Editing Ray Mabus (section)

=== Election ===
While working on Winter's staff in 1982, Mabus requested that the Department of Audit supply him with the latest three audit reports for [[Hinds County, Mississippi|Hinds County]] government. The department sent him three reports, with the latest dated 1977. Surprised, Mabus reminded the department that he wanted the three latest audits. The department informed him that 1977 was the last year in which an audit of the county was conducted, and that all audits were being conducted on a five-year-delay. Aspiring to run for elective office, Mabus researched the position of [[State Auditor of Mississippi|State Auditor]].{{sfn|Crockett|2003|p=89}} He realized the office had the power to investigate nearly all state and local government agencies,{{sfn|Nash|Taggart|2009|p=196}} later saying, "I did a radical thing. I went and read the statute. That office had more jurisdiction than almost any in the state of Mississippi. It had never been used. It's the one place you can combat corruption without changing the law. It was sitting there, waiting for somebody like me to come along."<ref name=boyer>{{cite news|last1=Boyer|first1=Peter J.|title=The Yuppies of Mississippi: How They Took Over the Statehouse|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/magazine/the-yuppies-of-mississippi-how-they-took-over-the-statehouse.html?pagewanted=all|work=New York Times Magazine|date=February 28, 1988|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100115050128/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/magazine/the-yuppies-of-mississippi-how-they-took-over-the-statehouse.html|archive-date=January 15, 2010}}</ref> Concluding that it could be "the most powerful office in the state", he decided to run for the position of State Auditor in the 1983 elections.{{sfn|Nash|Taggart|2009|p=196}}

In the 1983 Democratic primary, Mabus faced Department of Audit employee Mason Shelby and former radio station owner Murray Cain.{{sfn|Crockett|2003|p=87}} Shelby was viewed as the favorite of the outgoing state auditor, [[Hamp King]], and other leaders in the department. Mabus and Cain criticized the department for which Shelby worked as outdated in its methods and a part of an [[old boy network]].{{sfn|Crockett|2003|pp=87–88}} Mabus declared that the department was two to four years behind on most of its audits. King wrote an [[open letter]] to Mabus rejecting his claims as exaggerations and asked a legislative committee to conduct a review of the Department of Audit.{{sfn|Crockett|2003|p=88}} Mabus ultimately won the election, and the legislative report was published in December. The committee identified several flaws with the department's structure and practices, and determined that it was delinquent for 581 [[fiscal year]]s worth of audits.{{sfn|Crockett|2003|pp=88–89}}