2015 Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election June 2, 2015 (runoff)
Mississippi's 1st congressional district Runoff county resultsKelly: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Zinn: 50–60%
Aspecial election forMississippi's 1st congressional district was held on May 12, 2015, to fill the term left by the vacancy created by the death ofAlan Nunnelee .[ 1] Republican Party , died on February 6, 2015.[ 2]
According to Mississippi state law,Governor Phil Bryant had to call the special election within 60 days of Nunnelee's death, and had to be held at least 60 days after the call. Prospective candidates had to submit a petition for ballot access consisting of at least 1,000 signatures of qualified Mississippi voters with the office of theSecretary of State of Mississippi at least 45 days before the election.[ 3]
The election was won by RepublicanTrent Kelly .
All candidates ran together on the same primary ballot, irrespective of party affiliation. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff was held on June 2 betweenTrent Kelly (R) and Walter Zinn (D), the top two finishers.[ 1] [ 4] [ 5]
Note: Special elections in Mississippi are nonpartisan. Party identification is for informational purposes only .Boyce Adams, nominee for the Northern District of theMississippi Public Service Commission in 2011[ 6] Sam Adcock, businessman[ 7] Nancy Adams Collins , state senator[ 6] [ 8] Ed "Doc" Holliday, dentist[ 7] Starner Jones, emergency room physician[ 9] Trent Kelly , (Lee ,Pontotoc ,Alcorn ,Monroe ,Itawamba ,Prentiss andTishomingo Counties) District Attorney[ 8] Chip Mills,Itawamba County Prosecutor[ 6] [ 10] Greg Pirkle, attorney[ 6] Estus Pirkle Henry Ross, former mayor ofEupora and candidate for the seat in2010 and2012 [ 11] Daniel Sparks, attorney[ 6] Mike Tagert, Northern District Commissioner of theMississippi Department of Transportation [ 6] [ 12] Quentin Whitwell, formerJackson City Councilman[ 8] Lynn Fitch ,Mississippi State Treasurer [ 4] Merle Flowers , former state senator[ 4] Tommy Irwin, mayor ofCorinth [ 6] Chip Johnson, mayor ofHernando [ 6] James Maxwell, judge on theMississippi Court of Appeals [citation needed Brad Mayo , state representative[ 6] Glenn McCullough , former mayor ofTupelo , former chairman of theTennessee Valley Authority and candidate for the seat in2008 [ 14] Mandy McGrevey Gunasekara, counsel for theUnited States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works [ 6] Joseph Murray, attorney and author[ 6] Tori Nunnelee, widow of former CongressmanAlan Nunnelee [ 6] John Oxford, director of Corporate Communication for Renasant Bank[ 6] David Parker, state senator[ 15] Amanda Tollison, attorney[ 4] Gray Tollison , state senator[ 6] Amy Tuck , formerLieutenant Governor of Mississippi [ 16] Todd Wade , former NFL player[ 6] Walter Zinn, attorney and political aide[ 17] Danny Bedwell, businessman and Libertarian nominee for the seat in2012 and2014 [ 6] [ 20] Campaign Finance Reports through April 22 Candidate Raised Spent Cash on Hand Debt Boyce Adams $358,918 $304,876 $54,041 $245,408 Sam Adcock $241,033 $123,769 $117,263 $120,000 Nancy Collins $198,421 $163,465 $34,956 $141,983 Ed Holliday $121,165 $46,903 $58,521 $100,000 Starner Jones $385,901 $327,233 $58,667 $350,000 Trent Kelly $117,703 $60,553 $57,150 $0 Chip Mills $119,250 $100,351 $18,898 $30,000 Greg Pirkle $291,010 $144,424 $146,585 $100,000 Henry Ross $92,388 $33,390 $58,696 $115,911 Daniel Sparks $27,100 $15,977 $11,123 $8,617 Mike Tagert $371,965 $245,392 $126,572 $0 Quentin Whitwell $119,965 $95,187 $24,727 $0 Walter Zinn $11,552 $8,794 $2,752 $0 Source: Federal Election Commission[ 23]
10–20%
20–30%
30–40%
40–50%
Mississippi's 1st congressional district special general election, 2015[ 24] Party Candidate Votes % Nonpartisan Walter Zinn 15,385 17.41 Nonpartisan Trent Kelly 14,418 16.32 Nonpartisan Mike Tagert 11,231 12.71 Nonpartisan Greg Pirkle 7,142 8.08 Nonpartisan Starner Jones 6,993 7.91 Nonpartisan Chip Mills 6,929 7.84 Nonpartisan Henry Ross 4,313 4.88 Nonpartisan Boyce Adams 4,037 4.57 Nonpartisan Nancy Adams Collins 4,006 4.53 Nonpartisan Sam Adcock 4,000 4.53 Nonpartisan Ed "Doc" Holliday 3,958 4.48 Nonpartisan Quentin Whitwell 3,124 3.56 Nonpartisan Daniel Sparks 2,828 3.20 Total votes 88,364 100.0
Campaign Finance Reports through May 15 Candidate Raised Spent Cash on Hand Debt Trent Kelly $145,843 $123,618 $22,225 $0 Walter Zinn $19,056 $23,597 $(4,540) $0 Source: Federal Election Commission[ 26]
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin of Trent Walter Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 27] May 28, 2015 509 ± 4% 54% 37% 9%
