CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MS — Mississippi voters in four rural counties have decisively elected pro-democracy judge Matt Kitchens to the Circuit Court (District 14, Place 2), putting an experienced and well-regarded jurist on the court that serves as the first line of defense for voting rights and election integrity.
Kitchens’ victory is a win for democracy and validates an experimental ad program run by the State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA) designed to improve voter name recall in downballot races. SLEA invested early in the Kitchens race as part of a nationwide strategy to elect pro-democracy candidates to the state and local offices that decide how ballots are cast, counted, certified, and challenged. The race was the first component of SLEA’s Mississippi voter engagement strategy, which will rapidly expand in 2027 when all 82 counties will hold local elections.
To reduce down-ballot drop-off in the Kitchens race, SLEA deployed a series of experimental short-form digital advertisements based on cognitive science to help voters recall core aspects of Kitchens’ biography and platform. Examples of those ads can be seen here, here, and here.
“Protecting the right to vote starts long before a case reaches the Supreme Court. It starts with the trial judges who hear voting disputes first,” said Eric Ming, Executive Director of the State + Local Election Alliance. “When an election is approaching, an initial ruling can have immediate consequences for voters. Matt Kitchens’ victory puts an experienced, fair-minded judge on that front line. SLEA was proud to make early investments in Mississippi and contribute to the state’s historic voter turnout this election.”
While national attention tends to focus on state supreme courts and federal judges, trial judges make consequential decisions about voting rights. They hear evidence, establish factual records, and issue initial rulings that can determine whether voters receive timely relief. Mississippi’s circuit courts hear voting-related lawsuits, and circuit judges can also be assigned to resolve election contests. Their decisions help shape both the immediate outcome and the record considered in any appeal. This cycle, SLEA invested in judicial races in Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
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