One of the first campaign ads in a statewide race ahead of Mississippi’s 2027 election cycle has been released.
Shuwaski Young, currently the only declared candidate for Mississippi secretary of state, released an ad Monday making his pitch to voters. Young previously ran for office twice as a Democrat but is now seeking office as a Republican.
In the ad, Young discusses his Christian faith and brands himself as a “rock-solid conservative,” pledging to advance President Donald Trump’s election security agenda, reduce regulatory burdens on small businesses, and crack down on crime.
“As your Mississippi secretary of state, I’ll fight to make sure we fight crime and designate gang members as public enemy number one, that we maintain Christian leadership that honors God and respects tradition, that we keep Mississippi a great place to do businesses, and we will finish what President Trump started by securing Mississippi’s elections and returning Mississippi to all paper ballots,” Young says in the ad.
In Mississippi, the secretary of state oversees elections, registers businesses, regulates charities, and manages public lands. It also has a limited role in criminal matters, primarily in enforcing securities laws, investigating potential election violations, regulating charities and certain business activities, and referring suspected wrongdoing to prosecutors or law enforcement.
Young previously ran for office twice as a Democrat before making the party switch. The Neshoba County native challenged U.S. Rep. Michael Guest in 2022 and later launched a 2023 campaign for secretary of state before suspending it due to health concerns.
In 2024, Young officially left the Democratic Party, writing in an op-ed that it no longer aligned with his values and had strayed from what he viewed as its traditional platform. He first announced his bid for secretary of state during an interview on MidDays with Gerard Gibert last June and was recently selected as secretary of the Neshoba County Republican Executive Committee.
Mississippi’s current secretary of state is Republican Michael Watson, whom Young sought to challenge in 2023. Watson said Monday at the Stennis Institute’s Capitol Press Forum that he will not be running for secretary of state in 2027 but will “still be on the ballot,” according to several publications that were in attendance. He is widely believed to be running for lieutenant governor.
At this point, Young is one of two candidates who have officially announced bids for statewide office. The other is Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, who is stumping for governor.
