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Mississippi Maggie (AP) — Incumbent primaries are rare in Mississippi. This year, two Republican representatives from the state are fighting to keep their jobs in the farewell to challengers from their party.
U.S. Congressman Stephen Palazzo is aiming for a seventh term and was considered vulnerable after being accused in 2021. Parliamentary Ethics Report He ran out of election funds and abused his office.
US Congressman Michael Guest wants a third term.he Vote for the creation of an independent committee He investigated the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was forced into riots in criticism of being dishonest by former President Donald Trump.
Both Palazzo and the guest were unable to exceed the 50% threshold to fully win the June 7 primary. On Tuesday, Palazzo will face Coastal County Sheriff Mike Ezel, and guests will face former Navy fighter pilot Michael Cassidy.
The Associated Press investigated state records dating back to 1952 and found that US representatives from Mississippi had not participated in party primaries during those 70 years.
Two other members of Mississippi, Democrat Benny Thompson and Republican Trent Kelly, easily won the primary this month.
Guests represent the Third Parliamentary District of Mississippi. This includes Jackson and parts of its suburbs, including areas where guests were district attorneys before being elected to Congress. There are also small towns, poultry processing plants and military installations in the area, and Cassidy is still training pilots.
Guests received 47.5% against 47% of Cassidy June 7 Race with 3 candidates.. Guest and Cassidy campaigned separately last week in the small town of Maggie. In this county, guests were slightly better than Cassidy in the first vote.
Guests call his challenger a “carpetbagger” because Cassidy moved from the East Coast to Mississippi and only registered to vote here in 2021.
Cassidy accuses guests of betraying Trump by joining Democrats and 34 other Republicans who supported the creation of a bipartisan commission in the January 6 attack.
A guest was in it a few weeks after the proposal failed in the US Senate. 190 Republicans He spent months investigating the riots and opposed the creation of a House Commission, which recently started a television hearing. He and Palazzo were one of the Republicans who opposed proof of election results from several states running for Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Cassidy said in a campaign speech that guests did nothing to stop “the persecution of political prisoners on January 6th.” During dinner at Maggie’s Jose’s Restaurant & Grill, Cassidy criticized the committee, which voted for guest support.
“In the bill, everyone said that there were domestic terrorists that day,” Cassidy said.
The guest rejects the idea that he was dishonest to Trump.
“They don’t want to talk about the 95% vote record with Donald Trump, who is the co-chair of the Mississippi reelection campaign, voted twice against the impeachment, and actually spoke against it.” Said the guest. The next day, lunch will be crowded at Zip’s Cafe, a mile away.
The winner of the final between Guest and Cassidy will face Schwaski Young in November. Young worked for the US Department of Homeland Security during President Barack Obama’s term.
Palazzo represents the Fourth Parliamentary District in southeastern Mississippi, including the cities of Biloxi and Hattiesburg. The district’s economy is heavily dependent on the military and shipbuilding.
Palazzo served the Marines and the Mississippi Army National Guard. He was in the state legislature before the 2010 tea party wave dismissed a longtime Democrat.
In 2021, the Parliamentary Department of Ethics reported that Palazzo abused his office by wasting election funds, benefiting his brother, and hiring staff for political and personal affairs. Colleen Kennedy, a spokesman for his time, said the investigation was based on politically motivated “false claims.”
In the primary, Palazzo received 31.5% of Ezel’s 25% vote in a race with seven candidates.
Ezel criticized Palazzo for exercising voting rights, saying that Palazzo was ineffective in representing southern Mississippi.
In November, the winner of the final vote between Palazzo and Ezel will face Democrat Johnny L. Dupri, a former Democratic Governor candidate for 2011, and former Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny L. Dupri, and Libertarian Olden Patrick Johnson.
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