Mississippi State Senate District 10

Mississippi State Senate District 10 is represented by Neil Whaley (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Mississippi state senators represented an average of 56,998 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 57,274 residents.

About the office

Members of the Mississippi State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Mississippi legislators assume office the Tuesday after the first Monday of January.^[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Section 42 of Article 4 of the Mississippi Constitution states, "No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not have been a qualified elector of the State four years, and who shall not be an actual resident of the district or territory he may be chosen to represent for two years before his election."^[2]

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024^[3]
Salary	Per diem
$23,500/year	For senators: $166/day. For representatives: $157/day.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Mississippi State Legislature, a special election is required to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election no later than 30 days after the vacancy happened. After the governor sets the election date, the counties conducting the election must be given at least 60 days' notice before the election. All qualifying deadlines are 50 days before the election.^[4]

The governor can choose not to issue a writ of election if the vacancy occurs in the same calendar year as the general election for state officials.^[4]

See sources: Mississippi Code Ann. § 23-15-851

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Mississippi after the 2020 census

On July 3, 2025, the state filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of part of a May 7, 2025, federal three-judge panel decision that led to redrawn districts and special elections. The state said the appeal would not affect the special elections.^[5]

A legal challenge to the state legislative maps had resulted in a three-judge panel ordering the state to add two new majority-Black Senate districts and one new majority-Black House district by the end of the 2025 legislative session.^[6] The legislature approved the new maps on March 5, 2025.^[7] On April 15, 2025, a three-judge panel ordered the legislature to redraw the Senate district in DeSoto County and gave the State Board of Election Commissioners seven days to submit a new map.^[8] The panel approved revised maps from the Mississippi Election Commission on May 7, 2025, and special elections in the affected districts were scheduled for November 4, 2025.^[9]

Mississippi enacted new state legislative district boundaries on March 31, 2022, when both legislative chambers approved district maps for the other chamber.^[10] Legislative redistricting in Mississippi is done via a joint resolution and did not require Gov. Tate Reeves' (R) approval.^[10] Emily Wagster Pettus of the Associated Press wrote that "Republican legislative leaders said the redistricting plans are likely to maintain their party's majority in each chamber."^[11] Pettus also wrote that "Senate President Pro Tempore Dean Kirby of Pearl said the Senate redistricting plan keeps the same number of Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning districts as now."^[11]

Redistricting of the state Senate was approved by the Senate on March 29, 2022, by a vote of 45-7, with 31 Republicans and 14 Democrats in favor and five Republicans and two Democrats voting against.^[12] The state House approved the Senate's district boundaries on March 31, 2022, by a vote of 68-49. Sixty-two Republicans, three Democrats, and three independents voted in favor and 35 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted against.^[13]

New district boundaries for the Mississippi House of Representatives were approved by the House on March 29, 2022, by an 81-38 vote. Seventy-three Republicans, five Democrats, and three independents voted to enact the new map and 36 Democrats and two Republicans voted against it.^[14] The Mississippi Senate approved the House map—41 to 8—on March 31, 2022, with 34 Republicans and seven Democrats voting in favor and all eight votes against by Democrats.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[16]

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."^[16]

Mississippi State Senate District 10
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Mississippi State Senate District 10
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2023

General election

General election for Mississippi State Senate District 10

Incumbent Neil Whaley defeated Andre R. DeBerry in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 10 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Neil Whaley (R)	60.8	10,525
		Andre R. DeBerry (D)	39.2	6,786

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,311
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 10

Andre R. DeBerry advanced from the Democratic primary for Mississippi State Senate District 10 on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andre R. DeBerry	100.0	5,076

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,076
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 10

Incumbent Neil Whaley advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 10 on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Neil Whaley	100.0	6,322

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,322
= 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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2019

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2019

Elections for the Mississippi State Senate took place in 2019. The primary was on August 6, 2019, the primary runoff was on August 27, and the general election was on November 5. The filing deadline for candidates was March 1, 2019.