Democrat Brandon Presley had spent six years as mayor of Nettleton – a small town in northeastern Mississippi just a few kilometres from the birthplace of “the King” – before running for governor.

His prospects for victory in the state of three million people, ranked the poorest of the US’ 50 states, were seen as limited given that Republicans control the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney-general, as well as both chambers of the state legislature.

However, the gap between Presley and the Republican incumbent Tate Reeves had narrowed significantly in recent weeks.

“We didn’t win it, they did. But we won the hearts and souls of hundreds of thousands of Mississippians,” Presley told supporters, according to CNN.

“Unfortunately, it looks like we came up a little short and I spoke with governor Reeves just a minute ago. We congratulated him on his victory.”

Ahead of the election, Presley had leveraged his relationship with Elvis to attract votes.

“My cousin grew up just down the road in Tupelo,” he says in one of his campaign clips, holding a yellowed photo of Elvis and adding with a smile, “You’ve probably heard of him.”

The politician is a cousin by marriage of the singer who earned global fame with hits like “Suspicious Minds,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Hound Dog”, and “All Shook Up.”

He was born just days before the American superstar’s surprise death from a heart attack on Aug 16, 1977, at the age of 46.

Presley had vowed to substantially expand Medicaid, the health care programme for the poor, as he sought to build a populist coalition to topple Reeves.

“I’m committed to working with Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between to move Mississippi forward,” Presley posted yesterday on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after casting his ballot.

Reeves, in office since 2020, is deeply unpopular and has been accused of involvement in multiple corruption cases.