Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election, 2015

See also: Mississippi elections, 2015

Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election, 2015

June 2, 2015 (runoff) May 12, 2015 (blanket)
Mississippi's 1st congressional district
Nominee Trent Kelly Walter Zinn Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 68,852 29,402 Percentage 70.08% 29.92%
U.S. Representative before election Alan Nunnelee Republican Elected U.S. Representative Trent Kelly Republican

A special election for Mississippi's 1st congressional district was held on May 12, 2015, to fill the term left by the vacancy created by the death of Alan Nunnelee. Nunnelee, a member of the Republican Party, died on February 6, 2015.

According to Mississippi state law, Governor Phil Bryant must call the special election within 60 days of Nunnelee's death, and it must be held at least 60 days after the call. Prospective candidates need to submit a petition for ballot access consisting of at least 1,000 signatures of qualified Mississippi voters with the office of the Secretary of State of Mississippi at least 45 days before the election.

The election was won by Republican Trent Kelly.

Election format

All candidates ran together on the same primary ballot, irrespective of party affiliation. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff was held on June 2 between Trent Kelly (R) and Walter Zinn (D), the top two finishers.

Candidates

Republican Party

Declared

• Boyce Adams, nominee for the Northern District of the Mississippi Public Service Commission in 2011
• Sam Adcock, businessman
• Nancy Adams Collins, State Senator
• Ed "Doc" Holliday, dentist
• Starner Jones, emergency room physician
• Trent Kelly, (Lee, Pontotoc, Alcorn, Monroe, Itawamba, Prentiss and Tishomingo Counties) District Attorney
• Chip Mills, Itawamba County Prosecutor
• Greg Pirkle, attorney
• Henry Ross, former Mayor of Eupora and candidate for the seat in 2010 and 2012
• Daniel Sparks, attorney
• Mike Tagert, Northern District Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Transportation
• Quentin Whitwell, former Jackson City Councilman

Withdrew

• Chris Brown, State Representative

Declined

• Lynn Fitch, Mississippi State Treasurer
• Merle Flowers, former state senator
• Tommy Irwin, mayor of Corinth
• Chip Johnson, mayor of Hernando
• James Maxwell, judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals
• Brad Mayo, state representative
• Glenn McCullough, former mayor of Tupelo, former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and candidate for the seat in 2008
• Mandy McGrevey Gunasekara, counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
• Joseph Murray, attorney and author
• Tori Nunnelee, widow of former Congressman Alan Nunnelee
• John Oxford, director of Corporate Communication for Renasant Bank
• David Parker, state senator
• Amanda Tollison, attorney
• Gray Tollison, state senator
• Amy Tuck, former Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
• Todd Wade, former NFL player

Democratic Party

Declared

• Walter Zinn, attorney and political aide

Declined

• Hob Bryan, State Senator
• Travis Childers, former U.S. Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2014
• Steve Holland, State Representative
• Eric Powell, former State Senator
• Brandon Presley, Public Service Commissioner and former Mayor of Nettleton (running for re-election)
• Scott Ross, former Mayor of West Point
• Jason Shelton, Mayor of Tupelo

Libertarian Party

Did Not File

• Danny Bedwell, businessman and Libertarian nominee for the seat in 2012 and 2014

General election

Fundraising

Campaign Finance Reports through April 22
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on Hand	Debt
Boyce Adams	$358,918	$304,876	$54,041	$245,408
Sam Adcock	$241,033	$123,769	$117,263	$120,000
Nancy Collins	$198,421	$163,465	$34,956	$141,983
Ed Holliday	$121,165	$46,903	$58,521	$100,000
Starner Jones	$385,901	$327,233	$58,667	$350,000
Trent Kelly	$117,703	$60,553	$57,150	$0
Chip Mills	$119,250	$100,351	$18,898	$30,000
Greg Pirkle	$291,010	$144,424	$146,585	$100,000
Henry Ross	$92,388	$33,390	$58,696	$115,911
Daniel Sparks	$27,100	$15,977	$11,123	$8,617
Mike Tagert	$371,965	$245,392	$126,572	$0
Quentin Whitwell	$119,965	$95,187	$24,727	$0
Walter Zinn	$11,552	$8,794	$2,752	$0
Source: Federal Election Commission

Results

Mississippi's 1st congressional district special general election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter Zinn	15,135	17.34
	Republican	Trent Kelly	14,239	16.31
	Republican	Mike Tagert	11,115	12.73
	Republican	Greg Pirkle	7,094	8.13
	Republican	Starner Jones	6,951	7.96
	Republican	Chip Mills	6,804	7.80
	Republican	Henry Ross	4,285	4.91
	Republican	Sam Adcock	3,962	4.54
	Republican	Boyce Adams	3,938	4.51
	Republican	Nancy Adams Collins	3,938	4.51
	Republican	Ed "Doc" Holliday	3,930	4.50
	Republican	Quentin Whitwell	3,106	3.56
	Republican	Daniel Sparks	2,790	3.20
Total votes			87,287	100

Runoff election

Fundraising

Campaign Finance Reports through May 15
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on Hand	Debt
Trent Kelly	$145,843	$123,618	$22,225	$0
Walter Zinn	$19,056	$23,597	$(4,540)	$0
Source: Federal Election Commission

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Trent Kelly (R)	Walter Zinn (D)	Undecided
Gravis Marketing	May 28, 2015	509	± 4%	54%	37%	9%

Results

Mississippi's 1st congressional district special runoff election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Trent Kelly	68,852	70.08%
	Democratic	Walter Zinn	29,402	29.92%
Total votes			98,254	100

External links

• Trent Kelly campaign website
• Walter Zinn campaign website