| Mississippi's 4th congressional district | |
|---|---|
.svg)  Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 | |
| Representative | |
| Area | 9,536 sq mi (24,700 km2) |
| Distribution |
|
| Population (2024) | 759,824[1] |
| Median household income | $62,159[1] |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Occupation |
|
| Cook PVI | R+21[2] |
Mississippi's 4th congressional district covers the southeastern region of the state. It includes all of Mississippi's Gulf Coast, stretching ninety miles between the Alabama border to the east and the Louisiana border to the west, and extends north into the Pine Belt region. It includes three of Mississippi's four most heavily populated cities:Gulfport,Biloxi, andHattiesburg. Other major cities within the district includeBay St. Louis,Laurel, andPascagoula.[3] The district is currently represented byRepublicanMike Ezell. With aCook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+21, it is the most Republican district in Mississippi.[2]
From statehood to the election of 1846, Mississippi elected representativesat-large statewide on a general ticket. From 1973 to 2003, the district included most ofJackson, all ofNatchez and the southwestern part of the state. In 2003, after Mississippi lost a seat in redistricting, the old 4th District was eliminated. Most of Jackson, as well as the bulk of the district's black constituents, were drawn into the 2nd District, while eastern Jackson and most of Jackson's suburbs were drawn into the 3rd District. As a result, most of the old 5th District was redefined as the new 4th District.[4]
The perimeter of the current Fourth District extends across the ninety-mile coastal southern edge ofMississippi from theLouisiana border to theAlabama border, following the Alabama state line north along the eastern border of the state to a point due east ofQuitman inClarke County where it is bounded by the3rd District and then moves in an irregular fashion south of Quitman until it reaches the county line withWayne County, and then follows the northern and western borders to wholly containJones,Forrest,Lamar, andMarion counties until it reaches theLouisiana state line, ultimately bounded by thePearl River winding to its outlet inLake Borgne.
Interstate 59 is an important north–south route that traverses the district, while coastalInterstate 10 serves as the major east–west route fromNew Orleans toMobile.US Highway 49 is a vitalhurricane evacuation route and is four-laned from Gulfport to Jackson.US Highway 84 enters the state nearWaynesboro and is four-laned statewide, passing through Laurel, Brookhaven and Natchez.
The district, like most of Mississippi, is built on a strong history ofagriculture.[citation needed] Politically, the district has been conservative even by Mississippi standards. What is now the 4th has not supported the official Democratic candidate for president since 1956. Since the turn of the millennium, it has given the Republican presidential candidate his highest margin in the state.
Long after this area turned solidly Republican at the federal level, conservative Democrats like longtime congressmanGene Taylor still held a number of local offices. Nevertheless, it was a foregone conclusion that Taylor would be succeeded by a Republican. This came to pass in 2010, when then-state representative Palazzo narrowly defeated Taylor in that year's massive Republican wave. The Democrats have only put up nominal challengers in the district since then; only one Democrat has managed even 30 percent of the vote. Indeed, the Democrats did not even field a candidate in 2020. Palazzo's win touched off a wave of Republican victories down ballot, and today there are almost no elected Democrats left above the county level. Underscoring this, Taylor sought to take back his old seat in 2014 as a Republican.
Since 2013 the entire counties ofHancock,Harrison,Jackson,Pearl River,Stone,George,Marion,Lamar,Forrest,Perry,Greene,Jones, andWayne, along with the southeastern part ofClarke are counted in this district.
Then, in 2021,Clarke county is redistricted into one county and is added to the 3rd district along withMarion county.Jones County, on the other hand, was split into two parts thanks to2020 redistricting, with the northern part of the county being added to the 3rd district and the rest of the county in this district.
