Lynn Fitch

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Lynn Fitch
Lynn.Fitch HEADSHOT.jpg
40th Attorney General of Mississippi
Assumed office
January 14, 2020
GovernorTate Reeves
Preceded byJim Hood
54th Treasurer of Mississippi
In office
January 5, 2012 – January 14, 2020
GovernorPhil Bryant
Preceded byTate Reeves
Succeeded byDavid McRae
Personal details
Born (1961-10-05) October 5, 1961 (age 60)
Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Mississippi (BA, JD)

Lynn Fitch (born October 5, 1961) is an American lawyer, politician, and the 40th Attorney General of Mississippi. She is the first woman to serve in the role and the first Republican since 1878. Previously, she was the 54th State Treasurer of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020.

Personal life and early career[]

Fitch is a native of Marshall County, Mississippi, and grew up in Holly Springs, Mississippi.[1] She attended University of Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration as well as her Juris Doctor, in five years.[2] Fitch has two daughters and one son. She currently lives in Ridgeland, Mississippi.[3]

Fitch has been a bond lawyer, worked for the Mississippi House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee as counsel, and as a special assistant attorney general with the Mississippi Attorney General's office. In 2009, Fitch was named the executive director of the Mississippi State Personnel Board by Governor Haley Barbour.[3]

Political career[]

State Treasurer of Mississippi[]

In the race for State Treasurer of Mississippi, Fitch defeated state Senator Lee Yancey in a runoff election for the Republican nomination on August 23, 2011.[4] She went on to defeat Democrat Connie Moran in the November 8, 2011 general election with 59 percent of the vote.[5]

Mississippi Attorney General[]

Fitch announced her candidacy for Attorney General of Mississippi on March 14, 2018.[6] In the Republican primary for this office, she defeated State Representative Mark Baker from Brandon, and Andy Taggart, former Chief of Staff to Governor Kirk Fordice and former Madison County Supervisor. Having defeated Democratic candidate Jennifer Riley Collins in the general election, Fitch is the first female to serve as the state's Attorney General and the first Republican to serve in the office since 1878. [7]

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede while he and his allies made claims of false fraud, Fitch joined in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election.[8][9]

In 2021, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, she requested that the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1970s landmark abortion case.[10] She called Roe v. Wade "egregiously wrong" and argued that the Court should allow a new Mississippi state law banning abortions after 15 weeks to come into effect.[11] Fitch has argued that a ban on abortion would empower women and that abortion prevents women from reaching their full potential.[1] Oral argument on behalf of Mississippi was delivered by Fitch's solicitor general, Scott Stewart.[12][13] Under Fitch, the Mississippi AG's office contracted to pay a D.C. law firm, as well as a Birmingham, Alabama public relations firm and an Alexandria, Virginia-based public relations consultant, up to $558,000 to support her efforts to defend Mississippi laws restricting abortion access.[12]

Electoral history[]

Mississippi Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Fitch 104,287 37.65
Republican Lee Yancey 92,653 33.45
Republican Lucien Smith 80,054 28.90
Mississippi Treasurer Republican Primary Runoff Election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Fitch 82,930 53.16
Republican Lee Yancey 73,076 46.84
Mississippi Treasurer Election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Fitch 513,132 58.79
Democratic Connie Moran 333,267 38.18
Reform Shawn O'Hara 26,421 3.03
Mississippi Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2015
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Fitch (inc.) 154,492 57.67
Republican David McRae 113,411 42.33
Mississippi Treasurer Election, 2015
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Fitch (inc.) 511,465 79.24
Reform Viola McFarland 134,014 20.76

References[]

  1. ^ a b Kitchener, Caroline. "The woman who could bring down Roe v. Wade". https://www.thelily.com. Retrieved 2021-12-02. External link in |website= (help)
  2. ^ "Mississippi Treasurer Lynn Fitch". Treasury.state.ms.us. 2012-01-05. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  3. ^ a b "[Dish] Lynn Fitch - Cover Stories - Jackson Free Press: Jackson, Mississippi". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  4. ^ "Fitch defeats Yancey in GOP treasurer runoff » State News". Leader Call. Associated Press. Retrieved 2012-01-11.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Official Tabulation of Vote for State Office of Treasurer" (PDF). www.sos.ms.gov. Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  6. ^ "Lynn Fitch to run for attorney general". The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  7. ^ Gates, Jimmie E. "Lynn Fitch elected Mississippi's first female attorney general". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  8. ^ "Several Mississippi Republicans seek to throw out millions of ballots". Mississippi Today. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  9. ^ "Mississippi AG to support Texas in election lawsuit".
  10. ^ Liptak, Adam (2021-07-22). "Mississippi asks the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  11. ^ de Vogue, Ariane (July 22, 2021). "Mississippi asks US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade". CNN.
  12. ^ a b Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison, Attorney General Lynn Fitch paying outside law, PR firms for fight against abortion, Mississippi Today (December 2, 2021).
  13. ^ Giulia Heyward, Scott Stewart, the lawyer representing Mississippi, was at the center of a 2017 abortion controversy., New York Times (December 1, 2021).

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of Mississippi
2012–2020 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Mississippi
2020–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""