JACKSON – When people talk about gubernatorial candidates for 2011, perhaps the most intriguing possibility is Bill Waller Jr.

In July and August, around the political speakings at the Neshoba County Fair, the rumor was rampant that Waller was planning to run for governor in 2011.

That intrigue plays on a number of levels. First and foremost, Waller would have to resign as chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court – the head of the state’s judiciary – to gamble on a bid for governor.

It would be a big gamble. His heart would have to be really in the race to give up such a prestigious and important post to run for the Governor’s Mansion.

In 1999, Jim Roberts of Pontotoc gave up a seat on the nine-member Supreme Court to unsuccessfully challenge Ronnie Musgrove in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Waller, 57, has been on the Supreme Court since 1998. He became chief justice in January after the electoral defeat in November of then-Chief Justice Jim Smith.

It is hard to imagine the personable Waller leaving the state’s highest court to pursue the governorship. Those judicial positions are hard to come by.

But if Waller’s ultimate political aspiration is to be governor, then 2011 would be his time to run. The office will be vacant since incumbent Haley Barbour is term-limited. It generally is much easier to win an open seat than it is to upend an incumbent.

Perhaps it’s because his father was governor – from 1972 until 1976 – that Waller feels a burning fire to run for the office.

Bill Waller Sr., now in his 80s, still gets up every morning and goes to his Jackson office to practice law, which he and his son did together before the younger Waller assumed his current position on the Supreme Court.

When Waller Sr. was governor, almost all successful politicians in Mississippi were Democrats. In recent years, Waller Sr. has backed the Republican Barbour, but also Democratic U.S. Rep. Travis Childers of Booneville.

Another intriguing aspect of the Bill Waller gubernatorial talk is whether he would run as a Republican or Democrat.

Since judicial elections are nonpartisan, Waller Jr. has never appeared on a ballot as a party candidate. He is viewed as a conservative.

But Mississippi has many conservative Democrats.

If Waller were to run as a Republican, he would have to overcome several strong candidates. Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant is considered the front-runner, while Gulf Coast businessman Dave Dennis, because of his work as a party insider, should not be discounted.

Other strong potential candidates are Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and Treasurer Tate Reeves. Former Lt. Gov Amy Tuck also is a possibility.

The Democratic side has far fewer serious candidates. Clarksdale attorney-businessman Bill Luckett has no name recognition, although he is busy building support from key groups and appears to be a serious candidate.

Right now, it looks as if the Democrats’ only statewide officeholder, Attorney General Jim Hood, will be a candidate for re-election.

There are other potential candidates, such as Jackson attorney John Arthur Eaves Jr., who was the Democratic nominee against Barbour in 2007.

Against a serious Democrat, Waller would have a difficult time winning a primary. He would not be viewed by many Democrats as their top candidate.

But if he could convince Democratic constituents that he could do something many Democrats currently cannot do in Mississippi – win a statewide general election race – his path to a primary victory might be cleared.

And in a November general election, Bill Waller Jr. would have a fighting chance as a Republican or Democrat.

That is why talk of a Bill Waller run for governor, though perhaps unlikely, is at least intriguing.

Contact Daily Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Bobby Harrison at (601)

353-3119 or bobby.harrison@djournal.com.