Reeves entered the race for Mississippi state treasurer after Democratic incumbent Marshall G. Bennett announced he would not run.

[7] At Millsaps College, Reeves was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, a controversial fraternity that has faced accusations of racism.

[4] He worked at Park South Corporation, a subsidiary of the Deposit Guaranty National Bank,[4] which eventually merged into AmSouth.

[7] In 2000, Reeves moved to Trustmark National Bank, where he was a financial portfolio manager until 2003, when he resigned to run for state treasurer.

[7] Reeves sought the post of Mississippi state treasurer in the 2003 election; it was an open seat, as Democratic incumbent Marshall G. Bennett was retiring.

[10] In the 2003 Republican primary election, Reeves faced former Central District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Burkes of Brandon and State Representative Andrew Ketchings of Natchez.

[13] In the general election, Reeves defeated Democratic nominee Gary Anderson, the state director of finance and administration, 52% to 46%.

In the August Republican primary, he defeated Mississippi State Senate president pro tempore Billy Hewes of Gulfport,[16] 123,389 votes to 162,857.

[18] As lieutenant governor, Reeves was president of the state Senate, and he used his position to prevent Medicaid expansion from receiving a floor vote,[19] and to block an increase in the gas tax to fund repairs to roads and to Mississippi's many structurally deficient bridges.

[20] Reeves won reelection as lieutenant governor on November 3, 2015, defeating three opponents, including state Senator Timothy L. Johnson, a Republican-turned-Democrat.

"[26] This position contrasted with that of Waller and Foster, who supported a version of Medicaid expansion to benefit Mississippi's rural hospitals,[24] almost half of which were close to bankruptcy before the COVID-19 pandemic.

[29] At a rally in Tupelo days before the 2019 election, the elder Trump promoted Reeves's candidacy while assailing the impeachment inquiry against him over the Trump–Ukraine scandal.

[35] On November 7, 2023, Reeves defeated the Democratic nominee, Brandon Presley, in the 2023 Mississippi gubernatorial election, winning reelection to a second term.

[38] In June 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, debate arose about whether to change the flag of Mississippi, which featured Confederate insignia.

In early 2020, he closed schools, declared a state of emergency, and told people to trust in the "power of prayer", but did little to combat COVID-19 transmission.

[47] In December 2020, although Reeves urged the public to avoid large gatherings to prevent the further spread of the virus, his office invited legislators and other officials to at least three holiday parties at the Governor's Mansion.

[50][51][52] At a political rally in July 2021, he called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations on indoor face coverings "foolish" and "harmful".

"[57][58] Biden responded by calling Reeves's remark "the worst kind of politics", referencing the 660,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. up to that point and noting that "in Mississippi, children are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio, tetanus and more.

Reeves declined to call a special session of the legislature to allocate the state's $1.8 billion share of federal COVID-19 relief funds to address the crisis.

[69][70][71] Several hundred inmates were moved from Parchman's infamous "Unit 29" to the privately operated Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility.

[82] NFL legend Brett Favre also lobbied Reeves for the construction of a volleyball stadium at the university his daughter attended, which was funded by state welfare money.

[82] In May 2022, Reeves repeatedly refused to deny that he would ban birth control in Mississippi when questioned by anchor Jake Tapper.

Echoing Trump, he proposed allocating $3 million to a "Patriotic Education Fund" and said that "across the country, young children have suffered from indoctrination in far-left socialist teachings".

[85] Reeves's budget proposal recommended bonuses for schoolteachers in high-performing or improving schools, but largely ignored his 2019 campaign pledge to boost teacher pay in each year of his term.