Republican wins runoff for US House seat in Mississippi (update)
Last edited Tue Jun 2, 2015, 10:48 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The GOP held on to a Mississippi congressional seat in a special-election runoff Tuesday in which a Republican district attorney handily defeated a fellow attorney and Democratic political consultant who was seeking his first public office.
Trent Kelly will serve most of a two-year term started by Republican Rep. Alan Nunnelee, who was first elected in 2010 and won a third term in 2014 as he struggled with health problems. Nunnelee was 56 when he died of brain cancer in February.
"We ran a very simple campaign, and it was about who I am and why I want to be a congressman," Kelly told supporters at his victory party Tuesday night in Tupelo. "God is first in my life."
Kelly, 49, of Saltillo, is district attorney for seven counties, about one-third of north Mississippi's 1st Congressional District. He was supported by Republicans, including Gov. Phil Bryant and Nunnelee's widow, Tori, and was the favored candidate in a district that has been controlled by Republicans for most of the past 20 years.
FULL story at link. Original story below.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cb1c2eeadb6946658cdc9034ce0d964f/clerks-mixed-turnout-us-house-runoff-mississippi
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — North Mississippi voters filling a vacant U.S. House seat Tuesday were asked to choose between a Republican district attorney and a longshot Democratic newcomer who would be only the third African-American congressman in Mississippi since Reconstruction.
Turnout was sparse in some counties, but strong in others, including that of the Democratic candidate, Walter Zinn. Zinn, 34, of Pontotoc, was competing against Republican Trent Kelly, 49, of Saltillo, to serve most of the two-year term started by Republican Rep. Alan Nunnelee. Nunnelee was first elected in 2010 and was ill during most of the 2014 election season. He was 56 when he died of brain cancer in February.
After the Mississippi runoff, the only vacant seat in the 435-member U.S. House will be in Illinois, where Republican Rep. Aaron Schock resigned in March amid questions about his spending. The primary in central Illinois' 18th District is July 7, and the special election is Sept. 10.
The elections in Mississippi and Illinois will not change the partisan balance of the Republican-controlled House. Before Tuesday, Republicans held 245 seats and Democrats held 188.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cb1c2eeadb6946658cdc9034ce0d964f/clerks-mixed-turnout-us-house-runoff-mississippi
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