Ron Eller
- The latest reporting shows Eller up 50.9% with a margin of 440 votes. His campaign said Friday that it is now “mathematically impossible” for remaining uncounted absentee ballots to change the outcome.
Congressional candidate Ron Eller declared victory in the 2nd District Republican Primary on Friday, three days after voters went to the polls to choose party nominees in the midterm elections.
Eller, a retired U.S. Army Captain who is now a business owner and a cardiothoracic physician assistant, was running against Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson for the Republican nomination. Wilson, an oilman from, outspent Eller by nearly $140,000, showing loans to his campaign totaling $150,000.
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the trust the voters of the Second District have placed in me again to be their Republican nominee,” Eller said Friday in a statement. “Kevin Wilson ran an honorable race and is a good public servant for the people of Adams County. Our district is better for his participation in this process.”
A message to Wilson’s campaign seeking comment went unreturned.
The latest election reporting as of Thursday evening shows Eller up 50.9% with a margin of 440 votes.
Any voter who cast an affidavit ballot has 5 days to remedy the reason which necessitated the affidavit ballot being used. Certified results are then to be sent to the Secretary of State’s office within 10 days of the election.
Eller’s campaign said Friday that it is now “mathematically impossible” for remaining uncounted absentee ballots to change the outcome of Tuesday’s election.
“The election returns show Eller won a commanding 22 out of the 30 counties in the district. This widespread geographic support—from Warren and Hinds to Bolivar and Yazoo counties—cements a clear mandate from Republican voters across MS-02 and demonstrates a broad, united coalition heading into the general election,” Eller’s campaign stated.
Eller was the Republican nominee who lost to incumbent Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) two years ago by a vote of 62% to 38%. In the 2024 election cycle, Eller advanced to a runoff in a three-person race, ultimately winning over Andrew Smith with 76% of the vote. Eller also sought the Republican nomination in 2022, losing to Brian Flowers that year in a runoff, pulling in 42% of the vote.
Eller opens the General Election campaign with $37,000 cash on hand as of the pre-primary finance filing with the Federal Election Commission. Thompson, who has been in office over 30 years representing the 2nd Congressional District, is sitting on over $1.5 million.
On Friday, Eller said Congressman Thompson “has left the people of Mississippi’s Second District behind.”
“Though former President Biden was forced to pardon Bennie Thompson for his wrongdoing this congressional term, I’m hopeful that the people of the second district will not pardon him again. It is time for a new generation of leadership aligned with President Trump that will fight for economic growth, secure borders, voter integrity and the constitutional rights of every Mississippian,” Eller said. “We welcome every Kevin Wilson supporter to our team—together, we are going to unseat Bennie Thompson this fall.”
A third candidate will also be on the November General Election ballot, Democrat-turned-Independent Bennie Foster. Foster does not have a campaign finance report currently showing with the FEC.
Frank Corder
