The final two seats of an election year in Mississippi that included 17 legislative seats on ballots statewide were decided Tuesday night with Justin Pope and Kamesha Mumford being voted into office in Senate District 24 and Senate District 26, respectively.
Pope will represent portions of Leflore, Panola, and Tallahatchie counties, taking over for the retiring David Jordan, who spent over three decades in the state capitol. Pope is a corporate deputy with Progressive Health Group, a company focused on rejuvenating rural hospitals. His platform included improving healthcare and access to it, strengthening the public education system, and creating economic growth.
“This wasn’t an ‘I’ win. This was a ‘we’ win. We are going to come together and build District 24 up, so get ready,” Pope said in a social media video after being declared the winner. “Get ready, District 24, you have a senator that’s ready to get to work. That’s all I know how to do. The job is not done yet.”
Pope defeated Curressia Brown, a retired educator, with roughly 54% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Mumford was elected successor to now-Jackson Mayor John Horhn, another veteran senator who departed from the capitol during the offseason. She will represent a district that includes parts of Jackson, Ridgeland, Edwards, Bolton, and other areas of Hinds and Madison counties – making for a district she believes is integral to the state’s overall success.
“It’s such a diverse district in terms of having both rural areas and city areas. What I’ve found is we have some of the most hard-working, proud people in our state in Senate District 26, but we have a myriad of issues to address,” she said.
Mumford, an attorney and municipal court judge, said she’s ready to jump right in and help tackle the issues portions of the district face, such as outdated infrastructure, excessive blight, and a need for additional public safety efforts.
“The immediate course of action is me meeting with our lieutenant governor. I know there will have to be some committee assignments for me,” she explained. “I’ll continue to meet with those folks in my district and then I’ve got to get up to speed with our legislative agenda. I have some things on my agenda, as well.”
Other policy points Mumford discussed on the campaign trail include maintaining Mississippi’s historically enticing retirement system for public employees, creating more economic opportunities, giving teachers pay raises, expanding broadband access, and further funding volunteer fire departments.
Mumford defeated Letitia Johnson, also an attorney and former president of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees, with roughly 56% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Tuesday’s runoffs capped off a cycle that saw 14 seats in the House and Senate go up for grabs after a federal panel of judges ordered lawmakers to redraw districts in areas the state where Black voting power was being diluted. Three additional seats, two of which were the ones won by Pope and Mumford, were left vacant by members who left before their terms were up.
For those three, candidates were not allowed to run under a party label. However, both Pope and Mumford are expected to serve as Democrats. Otha Williams III, who won a House seat last month previously held by now-Clarksdale Mayor Orlando Paden, is also expected to serve as a Democrat – furthering the minority party’s capitalization on this year’s special elections.
Here is the full list of winners from the 2025 special legislative elections:
- House District 16: Rickey Thompson* (D)
- House District 22: Justin Crosby (D)
- House District 26: Otha Williams III** (NP)
- House District 36: Karl Gibbs* (D)
- House District 39: Dana McLean* (R)
- House District 41: Kabir Karriem* (D)
- Senate District 1: Michael McLendon* (R)
- Senate District 2: Theresa Isom (D)
- Senate District 11: Reginald Jackson* (D)
- Senate District 19: Kevin Blackwell* (R)
- Senate District 24: Justin Pope** (NP)
- Senate District 26: Kamesha Mumford** (NP)
- Senate District 34: Juan Barnett* (D)
- Senate District 41: Joey Fillingane* (R)
- Senate District 42: Don Hartness (R)
- Senate District 44: Chris Johnson* (R)
- Senate District 45: Johny Dupree (D)
(*) – denotes incumbent
(**) – denotes candidates who ran in nonpartisan races but are expected to serve as Democrats