The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2003 for the post of governor of Mississippi. The incumbent governor, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, was defeated by Republican Haley Barbour. The election was the most expensive yet in Mississippi with the candidates raising over 18 million dollars between them. The national parties also spent millions on television adverts for the election such as the over 5 million spent by the Republican Governors Association. Barbour's victory in the election made him only the second Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction.