Lynn Fitch, Mississippi’s attorney general, has a strained relationship with several other public officials in the state.
At least three of her Republicans – Secretary of State Michael Watson, State Auditor Shad White and Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann – have complained about Fitch’s apparent disinterest in pursuing the cases referred to her by the three, which range from campaign finance law violations to misappropriation of public funds.
There could certainly be an element of political rivalry at play here. White and Hosemann are considering running for governor in 2027, and Fitch is also being discussed as a possible candidate to succeed Tate Reeves. Watson is expected to run for a position other than Secretary of State in 2027, most likely lieutenant governor, although a gubernatorial run for him has not been ruled out.
Politics aside, the disputes with Fitch are legitimate. The attorney general has done little to nothing to address the campaign finance violations Hosemann and Watson have accused Fitch of. She has also unenthusiastically collected millions of dollars that White’s auditors identified as misappropriated or stolen, although in one high-profile case she filed a lawsuit to prevent White from taking matters into his own hands.
Fitch argues that their inaction, at least on campaign finance, is not due to a lack of interest but rather a lack of clarity in the state’s existing laws. Others, including Watson, do not see this ambiguity. They believe it is an excuse.
Still, lawmakers are unlikely to give Watson the enforcement powers he is lobbying for. Lawmakers say it’s wise to keep investigative and prosecution roles separate.
Watson has therefore changed his approach and asked Fitch to reassign an assistant attorney general to the Secretary of State’s office to focus specifically on election law violations and to advise the Secretary of State on weak evidence, but also to aggressively file lawsuits on strong evidence.
Before Fitch’s election, it was common for the Attorney General to fill multiple state offices with one lawyer. For reasons that are still unclear, however, she did not like this arrangement and moved the lawyers back to the Attorney General’s office. There certainly seems to be a connection between this decision and the complaints about non-enforcement of laws and non-compliance with fines and repayment demands.
Whatever the reason for the tensions between Fitch and other state officials, the responsibility for resolving them rests primarily with her. She is the one being complained about, and the complaints about her job performance are coming from not just one office, but several. That gives them credibility.
