Every incumbent U.S. Representative in the state will have a Primary and General Election challenge.
Heading into the 2022 midterms, it was assumed the most robust contest in the cycle would be in South Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District. That is still the case. However, with the qualifying period now closed, all of the state’s U.S. Representatives drew Primary challengers and all four will have an opponent in the November General Election.
The Primary Election is June 7th, and the General Election is November 8th.
Based on the candidates who have qualified in the short Primary Election season, the incumbents in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts remain the odds-on favorites to win their Primary and then win re-election in the General Election. Those incumbents are Trent Kelly (R), Bennie Thompson (D), and Michael Guest (R), respectively.
In the 4th Congressional District, Republican incumbent Steven Palazzo has the tallest task if he is to win a seventh term. There are six GOP challengers, and at least two have reasonable name ID and campaign networks, making the possibility of a run-off more likely than not. Although, recent internal polling from the Palazzo campaign has shown him with a sizeable lead in both name ID and favorability.
The 2022 midterms will be the first elections held under the new Congressional Districts drawn by the Mississippi Legislature. The new maps were adopted in January and signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves soon thereafter.
Below is a list of who is running in each of Mississippi’s Congressional Districts along with a district rating by party:
1st District – Safe Republican
Republicans
- Trent Kelly – incumbent
- Mark David Strauss
Democrats
- Hunter Avery
- Dianne Black
2nd District – Safe Democrat
Republicans
- Michael Carson
- Ronald Eller
- Brian Flowers
- Stanford Johnson
Democrats
- Bennie Thompson – incumbent
- Jerry Kerner
3rd District – Safe Republican
Republicans
- Michael Guest – incumbent
- Michael Cassidy
- Thomas Griffin
Democrats
- Rahim Talley
- Shuwaski Young
4th District – Safe Republican
Republicans
- Steven Palazzo – incumbent
- Carl Boyanton
- Raymond Brooks
- Mike Ezell
- Kidron Peterson
- Clay Wagner
- Brice Wiggins
Democrats
- Johnny DuPree
- David Sellers
Libertarian
- Alden Patrick Johnson
Frank Corder
