House incumbents Bennie Thompson, Gregg Harper cruise to easy wins
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi congressmen Bennie Thompson and Gregg Harper cruised to victory Tuesday evening in their party primaries.
Thompson, a Democrat from Bolton, won his party’s nomination in the 2nd District. Harper, from Pearl, won the Republican primary in the 3rd District.
While party primaries were taking place in all four of Mississippi’s U.S. House districts, Tuesday’s headline matchup was in south Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District, where the Republican primary featured U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo and four challengers, including former U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor.
Taylor, of Bay St. Louis, who won election to Congress 11 times as a Democrat, filed to run as a Republican in hopes of taking back the seat he lost to Palazzo, of Biloxi, in 2010.
Three other candidates in the race meant a runoff was possible. They included Tom Carter, a 48-year-old defense contractor from Carriere; 73-year-old Ron Vincent of Hattiesburg, who lost the 2012 Republican primary to Palazzo; and 24-year-old Tavish Kelly of Picayune.
Gulflive
6/3/14
Magnolia Tribune
