Mississippi's 1st Congressional District

Mississippi's 1st Congressional District

Incumbent

Trent Kelly

Assumed office: June 9, 2015

Mississippi's 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Trent Kelly (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Mississippi representatives represented an average of 740,979 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 744,560 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 10, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Kelvin Buck (D), Montravius Hall (D), and Cliff Johnson (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 10, 2026.

		Candidate
		Kelvin Buck
		Montravius Hall
		Cliff Johnson

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) is running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 10, 2026.

		Candidate
		Trent Kelly

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Dianne Black (D) in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly (R)	69.8	223,589
		Dianne Black (D)	30.2	96,697

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 320,286
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Dianne Black (D) defeated Matthew Williams (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 12, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dianne Black	85.0	12,147
		Matthew Williams	15.0	2,138

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,285
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 12, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly	100.0	68,842

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 68,842
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Dianne Black (D) in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly (R)	73.0	122,151
		Dianne Black (D)	27.0	45,238

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 167,389
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James McCay (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Dianne Black (D) defeated Hunter Avery (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dianne Black	79.0	8,268
		Hunter Avery	21.0	2,203

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,471
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Mark Strauss (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly	89.8	27,447
		Mark Strauss	10.2	3,109

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,556
= 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.
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See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Antonia Eliason (D) in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly (R)	68.7	228,787
		Antonia Eliason (D)	31.3	104,008

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 332,795
= 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.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Antonia Eliason (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 10, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Antonia Eliason	100.0	37,830

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,830
= 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.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on March 10, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly	100.0	56,501

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,501
= 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.
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See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Randy Wadkins (D) and Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill (Reform Party) in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly (R)	66.9	158,245
		Randy Wadkins (D)	32.4	76,601
	Submit photo	Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill (Reform Party)	0.7	1,675

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 236,521 (100% precincts reporting)
= 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.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Randy Wadkins (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Wadkins	100.0	11,692

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 11,692
= 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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Carlton Smith (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1

Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 1 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Trent Kelly	100.0	30,151

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 30,151
= 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.

Previous election results

2016

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Trent Kelly (R) defeated Jacob Owens (D), Chase Wilson (L) and Cathy L. Toole (Reform) in the general election. Kelly defeated challenger Paul Clever in the Republican primary on March 8, 2016.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Trent Kelly Incumbent	68.7%	206,455
	Democratic	Jacob Owens	27.9%	83,947
	Libertarian	Chase Wilson	2.1%	6,181
	Reform	Cathy L. Toole	1.3%	3,840
Total Votes				300,423
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Trent Kelly Incumbent	89.3%	95,049
Paul Clever	10.7%	11,397
Total Votes		106,446
Source: Mississippi Republican Party

2015

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District special election, 2015

Thirteen candidates competed in the general election held on May 12, 2015. Since none of the candidates received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was held on June 2, 2015, between Walter Zinn (D) and Trent Kelly (R). As expected, Kelly easily won the runoff in this Republican favored district.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 Special Election Runoff, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Trent Kelly	70%	69,516
	Democratic	Walter Zinn	30%	29,831
Total Votes				99,347
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 Special General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Zinn	17.4%	15,385
	Republican	Boyce Adams	4.6%	4,037
	Republican	Nancy Collins	4.5%	4,006
	Republican	Trent Kelly	16.3%	14,418
	Republican	Quentin Whitwell	3.5%	3,124
	Republican	Chip Mills	7.8%	6,929
	Republican	Greg Pirkle	8.1%	7,142
	Republican	Daniel Sparks	3.2%	2,828
	Republican	Mike Tagert	12.7%	11,231
	Republican	Sam Adcock	4.5%	4,000
	Republican	Ed Holliday	4.5%	3,958
	Republican	Starner Jones	7.9%	6,993
	Republican	Henry Ross	4.9%	4,313
Total Votes				88,364
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State

2014

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District elections, 2014

The 1st Congressional District of Mississippi held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Alan Nunnelee (R) defeated challengers Ron Dickey (D), Danny Bedwell (L) and Lajena Walley (RP) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Alan Nunnelee Incumbent	67.9%	102,622
	Democratic	Ron Dickey	28.9%	43,713
	Libertarian	Danny Bedwell	2.5%	3,830
	Reform	Lajena Walley	0.6%	946
Total Votes				151,111
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State Official Results

2012

See also: Mississippi's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012

The 1st Congressional District of Mississippi held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Alan Nunnelee won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Brad Morris	36.9%	114,076
	Republican	Alan Nunnelee Incumbent	60.4%	186,760
	Libertarian	Danny Bedwell	1.2%	3,584
	Constitution	Jim R. Bourland	0.8%	2,390
	Reform	Chris Potts	0.8%	2,367
Total Votes				309,177
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Mississippi's 1st Congressional District Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Alan Nunnelee Incumbent	57.2%	43,157
Henry Ross	29.1%	21,913
Robert Estes	13.7%	10,355
Total Votes		75,425

