By Othor Cain,
Contributing Writer,
For the first time in more than a decade, Democrats in Mississippi’s Senate will hold enough seats to deny Republicans a two-thirds supermajority, a change that could alter how the state’s laws are written, debated, and passed.
The shift came after a pair of Democratic victories in newly redrawn districts, ending 13 years of Republican dominance that gave the party unilateral control over veto overrides and constitutional amendments.
The breakthrough began not with a campaign slogan, but with a federal court order. Earlier this year, a panel of judges ruled that Mississippi’s legislative maps diluted the voting power of Black citizens. The court ordered new districts drawn before the 2025 election, maps that, for the first time in years, made several Senate races genuinely competitive.
One of those was District 45, anchored in Hattiesburg. There, former mayor Johnny DuPree, a longtime Democrat and past gubernatorial candidate, reclaimed the political spotlight. His campaign leaned heavily on local issues that resonated with voters like rural hospital closures, grocery prices, and infrastructure. Also, on a message of inclusion in a state where Democrats have long struggled to gain traction outside the Delta. “We weren’t just running to win,” DuPree said on election night. “We were running to be heard again.”
Across the state, in District 2, Theresa Gillespie Isom, a first-time Senate candidate, flipped another seat, defeating an incumbent Republican. Her win—a narrow but decisive margin—marked a symbolic turn in North Mississippi politics, where the Democratic brand has faded over the past two decades.
In Metro Jackson, voters showed up for two key races, one that will reshape local leadership. In Senate District 26, covering parts of Hinds and Madison counties, several candidates vied to succeed longtime Senator John Horhn. Early unofficial tallies concluded Kamesha Mumford emerged as the top vote-getter with about 39 percent of the vote, while Letitia Johnson trailed at roughly 28 percent. Since no candidate reached 50 percent plus 1, Mumford and Johnson will face off in a run-off election in December.
In the race for Hinds County Coroner, interim coroner Jeramiah Howard (appointed earlier this year) is headed into a run-off against Stephanie Meachum after the general election Tuesday.
These local races matter they determine who will sit at our tables when decisions are made about our community’s lawmaking and forensic services. The December run-offs mean that the voice of every voter still counts, we must go back to the polls.
On the national stage, it was a strong day for the Democratic Party, in New York City, the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race in a landmark victory, becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and at 34, its youngest in more than a century.
In New Jersey, Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill captured the governor’s seat in a decisive win, giving Democrats a key victory in a state that has shown signs of shifting rightward. In Virginia, Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger won the governorship and made history as the state’s first female governor, and in California, voters passed Proposition 50, a ballot measure tied to redistricting maps that are viewed as advantageous to Democrats heading into future elections.
Taken together, these wins mark what many described as “a good night for Democrats,” reinforcing that voters across the country are responding to Democratic messages about cost of living, health care and economic fairness.
While yesterday was a win for many Democrats nationally and in state, here in the metro our work is not done. We must go back to the polls in December. Let your voice be a part of the final tally.
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