Mississippi has primaries for 1 Senate seat, 2 House seats

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi holds party primaries Tuesday for one seat in the U.S. Senate and two in the U.S. House. If runoffs are needed, they will be June 26.

___

U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

Republican Roger Wicker, who has been in the Senate since late 2007, faces one challenger in the primary. Richard Boyanton of Diamondhead is a business owner who says in a video on his campaign website: “Wicker and the established party treats the average citizen like we are dirt between their toes.”

___

U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Six candidates are in the Democratic primary for Senate. Attorney David Baria and restaurant owner Omeria Scott are members of the Mississippi House. Businessman Howard Sherman is married to actress Sela Ward and has tapped into show business connections: Robert DeNiro and Alec Baldwin hosted a fundraiser for him in New York. Three candidates are running low-budget campaigns. They are Jensen Bohren, who wants to attract voters who supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential race; Jerone Garland, who says he will push for universal health care and high-speed internet access for rural areas; and Victor G. Maurice Jr., a Marine Corps veteran who says he wants to speak up for fellow African-Americans.

___

U.S. HOUSE 3RD DISTRICT REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

Republican Rep. Gregg Harper, first elected in 2008, is not running. The district encompasses 24 counties in a diagonal across the middle of the state, from the Mississippi River at Natchez up through the Jackson suburbs and further northeast to Starkville.

Six candidates are in the Republican primary. Michael Guest is a district attorney in the two most heavily populated counties, Madison and Rankin. Whit Hughes, who lives in Madison County, is a past deputy director of the state economic development agency. Sally Doty is an attorney and second-term state senator. Perry Parker had a career in international finance before moving back to his native Mississippi. Morgan Dunn founded a health care consulting firm, and she and her husband own a restaurant. Katherine “Bitzi” Tate is a former educator.

___

U.S. HOUSE 3RD DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY

Two candidates are in the Democratic primary. Second-term state Rep. Michael Ted Evans, who is a chicken farmer and former firefighter, is facing Michael Aycox, a Navy veteran who says Congress has too many millionaires.

___

U.S. HOUSE 4TH DISTRICT REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

The 4th District encompasses all or part of 14 counties in southern Mississippi. Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo was first elected in 2010 after serving nearly four years in the state House. Palazzo is a Marine Corps veteran and has served in the National Guard. He faces one challenger Republican primary: Brian E. Rose is a military veteran who has similar positions as Palazzo on several issues, including support of tax cuts and opposition to abortion.