Vote breakdown by county Trent Kelly Republican Walter ZinnDemocrat Total County[ 28] Votes % Votes % Votes Alcorn 2,841 79.25% 744 20.75% 3,585 Benton 696 62.14% 424 37.86% 1,120 Calhoun 1,820 72.57% 688 27.43% 2,508 Chickasaw 1,967 52.18% 1,803 47.82% 3,770 Choctaw 1,141 75.12% 378 24.88% 1,519 Clay 2,092 46.50% 2,407 53.50% 4,499 DeSoto 9,764 78.31% 2,704 21.69% 12,468 Itawamba 3,127 88.53% 405 11.47% 3,532 Lafayette 3,338 58.16% 2,401 41.84% 5,739 Lee 10,723 73.64% 3,839 26.36% 14,562 Lowndes 5,283 63.38% 3,052 36.62% 8,335 Marshall 1,932 46.13% 2,256 53.87% 4,188 Monroe 4,116 64.27% 2,288 35.73% 6,404 Oktibbeha (part)320 64.26% 178 35.74% 498 Pontotoc 4,038 72.74% 1,513 27.26% 5,551 Prentiss 2,528 77.83% 720 22.17% 3,248 Tate 2,041 71.82% 801 28.18% 2,842 Tippah 2,472 80.26% 608 19.74% 3,080 Tishomingo 2,026 84.88% 361 15.12% 2,387 Union 3,663 81.96% 806 18.04% 4,469 Webster 1,728 86.23% 276 13.77% 2,004 Winston 1,860 61.20% 1,179 38.80% 3,039
^a b Wagster Pettus, Emily (February 24, 2015)."May 12 election set to fill north Mississippi US House seat" .WMC-TV .Associated Press . Archived fromthe original on February 24, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2015 . ^ "Alan Nunnelee, Mississippi congressman, dies at 56" .The Clarion-Ledger . RetrievedFebruary 6, 2015 .^ Pender, Geoff (February 6, 2015)."Governor will set election after Nunnelee's death" .The Clarion-Ledger . RetrievedMay 13, 2015 . ^a b c d Cahn, Emily (February 11, 2015)."Chris McDaniel Looks to Play in Mississippi Special Election" .Roll Call . RetrievedFebruary 11, 2015 . ^ Cahn, Emily (May 12, 2015)."Mississippi Special Election Heads to Runoff" .Roll Call the original on May 14, 2015. RetrievedMay 13, 2015 . ^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Sam R. Hall (March 4, 2015)."Rumored, running or out for #MS01 congressional race" .The Clarion-Ledger . RetrievedMarch 4, 2015 . ^a b Guajardo, Rod (March 17, 2015)."Two more to join congressional race" .Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal . RetrievedMarch 18, 2015 . ^a b c "Candidates Jump into Mississippi Congressional Race" .WTOK-TV . RetrievedFebruary 26, 2015 .^ Harrison, Bobby (March 11, 2015)."ER physician enters 1st District race" .Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal . RetrievedMarch 18, 2015 . ^ "County prosecutor enters Congressional race" .WTVA the original on March 6, 2015. RetrievedMarch 2, 2015 .^ Wagster Pettus, Emily (March 12, 2015)."North Mississippi US House race grows to 11 candidates" .Sun Herald .Associated Press . Archived fromthe original on March 16, 2015. RetrievedMarch 16, 2015 . ^ "MS Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert Announces Candidacy For United States Congress #MS01" .Yall Politics . March 9, 2015. RetrievedMarch 9, 2015 .^ Wagster Pettus, Emily (February 26, 2015)."MS state Rep @ChrisBrownHD20 says he's not running for Congress bec dad's retiring & he needs to spend more time w family RV dealerships" . Twitter. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2015 . ^ Harrison, Bobby (February 20, 2015)."Bryant tabs McCullough for College Board" .Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal . RetrievedFebruary 20, 2015 . ^ "State Sen. David Parker will not seek MS01 seat" .Yall Politics . February 20, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2015 .^a b "MS-01: Alan Nunnelee Has Died" .Red Racing Horses . February 6, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2015 .^ Nave, R.L. (March 27, 2015)."Politico Walter Zinn to Seek 1st CD Seat" .Jackson Free Press . RetrievedMarch 27, 2015 . ^a b c Biggs, DeMiktric (February 11, 2015)."Dems, GOP Mulling Congressional Bids in MS01" .Mississippi Political Pulse . RetrievedFebruary 12, 2015 . ^ Hall, Sam R. (February 11, 2015)."Presley won't be among Congressional candidates" .The Clarion-Ledger . RetrievedFebruary 12, 2015 . ^ Easley, Jonathan (March 25, 2015)."Crowded field for open Miss. House seat" .The Hill . RetrievedMarch 25, 2015 . ^ Dave Wasserman (May 1, 2015)."Uncertainty Reigns as MS-01 Special Approaches" . RetrievedJanuary 2, 2022 . ^ "Mississippi 1 Special: Republicans Avoid '08 Redo" . The Rothenberg Political Report. March 6, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2022 .^ "Summary Reports Search Results - 2015–2016 Cycle" . fec.gov. Archived fromthe original on July 13, 2012. RetrievedMay 14, 2015 .^ "Total Votes Reported by County for the 2015 Special Election" (PDF) . Mississippi Secretary of State. RetrievedJuly 26, 2019 .^ Dave Wasserman (May 15, 2015)."MS-01: Kelly Virtually Assured of Runoff Victory" . RetrievedJanuary 2, 2022 . ^ "Summary Reports Search Results - 2015–2016 Cycle" . fec.gov. Archived fromthe original on July 13, 2012. RetrievedMay 24, 2015 .^ Gravis Marketing ^a b Hosemann, Delbert (June 12, 2015)."US House, Congressional District 1 Certification" (PDF) .Secretary of State of Mississippi Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 8, 2025 .
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