Republican Andy Taggart announces run for MS Attorney General

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - Republican analyst and author Andy Taggart is announcing his run for Mississippi Attorney General.

In a tweet he confirms that he has put in a qualifying bid for the August GOP primary. He says a public announcement is forthcoming.

I have just qualified to run for Attorney General in the August GOP primary. I look forward to seeing my friends and meeting new ones on the campaign trail this summer. I will make a public announcement at the appropriate time. #CounselforMississippi
— Andy Taggart (@Andy_Taggart) March 1, 2019

Taggart made headlines in 2018 after he announced that he was “seriously considering” running in the U.S. Senate special election race.

He had been very vocal about his concerns of the Governor’s appointment of former State Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the vacancy left behind by former Senator Thad Cochran.

He later made a call not to run but not before getting into a Twitter spat with another GOP candidate, state Senator Chris McDaniel.

Taggart is the co-author of two popular books. Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008, re-released in 2009, and Mississippi Fried Politics: Tall Tales from the Back Rooms, which was released in November of 2008. He has authored or co-authored works published by The University of Mississippi Law Journal, The Mississippi Lawyer, and The Journal of the Mississippi among others.

Taggart served as Chief of Staff to former Governor Kirk Fordice. He has served in a variety of volunteer community service positions, including as State Chairman for the presidential campaign of Ohio Governor John Kasich. He has served as Chairman of the Greater Jackson (MS) Chamber Partnership, and was named by Governor Phil Bryant as Co-Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Corrections Task Force on Contract Review and Procurement.

Taggart joins State Treasurer Lynn Fitch and Representative Mark Baker in the Republican primary. ACLU of Mississippi director Jennifer Riley Collins is running as a Democrat.