Mississippi's 5th congressional district

Mississippi's 5th congressional district existed from 1855 to 2003. The state was granted a fifth representative by Congress following the 1850 census.

From 1853 to 1855, the fifth representative was elected at-large instead of by district, favoring majority voters. The district was abolished by the state legislature following the 2000 census, when the state lost a seat.

Boundaries

Although the boundaries of the fifth congressional district were altered after every census, it covered the Gulf Coast region and most of the Pine Belt region in southeastern Mississippi from 1993 to 2003.

It included all of Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, and Stone counties as well as a portion of Wayne County.

After it was abolished, most of the fifth district was absorbed by the state's fourth congressional district.

2000 election

The district's last election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Gene Taylor, who had represented the district since 1989, easily won re-election.

United States House election, 2000: Mississippi District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Gene Taylor	153,264	78.84
	Republican	Randall "Randy" McDonnell	35,309	18.16
	Libertarian	Wayne Parker	3,002	1.54
	Reform	Katie Perrone	2,820	1.45
Turnout			194,395
Majority			117,955	60.68

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1855
John A. Quitman	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – July 17, 1858	34th 35th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		July 17, 1858 – December 7, 1858	35th
John Jones McRae	Democratic	December 7, 1858 – January 12, 1861	35th 36th	Elected to finish Quitman's term. Withdrew.
Vacant		January 12, 1861 – February 23, 1870	36th 37th 38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War and Reconstruction
Legrand Winfield Perce	Republican	February 23, 1870 – March 3, 1873	41st 42nd	Elected in 1869 to finish the term and to the next term. [data unknown/missing]
George Colin McKee	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Redistricted from the 4th district. [data unknown/missing]
Charles E. Hooker	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	44th 45th 46th 47th	[data unknown/missing]
Otho Robards Singleton	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	Redistricted from the 4th district. [data unknown/missing]
Chapman L. Anderson	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th 51st	[data unknown/missing]
Joseph Henry Beeman	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	[data unknown/missing]
John Sharp Williams	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903	53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 8th district.
Adam M. Byrd	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1911	58th 59th 60th 61st	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel Andrew Witherspoon	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – November 24, 1915	62nd 63rd 64th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		November 24, 1915 – January 4, 1916	64th
William Webb Venable	Democratic	January 4, 1916 – March 3, 1921	64th 65th 66th	Elected to finish Witherspoon's term. [data unknown/missing]
Ross A. Collins	Democratic	March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1935	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd	[data unknown/missing]
Aubert C. Dunn	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937	74th	[data unknown/missing]
Ross A. Collins	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943	75th 76th 77th	[data unknown/missing]
W. Arthur Winstead	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1963	78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 4th district.
William M. Colmer	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1973	88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	Redistricted from the 6th district. [data unknown/missing]
Trent Lott	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1989	93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th	[data unknown/missing]
Larkin I. Smith	Republican	January 3, 1989 – August 13, 1989	101st	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		August 13, 1989 – October 17, 1989
Gene Taylor	Democratic	October 17, 1989 – January 3, 2003	101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	Elected to finish Smith's term. Redistricted to the 4th district.
District eliminated January 3, 2003

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present