Former Mississippi House Rep. Nick Bain pledges to investigate public officials for fraud and embezzlement if voters elect him to serve as Mississippi’s next state auditor in the 2027 election, the Corinth, Mississippi, Republican announced on Monday in his hometown.
“Mississippi’s auditor serves a critical oversight role in state government,” he said in a Monday press release. “We need a proven conservative to audit state and local government finances. My legislative record proves my commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars and fighting for our shared conservative values.”
As state auditor, Bain pledges to investigate public officials to review any fraud or embezzlement of tax dollars; review state programs for “efficiency and effectiveness” and ensure “taxpayer dollars are not stolen or wasted.”
Bain served for three terms in the Mississippi House, during one of which he was chairman of the House Judiciary B Committee. In 2018, he cosponsored a 15-week abortion ban that sparked the court battle leading to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending federal protections for abortion rights. The Republican also voted in favor of a separate six-week abortion ban in 2019 that helped guarantee virtually all abortions became illegal in Mississippi once Roe fell.
As chairman for the House Judiciary B Committee, Bain cosponsored a ban on young transgender Mississippians obtaining hormone replacement therapy, puberty-blocking drugs and gender transition surgeries, although he could not point to any cases in which any transgender Mississippi children had gotten such surgeries. In January 2023, he said he cosponsored the bill because he supports a “wait-and-see approach,” but admitted that he is “not a doctor”or “a professional in this regard.”
“Bain drafted the law authorizing the Department of Human Services investigators to enforce Mississippi laws against embezzlement of taxpayers’ funds, a critical weapon in the state Auditor’s fight against fraud,” his press release says.
He is a private-practice attorney in north Mississippi who formerly served on the Mississippi Ethics Commission.
No other candidate has made an official announcement to run for state auditor. The current state auditor, Republican Shad White, is considering a run for governor.
Bain will compete against any Republican challengers in the Aug. 3, 2027, primary. If he defeats his competition in the primary, he will be on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 2, 2027.
