Jackson, Mississippi - Brandon Presley, a distant cousin of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley failed to shake up the race for governor in Mississippi on Tuesday, conceding the election to his Republican rival.

Presley had spent six years as mayor of Nettleton – a small town in northeastern Mississippi just a few miles from the birthplace of the King – before running for governor.

The Democrat's prospects for victory in the state ranked the poorest in the nation, were seen as limited given that incumbent Tate Reeves control the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, as well as both chambers of the state legislature.

But the gap between Presley and Reeves had narrowed significantly in recent weeks and ended up being less than five points.

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"We didn't win it, they did. But we won the hearts and souls of hundreds of thousands of Mississippians," Presley told supporters, according to CNN.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we came up a little short and I spoke with Governor Reeves just a minute ago. We congratulated him on his victory."

Ahead of the election, Presley had leveraged his relationship with Elvis to attract votes.

"My cousin grew up just down the road in Tupelo," he says in one of his campaign clips, holding a yellowed photo of Elvis and adding with a smile: "You've probably heard of him."

Presley is a cousin by marriage of the singer and was born just days before the superstar's death on August 16, 1977, at the age of 46.

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Presley had vowed to substantially expand Medicaid as he sought to build a populist coalition to topple Reeves.

Reeves, in office since 2020, is deeply unpopular and has been accused of involvement in multiple corruption cases.