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This Major-Party Nominee's Not In The Pocket Of Big Donors. Or Any Donors

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now next door in the state of Mississippi many people might be hearing the name Robert Gray for the first time. He's a 46-year-old truck driver who yesterday was named that state's Democratic nominee for governor. As Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Paul Boger reports, Gray barely ran a campaign at all.

PAUL BOGER, BYLINE: Robert Gray has spent his entire life living in Mississippi. But on Wednesday, he walked through the halls of the state capital for the first time.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERT GRAY: You know, it looks a lot bigger from the outside.

BOGER: It's safe to say Robert Gray is a political unknown for a vast majority of Mississippians. But the Jackson-based trucker beat two better-known candidates by 60,000 votes. The news took many people by surprise. According to his finance reports, Gray has not received or spent a dime since he filed paperwork to run earlier this year. Gray's campaign was so low-key that his own mother didn't know about it.

GRAY: She called me yesterday, and she said, I see you are running for governor. I said, yeah, well, and she said, well, I voted for you. And I know she was probably, you know, joking around about it.

BOGER: But things are quickly changing for the candidate. Even though Gray was previously unknown, he now has the Democrats' full backing. Rickey Cole is the party state chair. He says Gray is a serious person and not a fringe candidate. But how did a man who didn't run a campaign beat two higher-profile female candidates? Cole says there may be a couple of explanations.

RICKEY COLE: I would not be surprised if somebody did an in-depth analysis and found that some of those votes were the result of gender bias. I think, by and large, the people who voted for Mr. Gray were making a mark indicating, I don't know any of these folks, and I need to move on to the race I'm really interested in.

BOGER: Gray will now go on to face incumbent Republican governor Phil Bryant in November. For NPR News, I'm Paul Boger in Jackson. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.