drew just over 42%, are among those mentioned. Magnolia Tribune wrote that no clear favorite has emerged so far.
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