| Year | Office | Results[5] |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | President | McCain 68% - 31% |
| Senate (Reg.) | Cochran 74% - 26% | |
| Senate (Spec.) | Wicker 62% - 38% | |
| 2012 | President | Romney 69% - 31% |
| 2016 | President | Trump 69% - 28% |
| 2018 | Senate (Reg.) | Wicker 68% - 30% |
| Senate (Spec.) | Hyde-Smith 65% - 35% | |
| 2019 | Governor | Reeves 63% - 35% |
| Lt. Governor | Hosemann 70% - 30% | |
| Attorney General | Fitch 68% - 32% | |
| 2020 | President | Trump 68% - 30% |
| Senate | Hyde-Smith 63% - 34% | |
| 2023 | Governor | Reeves 62% - 36% |
| Lt. Governor | Hosemann 71% - 29% | |
| Attorney General | Fitch 69% - 31% | |
| Secretary of State | Watson 70% - 30% | |
| Treasurer | McRae 69% - 31% | |
| Auditor | White 69% - 31% | |
| 2024 | President | Trump 71% - 28% |
| Senate | Wicker 72% - 28% |
The 4th district includes all of the following counties, with the exception ofJones, which it shares with the3rd district. Jones County communities in the 4th district includeSoso,Ellisville,Moselle,Ovett,Eastabuchie (shared withForrest County), and most ofLaurel.[6]
| # | County | Seat | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Forrest | Hattiesburg | 78,208 |
| 39 | George | Lucedale | 25,619 |
| 41 | Greene | Leakesville | 13,601 |
| 45 | Hancock | Bay St. Louis | 46,159 |
| 47 | Harrison | Gulfport,Biloxi | 210,612 |
| 59 | Jackson | Pascagoula | 146,389 |
| 67 | Jones | Laurel,Ellisville | 66,250 |
| 73 | Lamar | Purvis | 66,217 |
| 109 | Pearl River | Poplarville | 57,978 |
| 111 | Perry | New Augusta | 11,315 |
| 131 | Stone | Wiggins | 18,756 |
| 153 | Wayne | Waynesboro | 19,703 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gene Taylor (incumbent) | 121,742 | 75.21 | − | |
| Republican | Dr. Karl Cleveland Mertz | 34,373 | 21.24 | − | |
| Libertarian | Wayne L. Parker | 3,311 | 2.05 | − | |
| Reform | Thomas R. Huffmaster | 2,442 | 1.51 | − | |
| Turnout | 161,868 | ||||
| Majority | 87,369 | 53.98 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gene Taylor (incumbent) | 181,614 | 64.77 | −10.44 | |
| Republican | Mike Lott | 96,740 | 34.50 | +13.26 | |
| Reform | Tracella Hill | 2,028 | 0.72 | −0.79 | |
| Turnout | 280,382 | ||||
| Majority | 84,874 | 30.27 | |||
Fourth District incumbentGene Taylor (D) was re-elected, gathering 80% of the Fourth District's vote. He is considered one of the mostconservativeDemocrats in the House[1]. His district has aCook Political Report rating of R+16.
Taylor faced challengerRandall "Randy" McDonnell, a formerIRS agent. McDonnell, theRepublican Party nominee, had also unsuccessfully challenged Taylor in both 1998 and 2000.
Taylor first was elected in 1989 toMississippi's 5th congressional district, after having lost toLarkin I. Smith in the 1988 race for that open seat, which had been vacated byTrent Lott when Lott made a successful run for theSenate. Smith died eight months later in a plane crash. Taylor came in first in thespecial election primary to fill the seat, winning therunoff election two weeks later and taking office on October 18, 1989.
In 1990, Taylor won a full term in the 5th District with 81% of the vote, and has been reelected at each election since.
His district was renumbered the 4th after the redistricting of 2000, which costMississippi a Congressional seat.In 2004, Taylor was reelected to theHouse with 64% of their vote, choosing him over both Republican nomineeMichael Lott andReform nomineeTracella Hill.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gene Taylor (incumbent) | 110,996 | 79.79 | +15.02 | |
| Republican | Randall "Randy" McDonnell | 28,117 | 20.21 | −14.29 | |
| Turnout | 139,113 | ||||
| Majority | 82,879 | 59.58 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gene Taylor (incumbent) | 74.54 | −5.25 | ||
| Republican | John McCay | 25.46 | +5.25 | ||
| Turnout | |||||
| Majority | 49.08 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo | 105,613 | 51.93 | +26.47 | |
| Democratic | Gene Taylor (incumbent) | 95,243 | 46.83 | −27.45 | |
| Libertarian | Tim Hampton | 1,741 | 0.86 | +0.86 | |
| Reform | Anna Revies | 787 | 0.39 | +0.39 | |
| Turnout | 203,384 | ||||
| Majority | 9,480 | 4.84 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo (incumbent) | 182,998 | 64.1 | |
| Democratic | Matt Moore | 82,344 | 28.9 | |
| Libertarian | Ron Williams | 17,982 | 6.3 | |
| Reform | Robert Claunch | 2,108 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 285,432 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo (incumbent) | 108,776 | 69.9 | |
| Democratic | Matt Moore | 37,869 | 24.3 | |
| Independent | Cindy Burleson | 3,684 | 2.4 | |
| Libertarian | Joey Robinson | 3,473 | 2.2 | |
| Reform | Eli Jackson | 917 | 0.6 | |
| Independent | Ed Reich | 857 | 0.6 | |
| Total votes | 155,576 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo (incumbent) | 181,323 | 65.0 | |
| Democratic | Mark Gladney | 77,505 | 27.8 | |
| Libertarian | Richard Blake McCluskey | 14,687 | 5.3 | |
| Reform | Shawn O'Hara | 5,264 | 1.9 | |
| Total votes | 278,779 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo (incumbent) | 152,633 | 68.2 | |
| Democratic | Jeramey Anderson | 68,787 | 30.8 | |
| Reform | Lajena Sheets | 2,312 | 1.0 | |
| Total votes | 223,732 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Palazzo (incumbent) | 255,971 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 255,971 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Ezell | 127,813 | 73.35 | |
| Democratic | Johnny DuPree | 42,876 | 24.60 | |
| Libertarian | Alden Patrick Johnson | 3,569 | 2.05 | |
| Total votes | 174,258 | 100.00 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Ezell | 215,095 | 73.95 | |
| Democratic | Craig Raybon | 75,771 | 26.05 | |
| Total votes | 290,866 | 100.00 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
30°59′37″N89°05′02″W / 30.99361°N 89.08389°W /30.99361; -89.08389
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