By all accounts Tommy Duff’s talk at the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee’s Lincoln-Reagan-Trump dinner was a political home run. I say talk because the potential 2027 candidate for governor had no script and conversationally discussed his business successes along with Mississippi’s opportunities and challenges. The home run description derives from the size and composition of the crowd, the intense media coverage, and comments by several seasoned politicos who attended.
Several hundred Republican big leaguers, epitomized by former Gov. Haley Barbour and former House Speaker Philip Gunn, filled up The Refuge Convention Center at the Flowood Sheraton to hear Duff talk. That was quite a turnout for a not-yet-full-fledged politician. In extensive articles, Jackson Jambalaya described the crowd as “Republican royalty,” Super Talk as a “who’s who” of “the state’s movers and shakers,” The Magnolia Tribune as a “packed crowd,” and Mississippi Today as “a room full of Republican insiders.”
Secretary of State Michael Watson introduced Duff following an invocation by Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson. Mississippi GOP chairman Mike Hurst also delivered prepared remarks. But, “none of those speakers caught the attention of the crowd like Duff,” reported Super Talk. “All eyes were glued to him and each ear soaked in every word he spoke.”
While Duff has not formally announced his candidacy, he did enter the political realm earlier this year by forming a political action committee. “Duff PAC brands itself as an organization ‘supporting conservative candidates and advancing policies that promote opportunity, freedom, and prosperity across Mississippi,’” reported Super Talk. The Tribune described the PAC as playing a “behind-the-scenes role in GOP politics.” Jambalaya called Duff a “strong donor of Republican politicians. Mississippi Today reported Duff’s PAC promoted the fundraising for the dinner with proceeds going to the county executive committee.
Duff’s talk resembled remarks he has made to media and non-political groups around the state since last December. But this talk in Rankin County, the heart of Republican conservatism, was apparently a first. Mississippi Today reported Duff’s advisors characterized it as “the first political speech of his life.” (One politico gave kudos to Duff’s political advisor Josh Gregory for so well preparing his client.)
Duff and his brother Jim own Southern Tire Mart and Duff Capital employing 15,000 people nationwide, around 1,200 in Rankin County.
If Duff’s reception continues like this, what looked like a heavyweight Republican free-for-all featuring Andy Gipson, Philip Gunn, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, State Auditor Shad White, and former Cong. Gregg Harper could turn into a walkover.
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens…a time to search and a time to give up” – Ecclesiastes 3:1,6.
Bill Crawford is the author of A Republican’s Lament: Mississippi Needs Good Government Conservatives.
