03-08-2025
Republican primaries for two state Senate seats set for Tuesday, Aug. 5. What to know
A special election set for Tuesday, Aug. 5, in the Hattiesburg area will bring voters to the polls to choose a candidate in two of the Pine Belt's state Senate races.
The Republican primary elections will be held for Senate Districts 42 and 44. The candidates in the remaining districts on the Nov. 4 ballot are either running unopposed or have no party challengers.
The legislative election held in 2023 was based on district lines drawn in 2021, following the 2020 Census. Those districts were challenged in 2022, and a federal court agreed, that they diluted the Black vote in Mississippi.
State lawmakers were ordered to go back to the drawing board to create new district lines in three areas of the state, with two centered on Senate districts and the third on the House of Representatives.
The new plan was approved in May and an election was scheduled for November with party primaries to be held in August.
Election Day: Where to vote in Forrest County
The NAACP, which had filed the lawsuit challenging the redistricting, did not agree with the plans submitted for the Senate in DeSoto County nor the House of Representatives in the Golden Triangle, and appealed the three-judge panel ruling.
The new plan for redistricting in the Hattiesburg area was not challenged, and the election will go ahead as planned.
Three Republicans are seeking the Senate District 42 seat. If a candidate receives 50% of the vote plus one in the primary election, that person will be unopposed on the November ballot.
If a majority is not reached, a runoff election will be held Sept. 2. Then the winner of the runoff would move on to the November election, but the race will already be decided since the winning candidate will run unopposed.
Election Day: Where to vote in Lamar County
Candidates running for District 42 include:
Incumbent Robin Robinson
RJ Robinson
Don Hartness
Two Republicans are hoping to win the primary election for Senate District 44. The winner of that race will face Democratic challenger Shakita Taylor in November.
Candidates on the Aug. 5 ballot for the District 44 Republican primary include:
Patrick Lott
Chris Johnson, who is the current senator of District 45, will be seeking a return to office in District 44. Although Johnson was elected to a four-year term in 2023, he must run again because the new plan places his residence in a different district.
In addition to Senate Districts 42 and 44, the following races will also be on the November ballot:
Incumbent Sen. Juan Barnett, D-Heidelberg, is running unopposed in District 34.
Incumbent Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, is running unopposed in District 41.
Hattiesburg attorney Anna Rush, a Republican, and former Hattiesburg mayor Johnny DuPree, a Democrat, are seeking the Senate District 45 seat.
Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@ Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Two Republican primaries set for Hattiesburg, Pine Belt on Aug. 5
