JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Latest on Mississippi primaries for U.S. House and Senate (all times local):
10:20 p.m.
A district attorney and a former state development executive will meet in a runoff for the Republican nomination for an open congressional seat
Michael Guest and Whit Hughes led the vote-getters Tuesday in the Republican contest in Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District.
Guest is chief prosecutor in the Jackson suburbs of Madison and Rankin counties. Hughes was deputy director of the Mississippi Development Authority under Gov. Haley Barbour. He’s now a fundraiser for a Baptist hospital system.
They led four other candidates Tuesday, with no one winning a majority.
The district has been represented for 10 years by retiring Republican Gregg Harper.
Hughes and Guest were the top two fundraisers, with Hughes raising $430,000 and Guest raising $400,000.
The winner of the June 26 runoff faces Democratic state Rep. Michael Ted Evans of Preston and Reform Party member Matthew Holland of Hattiesburg in November.
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9:40 p.m.
David Baria and Howard Sherman are headed to a June 26 runoff in Mississippi’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
Six candidates ran in Tuesday’s primary.
The Senate seat has been held since 2007 by Republican Roger Wicker. Mississippi last had a Democrat in the Senate in 1989.
Baria, of Bay St. Louis, is an attorney and served one term in the state Senate before being elected in 2011 to the Republican-led Mississippi House, where he’s now the Democratic leader. He criticizes Republicans for cutting taxes and refusing to expand Medicaid.
Sherman is a venture capitalist and the husband of actress Sela Ward. They raised their two children in Los Angeles, where he grew up, and the couple now lives near her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.
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9 p.m.
A state representative has won the Democratic nomination for an open congressional seat.
State Rep. Michael Ted Evans of Preston has beaten police investigator Michael Aycox.
A chicken farmer and former volunteer firefighter, Evans has campaigned on using congressional office to aid Mississippi problems including infrastructure, health care, education and broadband internet for rural areas.
Aycox, a Navy veteran who lives in Hickory, was making his first bid for public office. Aycox ran on protecting federal spending and making Congress more accessible to common citizens.
Republican Gregg Harper, who is retiring, has represented the district for 10 years.
Aycox raised only $1,500, while a finance report wasn’t posted for Evans.
Evans will face a Republican and Reform Party member Matthew Holland of Hattiesburg in November.
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8:10 p.m
Incumbent U.S. Rep Steven Palazzo has won his bid for the Republican nomination in south Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District.
Palazzo on Tuesday beat GOP primary challenger Brian Rose, clearing the way for the Biloxi Republican to run for a fifth term in Congress. An accountant, Palazzo served as a state representative before being elected to Congress. A Marine Corps veteran and member of the National Guard, Palazzo touts his support for the military and for tax cuts. Rose argued that, if anything, Palazzo wasn’t conservative enough.
Palazzo raised $550,000 since 2017 and had $413,000 on hand in mid-May. Rose raised $26,000.
Palazzo will face Democrat Jeramey Anderson and Reform Party member LaJena Sheets of Hattiesburg in the general election in November. Anderson, a state representative from Moss Point, was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
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7:55 p.m.
Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi has won his party’s primary, months after being endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Mississippi is heavily Republican; it last had a Democrat in the Senate in 1989.
Wicker said in a recent fundraising appeal that he wants to help the president “enact his America-first policies.” In Tuesday’s primary, he defeated one opponent, Richard Boyanton. Boyanton ran a low-budget campaign.
Wicker served nearly 13 years in the U.S. House before he was appointed to the Senate when fellow Republican Trent Lott resigned in late 2007.
Six people are competing Tuesday in Mississippi’s Democratic primary for Senate. They include state lawmakers David Baria and Omeria Scott and venture capitalist Howard Sherman, who is married to TV and movie actress Sela Ward.
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6:55 p.m.
Polls are closing for U.S. House and Senate primaries in Mississippi.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says people who are already in line when polls close at 7 p.m. are allowed to stay and vote. A spokeswoman for Hosemann’s office says turnout was low statewide.
Six Democrats were in a primary for a U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Roger Wicker. President Donald Trump tweeted his support of Wicker on Tuesday as Wicker faced one challenger in the GOP primary.
In central Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District, six Republicans and two Democrats were competing in party primaries. Republican Rep. Gregg Harper did not seek re-election.
In the southern 4th District, Rep. Steven Palazzo had one challenger in the Republican primary.
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5:25 p.m.
Mississippi election officials are saying turnout is low for party primaries for the U.S. House and Senate.
The secretary of state’s office has 26 election observers in various parts of the state. The spokeswoman for the office, Leah Rupp Smith, says that based on what they are seeing and on phone calls to other places, turnout is sparse.
She says the best turnout appears to be in the 3rd Congressional District in the central part of the state. Six candidates are in the Republican primary and two are in the Democratic primary. The current congressman, Republican Gregg Harper, did not seek re-election.
Six Democrats are in a statewide primary for a U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Roger Wicker. He faces one challenger in the GOP primary.
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11:13 p.m.
Mississippi voters are casting ballots in party primaries for one U.S. Senate seat and two U.S. House seats.
Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker faces challenger Richard Boyanton in the Republican primary. Six Democrats vie for their party’s nomination, including state representatives David Baria and Omeria Scott and businessman Howard Sherman.
Both parties have primaries in the 3rd Congressional District. Republican candidates include District Attorney Michael Guest, former development official Whit Hughes and state Sen. Sally Doty. Also running are Perry Parker, Morgan Dunn and Katherine “Bitzi” Tate. For the Democratic nomination, state Rep. Michael Ted Evans faces Michael Aycox.
In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Republican Steven Palazzo faces challenger Brian Rose.
Runoffs, if needed, are June 26.
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