2010
On November 2, 2010, Alan Nunnelee won election to the United States House. He defeated Travis Childers (D), Wally Pang (I), Les Green (I), A.G. Baddley (I), Rick Hoskins (I), Barbara Washer (Reform), Harold Taylor (L) and Gail Giaramita (Constitution) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Alan Nunnelee	55.3%	121,074
	Democratic	Travis W. Childers incumbent	40.8%	89,388
	Independent	Wally Pang	1%	2,180
	Independent	Les Green	0.9%	2,020
	Independent	A. G. Baddley	0.9%	1,882
	Independent	Rick "Rico" Hoskins	0.2%	478
	Reform	Barbara Dale Washer	0.2%	389
	Libertarian	Harold M. Taylor	0.2%	447
	Constitution	Gail Giaramita	0.6%	1,235
Total Votes				219,093

2008
On November 4, 2008, Travis Childers won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Greg Davis (R), Wally Pang (I) and John M. Wages, Jr. (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Travis Childers incumbent	54.5%	185,959
	Republican	Greg Davis	43.9%	149,818
	Independent	Wally Pang	1.1%	3,736
	Green	John M. Wages, Jr.	0.5%	1,876
Total Votes				341,389

2008 special
On May 13, 2008, Travis W. Childers won election to the United States House. He defeated Greg Davis (R) in the special general election runoff. Both candidates had advanced from the special general election on April 22, 2008, defeating four other candidates.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 Special election runoff, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Travis W. Childers	53.8%	58,037
	Republican	Greg Davis	46.2%	49,877
Total Votes				107,914
Source: Results via Mississippi State Board of Elections

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 Special election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Travis W. Childers	49.4%	33,304
	Republican	Greg Davis	46.3%	31,177
	Democratic	Steve Holland	1.2%	789
	Republican	Glenn L. McCullough	1.4%	968
	Indepdent	Wally Pang	1.1%	725
	Green	John M. Wages, Jr.	0.6%	398
Total Votes				67,361
Source: Results via Mississippi State Board of Elections

2006
On November 7, 2006, Roger F. Wicker won re-election to the United States House. He defeated James K. (Ken) Hurt (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roger F. Wicker incumbent	65.9%	95,098
	Democratic	James K. (Ken) Hurt	34.1%	49,174
Total Votes				144,272

2004
On November 2, 2004, Roger F. Wicker won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Barbara Dale Washer (Reform Party) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roger F. Wicker incumbent	79%	219,328
	Reform Party	Barbara Dale Washer	21%	58,256
Total Votes				277,584

2002
On November 5, 2002, Roger F. Wicker won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rex N. Weathers (D), Brenda Blackburn (Reform) and Harold M. Taylor (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roger F. Wicker incumbent	71.4%	95,404
	Democratic	Rex N. Weathers	24.2%	32,318
	Reform Party	Brenda Blackburn	2.6%	3,477
	Libertarian	Harold M. Taylor	1.8%	2,368
Total Votes				133,567

2000
On November 7, 2000, Roger F. Wicker won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Joe T. (Joey) Grist Jr. (D) and Chris Lawrence (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Mississippi District 1 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roger F. Wicker incumbent	69.8%	145,967
	Democratic	Joe T. (Joey) Grist, Jr.	28.6%	59,763
	Libertarian	Chris Lawrence	1.6%	3,310
Total Votes				209,040

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Mississippi after the 2020 census

Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed the state's congressional redistricting plan—House Bill 384—on January 24, 2022. The state House of Representatives approved the plan, 75-44, on January 6, 2022, with 73 Republicans, one Democrat, and one independent voting in favor and 41 Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent voting against. The state Senate approved the new congressional map, 33-18, on January 12, 2022, with all votes in favor by Republicans and 16 Democrats and two Republicans voting against. The Mississippi Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting approved the proposal on December 15, 2021.

After the state Senate approved the plan, Lee Sanderlin wrote in the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, “The bill preserves the current balance of congressional power in Mississippi, keeping three seats for Republicans and one for lone Democrat Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton.” Sanderlin also wrote, "This is the first time since the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act passed Mississippi's redistricting will go on without federal oversight after a 2013 Supreme Court decision ended the requirement certain states get federal approval for redistricting changes. A federal judge drew the congressional districts in 2002 because legislators could not agree on a map, and again in 2011 because legislators felt they didn't have enough time to do it during session."

How does redistricting in Mississippi work? In Mississippi, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. Congressional district lines are approved as regular legislation and are thus subject to veto by the governor. State legislative district boundaries are approved as a joint resolution; as such, they are not subject to gubernatorial veto.

If the legislature cannot approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a five-member commission must draw the lines. This commission comprises the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the majority leaders of the Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives.

The Mississippi Constitution requires that state legislative district boundaries be contiguous. State statutes further require that state legislative districts "be compact and cross political boundaries as little as possible."

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 1st Congressional District of Mississippi after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in Mississippi after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Mississippi State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Mississippi's 1st the 46th most Republican district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Mississippi's 1st the 53rd most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 65.1%-33.4%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Mississippi's 1st the 53rd most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 33.4% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 65.1%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+16. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Mississippi's 1st Congressional District the 74th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.93. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.93 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Mississippi
• Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
• Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2022
• Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2020
• Mississippi's 1st Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 1

Footnotes

[show]

Mississippi's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)

Roger Wicker (R)

Representatives

District 1

Trent Kelly (R)

District 2

Bennie Thompson (D)

District 3

Michael Guest (R)

District 4

Mike Ezell (R)

Republican Party (5)

Democratic Party (1)