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Mississippi State Senate District 49
Mississippi State Senate District 49 is represented by Joel Carter (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
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
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
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 49
before 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Mississippi State Senate District 49
after 2020 redistricting cycle
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Elections
2023
See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2023
General election
General election for Mississippi State Senate District 49
Incumbent Joel Carter defeated Glen Lewis in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 49 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joel Carter (R) | 69.9 | 7,926 |
 | Glen Lewis (L)  | 30.1 | 3,411 | |
| Total votes: 11,337 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 49
Incumbent Joel Carter advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 49 on August 8, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joel Carter | 100.0 | 6,032 |
| Total votes: 6,032 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Glen Lewis advanced from the Libertarian primary for Mississippi State Senate District 49.
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.
General election
General election for Mississippi State Senate District 49
Incumbent Joel Carter won election in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 49 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joel Carter (R) | 100.0 | 12,810 |
| Total votes: 12,810 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 49
Incumbent Joel Carter advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 49 on August 6, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joel Carter | 100.0 | 7,943 |
| Total votes: 7,943 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2017
A special election for the position of Mississippi State Senate District 49 was called for December 19, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was October 30, 2017.[17]
The seat became vacant on October 16, 2017, after Sean Tindell (R) resigned from the state Senate. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) appointed Tindell to the state Court of Appeals.[18]
Dan Carr, Joel Carter, and Ron Meyers ran in the special election. Carter won the special election with 53 percent of the vote. A runoff election was not needed.[19][20] Candidates in Mississippi special elections run without party labels.
| Mississippi State Senate, District 49, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Joel Carter |
52.7% | 1,986 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dan Carr | 26.6% | 1,004 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ron Meyers | 20.6% | 778 | |
| Total Votes | 3,768 | |||
| Source: Mississippi Secretary of State | ||||
2015
- See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2015
Elections for the Mississippi State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on August 4, 2015, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 27, 2015.[21] No Democratic candidates filed for election. Incumbent Sean Tindell defeated Katherine DeCoito in the Republican primary. Tindell ran unchallenged in the District 49 general election.
| Mississippi State Senate, District 49 Republican Primary, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|
Sean Tindell Incumbent |
69.8% | 6,204 |
| Katherine DeCoito | 30.2% | 2,682 |
| Total Votes | 8,886 | |
2011
- See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2011
Elections for the office of Mississippi State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 2, 2011 and a general election on November 8, 2011. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 1, 2011. Sean Tindell (R) defeated independent candidate Jason Vitosky in the general election and was unopposed in the Republican primary.[22]
| Mississippi State Senate, District 49 General Election, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Sean Tindell |
66.7% | 6,331 | |
| Independent | Jason Vitosky | 33.3% | 3,158 | |
| Total Votes | 9,489 | |||
Campaign contributions
From 2003 to 2023, candidates for Mississippi State Senate District 49 raised a total of $849,996. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $141,666 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money
| Campaign contributions, Mississippi State Senate District 49 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Amount | Candidates | Average |
| 2023 | $497,141 | 2 | $248,570 |
| 2011 | $103,595 | 2 | $51,798 |
| 2007 | $175,210 | 1 | $175,210 |
| 2003 | $74,050 | 1 | $74,050 |
| Total | $849,996 | 6 | $141,666 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Mississippi Constitution, "Article 4, Section 36," accessed November 1, 2021
- ↑ Mississippi Constitution, "Article 4, Section 42," accessed May 22, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
- ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court coming to address “very narrow, legal issue” in court-ordered legislative redistricting," July 3, 2025
- ↑ Associated Press, "Mississippi can wait to reset legislative districts that dilute Black voting strength, judges say," July 18, 2024
- ↑ Associated Press, "New Mississippi legislative maps head to court for approval despite DeSoto lawmakers’ objections," March 6, 2025
- ↑ DeSoto Times-Tribune, "Judges order new redistricting map for DeSoto," April 16, 2025
- ↑ Mississippi Today, "Federal court approves Mississippi legislative redistricting. Special elections will proceed," May 9, 2025
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jackson Free Press, "Mississippi House and Senate OK Each Other's Redistricting," April 1, 2022
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jackson Free Press, "Mississippi House, Senate Pass Separate Redistricting Plans," March 30, 2022
- ↑ ‘’Mississippi legislature’’, “Joint Resolution 202-History of Actions, 03/29 (S) Adopted," accessed April 7, 2022
- ↑ ‘’Mississippi legislature’’, “Joint Resolution 202-History of Actions, 03/31 (H) Adopted," accessed April 7, 2022
- ↑ ‘’Mississippi legislature’’, “Joint Resolution 1-History of Actions, 03/29 (H) Adopted As Amended," accessed April 7, 2022
- ↑ ‘’Mississippi legislature’’, “Joint Resolution 1-History of Actions, 03/31 (S) Adopted," accessed April 7, 2022
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 All About Redistricting, "Mississippi," accessed May 4, 2015
- ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Mississippi Senate special election," October 17, 2017
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Bryant appoints state senator to appeals court," September 29, 2017
- ↑ wxxv25.com, "JOEL CARTER WINS DISTRICT 49 SENATE SEAT," December 19, 2017
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Elections Calendar," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2011 election results," accessed November 13, 2013
