Brandon Presley’s name is once again being floated for governor in 2027.

But before Mississippi Democrats relive 2023, there is something worth talking about.

Where has Brandon Presley been in 2026?

Mississippi Democrats are running serious campaigns across the state, including a remarkable effort by United States Senate candidate Scott Colom, who is leading the Democratic ticket.

They are raising money and trying to build the Democratic infrastructure that the party will need long after November 3.

Presley, meanwhile, has been remarkably difficult to find.

That matters for someone considering leading the Democratic ticket in 2027 because leadership is also measured when your own name is not on the ballot.

The Gazette has heard from multiple 2026 Democratic candidates who say they reached out to Presley and did not hear back, including after becoming Democratic nominees.

That is difficult to square with the prospect of Presley reappearing in 2027 and again asking Mississippi Democrats to build a statewide campaign around him.

There is also a more complicated issue left over from 2023.

Presley knew that no Democrat could seriously compete statewide without substantial support from Mississippi’s Black electorate.

He worked for those votes. But the Gazette has repeatedly heard the same criticism of Presley from Black voters across the state.

In 2023, some felt that Presley seemed like a candidate crossing over into the Black community to ask for votes rather than someone who had become part of the community itself.

Those same voters have described white candidates in 2026, including Cliff Johnson and Michael Chiaradio, differently.

We don’t really know why these voters perceive the candidates differently. But we have heard the distinction more than once.

Of course, these conversations were not on the record, so they should not be mistaken for a scientific measurement of Black opinion in Mississippi.

But the criticism is significant enough that it should not simply be ignored.

And 2026 offered Presley an opportunity to answer it.

He could have spent the year helping other Democrats while continuing to build relationships in communities that Democrats need every election.

His absence makes the question of leadership especially notable.

Presley came close in 2023.

But losing a close election does not freeze Mississippi Democratic politics in place.

The party has candidates running now, at an important moment for the Mississippi Democratic Party and for Black voters collectively, particularly with the possibility of further redistricting later in 2026.

On top of all that, the contrast with a true leader like Congressman Bennie Thompson is striking.

Thompson is himself on the ballot in 2026. But he has also publicly pushed national Democrats to invest more heavily in Scott Colom’s Senate campaign.

Thompson has enormous political stature in Mississippi and he does not need institutional support to carry his seat.

Yet he has continued showing up at events and supporting other Democratic candidates running alongside him.

That is what makes Presley’s relative absence worth examining.

Presley said after his 2023 defeat that he was “not walking off the political stage.”

But if he returns in 2027, his invisible 2026 should be part of the conversation.