Kelvin Butler

Kelvin Butler

Independent

Prior offices

Mississippi State Senate District 38

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Personal

Religion

Christian: Baptist

Contact

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Kelvin Butler (independent) was a member of the Mississippi State Senate, representing District 38. He assumed office on November 16, 2021. He left office on January 2, 2024.

Butler (independent) ran for re-election to the Mississippi State Senate to represent District 38. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Butler filed to run as an independent in the 2023 election. He had served as a Democratic member of the state Legislature prior to the filing deadline on February 1, 2023. As of February 2023, Butler continued to caucus with the Democratic Party. To learn more about state legislators who have switched political party affiliation, click here.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes yearly updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org

2023-2024

Butler was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Corrections Committee
• Economic and Workforce Development Committee
• Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee
• Senate Forestry Committee
• Housing Committee, Vice Chair
• Senate Municipalities Committee

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Butler served on the following committees:

2012-2013

In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Butler served on the following committees:

2010-2011

In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Butler served on these committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2023

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for Mississippi State Senate District 38

Gary Brumfield defeated incumbent Kelvin Butler, Willye Powell, and Trischell Veal in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Brumfield (D)	50.5	9,350
		Kelvin Butler (Independent)	39.2	7,260
	Submit photo	Willye Powell (Independent)	7.8	1,435
		Trischell Veal (L)	2.5	469

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,514
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 38

Gary Brumfield advanced from the Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Brumfield	100.0	7,227

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,227
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Trischell Veal advanced from the Libertarian primary for Mississippi State Senate District 38.

Endorsements

Butler received the following endorsements.

• Mississippi Association of Realtors

2021

See also: Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2021

General election

Special general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38

Kelvin Butler defeated Gary Brumfield in the special general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kelvin Butler (Nonpartisan)	52.3	2,969
		Gary Brumfield (Nonpartisan)	47.7	2,709

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,678
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2019

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2019

General election

General election for Mississippi State Senate District 38

Incumbent Tammy Felder Witherspoon won election in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Tammy Felder Witherspoon (D)	100.0	15,470

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,470
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 38

Incumbent Tammy Felder Witherspoon defeated Kelvin Butler in the Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on August 6, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Tammy Felder Witherspoon	51.9	6,649
		Kelvin Butler	48.1	6,159

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,808
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2011

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2011

Butler won re-election to the Mississippi Senate District 38. He ran unopposed in the primary on August 2, 2011. No candidates ran in the Republican primary. Butler won the general election on November 8, 2011 unopposed.

2007

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2007

On November 6, 2007, Butler ran unopposed for District 38 of the Mississippi State Senate.

Butler raised $48,958 for his campaign.

Mississippi Senate, District 38
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Kelvin Butler (D)		12,125	100%

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kelvin Butler did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Kelvin Butler did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kelvin Butler did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Kelvin Butler campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2023	Mississippi State Senate District 38	Lost general	$63,876	$0
2021	Mississippi State Senate District 38	Won general	$40,063	$0
2019	Mississippi State Senate District 38	Lost primary	$26,936	N/A**
Grand total			$130,875	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Mississippi

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Mississippi scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023

In 2023, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 3 to April 1.

• Business and Industry Political Education Committee

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

• The Institute for Legislative Analysis

Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 4 to April 5. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 1. Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2015

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show].
In 2015, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 6 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2014

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show].

In 2014, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Empower Mississippi: Senate and House Legislators are scored on their votes on education bills. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2023 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

Mississippi State Senate District 38

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mississippi State Senate District 38 2021-2024	Succeeded by Gary Brumfield (D)
Preceded by -	Mississippi State Senate District 38 2004-2016	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Mississippi State Senate

Leadership

Senators

District 1

Michael McLendon (R)

District 2

David Parker (R)

District 3

Kathy Chism (R)

District 4

Rita Parks (R)

District 5

Daniel Sparks (R)

District 6

Chad McMahan (R)

District 7

Hob Bryan (D)

District 8

Benjamin Suber (R)

District 9

Nicole Boyd (R)

District 10

Neil Whaley (R)

District 11

Reginald Jackson (D)

District 12

Derrick Simmons (D)

District 13

Sarita Simmons (D)

District 14

Lydia Chassaniol (R)

District 15

Bart Williams (R)

District 16

Angela Turner-Ford (D)

District 17

Charles Younger (R)

District 18

Lane Taylor (R)

District 19

Kevin Blackwell (R)

District 20

Josh Harkins (R)

District 21

Bradford Blackmon (D)

District 22

Joseph Thomas (D)

District 23

Briggs Hopson (R)

District 24

Vacant

District 25

Walter Michel (R)

District 26

Vacant

District 27

Hillman Frazier (D)

District 28

Sollie Norwood (D)

District 29

David Blount (D)

District 30

Dean Kirby (R)

District 31

Tyler McCaughn (R)

District 32

Rod Hickman (D)

District 33

Jeff Tate (R)

District 34

Juan Barnett (D)

District 35

Andy Berry (R)

District 36

Brian Rhodes (R)

District 37

Albert Butler (D)

District 38

Gary Brumfield (D)

District 39

Jason Barrett (R)

District 40

Angela Hill (R)

District 41

Joey Fillingane (R)

District 42

Robin Robinson (R)

District 43

Dennis DeBar (R)

District 44

John Polk (R)

District 45

Chris Johnson (R)

District 46

Philman Ladner (R)

District 47

Joseph Seymour (R)

District 48

Mike Thompson (R)

District 49

Joel Carter (R)

District 50

Scott DeLano (R)

District 51

Jeremy England (R)

District 52

Brice Wiggins (R)

Republican Party (36)

Democratic Party (14)

Vacancies (2)