Absentee voting has begun for several special legislative elections in Mississippi, which have the potential to add more Democratic seats in a state controlled by Republicans. 

​​A federal three-judge panel ordered Mississippi to conduct special elections for 14 legislative seats this year because the court determined lawmakers diluted Black voting strength when they redrew districts in 2022.

Seven races are on the ballot for the Nov. 4 general election: six in the Senate and one in the House. But most of the attention will be on three specific elections that were at the heart of the federal litigation. 

SEE THE MISSISSIPPI TODAY 2025 SPECIAL ELECTION GUIDE

The state complied with the federal panel’s order by creating two majority-Black Senate districts with no incumbents in them and by significantly redrawing one House district. 

Senate District 2 contains portions of DeSoto and Tunica counties. Charlie Hoots is the Republican nominee, and Theresa Isom is the Democratic nominee. Neither has been elected to the Legislature before. 

Sen. David Parker, a Republican from Olive Branch, was the incumbent in this district, but he announced over the summer that he would not run in the new district. 

Senate District 45 includes portions of Forrest and Lamar counties. This is a new district without an incumbent. Johnny DuPree is the Democratic nominee, and Anna Rush is the Republican nominee. DuPree is the former mayor of Hattiesburg, and Rush is an attorney in Hattiesburg. 

House District 22 involves portions of Chickasaw, Clay and Monroe counties. Jon Lancaster is the Republican nominee, and Justin Crosby is the Democratic nominee. 

Unlike the two Senate races, Lancaster is an incumbent, currently in his second term. First elected as a Democrat in 2019, Lancaster switched to the Republican Party in 2021. 

Republican House members are expected to fight to keep Lancaster in office, while national and state Democratic leaders are hoping to flip a GOP seat to a Democratic one in a rural area. 

Seven candidates are also vying for a state Senate seat left open by John Horhn after he became Jackson’s mayor in July. He had represented District 26, which spans across north Jackson into parts of rural Hinds and Madison counties, since 1993.

READ MORE: Senate District 26 Special Election Guide

Unlike the other races, the seven candidates in the Hinds County race will appear on the ballot without a partisan affiliation.

Voters have until noon Nov. 1 to cast an absentee ballot in person at their county circuit clerk’s office. To vote by absentee, a voter must provide a legal excuse for being unable to vote in person on Nov. 4.  

If voters have questions about voting on Election Day, they can contact their local circuit clerk or the secretary of state’s elections hotline at 1-800-829-6786. For more voter information, visit the secretary of state’s Elections and Voting Portal.