- The qualifying period ends Monday, June 9 with the Primary Election on August 5 and General Election on November 4.
Special legislative elections are being held in north Mississippi and the Pine Belt later this year as a result of a federal three-judge panel ruling that mandated new legislative district boundaries be drawn to increase majority minority districts. This affected more than a dozen legislative districts.
Qualifying for these special elections under the new district boundaries began Monday, June 2, and ends Monday, June 9.
The special elections will include party Primary Elections on August 5. The General Election will be November 4.
Announced Candidates
While the Mississippi Republican Party is publishing an online list of candidates who qualify for the special legislative elections, the Mississippi Democratic Party is not.
Democrat Party chairman and State Rep. Cheikh Taylor told Magnolia Tribune that they will release their full list when the qualifying period ends. However, that is not stopping Democrat candidates from hitting the ground running and announcing their runs on their own.
As of Friday morning, the following candidates – Republicans and Democrats – have announced they are running in the special legislative elections:
Senate District 1
- Michael McLendon (incumbent) – Republican
- Jon Stevenson – Republican
Senate District 2
- Charlie Hoots – Republican
- Theresa Gillespie Isom – Democrat
- Note: Incumbent Senator David Parker announced Thursday he would not be seeking re-election
Senate District 11
- Reginald Jackson (incumbent) – Democrat
Senate District 19
- Kevin Blackwell (incumbent) – Republican
Senate District 34
- Juan Barnett (incumbent) – Democrat
Senate District 41
- Joey Fillingane (incumbent) – Republican
Senate District 42
- Robin Robinson (incumbent) – Republican
Senate District 44
- Chris Johnson (incumbent) – Republican
- Christopher Lott – Republican
- Note: State Senator John Polk was paired with Johnson during the redistricting process but Polk decided to retire from the Senate instead of seeking re-election and running against Johnson.
Senate District 45
- Anna Rush – Republican
- Johnny DuPree – Democrat
House District 16
- Rickey Thompson (incumbent) – Democrat
- Brady Davis – Democrat
House District 22
- Jonathan Lancaster (incumbent) – Republican
House District 36
- Karl Gibbs (incumbent) – Democrat
House District 39
- Dana McLean (incumbent) – Republican
- Mitchell Wiggins – Republican
House District 41
- Kabir Karriem (incumbent) – Democrat
Other Special Legislative Elections Coming
With Tuesday’s municipal election, two other special legislative elections will be forthcoming once State Senator John Horhn (D) and State Rep. Orlando Paden (D) resign to become mayors.
State Senator Horhn is the mayor-elect of Jackson. He represents Senate District 26 and has served in the Legislature since 1993. He is currently the chairman of the Senate Housing Committee and vice chair of the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
State Rep. Paden is the mayor-elect for Clarksdale. He represents House District 26 and has served since 2016. He is the vice chair of the House Housing Committee.
The two take the reins at their respective city hall on July 1.
In addition, State Senator David Jordan (D) announced during the special session last week that he would be retiring from serving Senate District 24. He has served since 1993 and is the chairman of the Senate Enrolled Bills Committee.
All three are considered safe Democrat districts.
Governor Tate Reeves (R) will have 30 days to set the special elections to fill these unexpired terms once they resign.
With the other special legislative elections already scheduled for November, it is likely that Reeves would also set these for the same date.
Frank Corder
