Former Trump official to host fundraiser for Shad White as he mulls run for governor
By Michael Goldberg | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Alex Meyer, a former White House official for President Donald Trump, will host a fundraiser in Oxford next month for state Auditor Shad White, who has been telegraphing a run for governor next year.
White, a Republican, has not declared a gubernatorial run, but has long made it no secret that he’s considering it. The Nov. 11 fundraiser offers tickets ranging from $500 to $10,000, with proceeds directed to White’s campaign committee, an invitation obtained by Mississippi Today shows.
White has long praised Trump, and Republican candidates in the GOP primary next year are likely to jockey for his endorsement.
White has faced criticism from some in the Trump orbit and conservative media because of his legal battles with former NFL star Brett Favre, a close friend of Donald Trump Jr. Favre is suing White, alleging defamation over comments White made in a book he wrote about Mississippi’s welfare scandal and in media interviews.
Meyer, a University of Mississippi alumnus, led Trump’s 2024 campaign operation in the Iowa caucuses before working in the White House as director of intergovernmental affairs and deputy assistant to the president. He left the White House in June to work on the GOP’s political operation for the midterms, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said.
Meyer told Mississippi Today he hasn’t officially endorsed White, but agreed to host a fundraiser because White’s style of politics aligns with Trump’s.
“Shad has a lot of the energy that I see in the Republican primary electorate in Mississippi, and across the country. They’re looking for someone who will go to war and will fight for them,” Meyer said. “And I think Shad is doing a great job of meeting the primary electorate where they’re at and giving them a fight on things that they haven’t felt like anyone’s fought for a while.”
Meyer, without speaking for the president, said he predicted Trump would wait until well after the midterms to endorse in Mississippi’s Republican primary for governor, if he gets involved at all. But he said an endorsement is likely still up for grabs.
Arthur Schwartz, a Washington political operative who’s close to the Trump family and has been an adviser to Donald Trump Jr. for years, has traded barbs with White on social media, telling the auditor he was not “getting anywhere near a Trump admin” and that the “transition team has already been warned about you.”
The late Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative media personality who was assassinated in 2025, once dedicated a segment of his show to defending Favre and criticizing White.
Neither the president himself nor his White House administration has said anything publicly about the state auditor.
Republican candidates running for governor in Mississippi appear to be working hard to win over Trump and his supporters, often in strikingly similar terms.
Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch launched her gubernatorial campaign calling herself a “Trump conservative who doesn’t back down from a fight.” In his rollout, Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said he’s “always been in the fight with President Donald J. Trump.” White, touting his record as auditor, has said voters are “ready for a pro-Trump governor” focused on ending government fraud.
While many polls indicate Trump’s approval rating has cratered nationally, his endorsement is still considered a powerful factor in Mississippi Republican primaries. Trump won Mississippi by nearly 23 points in 2024.
If White enters the race for governor, he will square off against a Republican primary field to replace term-limited incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves that includes Fitch, Gipson and former House Speaker Philip Gunn. Former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper and billionaire businessman Tommy Duff are also considering entering the race on the Republican side.
Priscilla Williams Till, a cousin of Emmett Till who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2026, is the only Democratic candidate to have entered the race thus far
White has over $3.8 million in cash on hand, leading a fundraising battle that is sure to accelerate before the Aug. 3 primary.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
