State Sen. Daniel Sparks enters Mississippi auditor race

State Sen. Daniel Sparks announced he is running for Mississippi state auditor as incumbent Shad White is expected to seek the governor’s office in 2027, the Magnolia Tribune reported. Sparks, a Republican from Belmont, said Tuesday that he had previously downplayed rumors about his interest but decided the timing and fit were right.

Sparks is a two-term senator representing Itawamba, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties in Senate District 5. He was first elected in 2019 in a four-way Republican primary and ran unopposed in 2023, the Magnolia Tribune reported. Sparks attended Belmont High School and Northeast Mississippi Community College, double-majored in accounting and economics at the University of Mississippi and later studied tax law in law school.

The senator said his law practice and legislative work dealing with complex financial matters prepared him for the auditor’s office. He currently chairs the Senate Economic and Workforce Development Committee and serves as vice chair of Senate Judiciary, Division B, and sits on Appropriations, Finance and other panels, the Magnolia Tribune reported. “A lot of my law practice and then my time in the Legislature has been dealing with complex financial matters,” Sparks told the newspaper.

Sparks enters a GOP field that includes former state Rep. Nick Bain, who officially announced his candidacy and was endorsed by former Gov. Phil Bryant, the Magnolia Tribune reported. Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson is also said to be considering a run. Campaign finance reports from earlier this year show Sparks with $101,000 in his legislative account and Bain with nearly $240,000, while Wilson did not have a campaign finance report on file with the Mississippi Secretary of State, the Magnolia Tribune said. Sparks’ campaign filed its formation on Monday, the report added. No Democrat had announced a run for the auditor’s office as of the report.

Sparks said he would prioritize using technology to improve data collection and analysis, expanding training and technical assistance for municipalities, counties and school districts, and focusing on prevention to avoid waste and misuse of public funds. “An ounce of prevention in this case is worth a pound of prosecution,” he told the Magnolia Tribune, adding that the auditor should be a resource to local officials while protecting taxpayers’ dollars.

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