[2] In 1956, Wirt Adams Yerger, Jr., an insurance agent from Jackson, founded the modern Mississippi Republican Party and served as the first state chairman from 1956 until 1966.

In 2009, the central committee of the Mississippi Republican Party named Yerger Chairman Emeritus.

Phillips ran again in 1967 against John Bell Williams but lost again, this time earning 29 percent of the vote.

In 1991, for the first time in over a century a Republican would become the Governor of Mississippi, when Kirk Fordice would earn 50.8 percent of the popular vote, defeating Democrat Ray Mabus.

[6] In the 2003 Mississippi Gubernatorial Election, Haley Barbour defeated then incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove with 52.59% of the vote.