Jackson, Mississippi– In the general election on November 5, longstanding Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson will square battle against Ron Eller, who won the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday for Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District.
Andrew Scott Smith, an ex-farmer and ex-commercial real estate agent, lost against veteran and physician assistant Eller. After a three-person primary on March 12, they were the two front-runners and qualified for the Republican runoff.
Since her special election victory in 1993, Thompson has served as the representative for the district that is predominantly Black. In 2020, President Joe Biden carried the area by a margin of 27 percentage points.
Having run unopposed for his party's nomination in the district this year, Thompson now serves as the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.
The candidate, Thompson, has stated his desire to lower the cost of prescription drugs, increase funding for historically Black schools and universities, minimize the amount of debt that students incur from taking out loans, and create middle-class jobs "by making sure the wealthy pay their fair share."
According to Eller, who sought and failed to get the Republican nomination for the 2nd District in 2022, he is in favor of increasing domestic energy production and building a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.
Eller told The Associated Press after his runoff victory on Tuesday that he thinks all Americans desire safe communities with excellent schools and plenty of clean water and air for their children to grow up in. According to Eller, "that party nonsense" needs to be set aside. "For the sake of our country and our people, we must unite."
From its westernmost point on the Mississippi River, the district extends into the Delta plains and eventually into Jackson, the capital of the state. In the 2020 presidential election, 63% of 2nd District voters preferred Democrat Joe Biden to Republican Donald Trump.
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