Dewey “Phil” Bryant (Born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the Governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Bryant was the Republican nominee for Vice President in 2020, which he lost alongside Republican presidential nominee Kanye West.
Early Life
Phil Bryant was born on December 9, 1954, in Sunflower County, Mississippi. He was raised in Jackson, the state capital of Mississippi.
Early Political Career
Bryant entered the world of politics in 1996 as the State Auditor of Mississippi. In 2008, governor Haley Barbour selected Bryant as his running mate in the 2007 Mississippi gubernatorial election. Barbour won and Bryant became lieutenant governor on January 10, 2008.
Governorship (2012-2020)
Bryant ran as the Republican nominee in the 2011 gubernatorial election. He faced off against Hattiesburg mayor John DuPree, who was the Democrat nominee. Bryant won the election and was sworn in as the 64th governor of Mississippi in 2012.
Bryant was re-elected in 2015, defeating the Democratic nominee Robert Gray.
Since Mississippi only allows governors to serve two terms in a lifetime, Bryant was ineligible for re-election in 2019. His lieutenant governor, Tate Reeves, was elected and Bryant left office on January 14, 2020.
2020 Vice Presidential Campaign
In August 2020, Republican candidate Kanye West selected Bryant as his running mate in the 2020 American Election. Both West and Bryant were nominated as the Republican ticket in the 2020 Republican National Convention.
On election day, Democrat nominee Mike Bloomberg won, defeating West. This meant that Bryant was not becoming vice president. Instead, John Delaney, Bloomberg’s running mate, became vice president.