JACKSON -- Attorney General Jim Hood continues to prove he is a potent political force.

In 2007, in an election year where Republicans gained seven of eight statewide offices, the Democratic incumbent was the top vote-getter.

In the recently completed 2011 elections, Hood did not garner the most votes. But he did get about 61 percent of the vote -- roughly the same percentage as Republican Phil Bryant, who won the gubernatorial election. Hood garnered the super majority despite the fact that Republicans again captured seven of the eight statewide posts and won both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time since the 1800s.

Hood  was the only winning statewide candidate who had an opponent who raised roughly as much money as he did.

Former Public Safety Commissioner Steve Simpson, the Republican nominee, raised $783,000 to $1.2 million for Hood. On the other hand,  Bryant raised $4.3 million while Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, the Democratic nominee for governor, raised $1.2 million.

In no other statewide race did the Democrat raise anything remotely close to what the successful Republican candidate did.

Hood, who will begin his third term in January, has the advantage of being an incumbent, making it easier for him to campaign and to raise money. Still, he has displayed amazing resiliency in a state that is becoming more Republican.

He will need that resiliency in January as he becomes the favorite target of a Republican-controlled Legislature and governor's office.