Mississippi's 2nd congressional district

Mississippi's 2nd congressional district
	Mississippi's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2013
	Bennie Thompson; D–Bolton
Area	14,519.68 sq mi (37,605.8 km2)
Distribution	62.67% urban; 37.33% rural;
Population (2006)	711,164
Median income	$35,842[1]
Ethnicity	63.5% black; 35.0% white; 1.2% Hispanic; 0.6% other; 0.4% Asian; 0.2% Native American;
Cook PVI	D+14[2]

Mississippi's 2nd congressional district (MS-2) covers much of Western Mississippi. It includes most of Jackson, the riverfront cities of Greenville and Vicksburg and the interior market cities of Clarksdale, Greenwood and Clinton. The district is approximately 275 miles (443 km) long, 180 miles (290 km) wide and borders the Mississippi River; it encompasses much of the Mississippi Delta, and a total of 15 counties and parts of several others. It is the only majority-black district in the state.

The district is home to four of Mississippi's eight public four-year colleges and universities: Alcorn State University in Lorman; Delta State University in Cleveland; Jackson State University in Jackson; and Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, a few miles west of Greenwood. All except Delta State are HBCUs and are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

From statehood to the election of 1846, Mississippi elected representatives at-large statewide on a general ticket. This favored candidates who could command a majority of the voters, then consisting mostly of white men of property.

Following Reconstruction, the Democratic Party regained control of the state legislature and worked to reduce Republican voting strength in the state. It redefined congressional districts, creating a 'shoestring' congressional district running the length of the Mississippi River and taking in the black-majority (then Republican) areas of the Mississippi Delta. By this gerrymandering, they created five other districts with white majorities.[3]

Election campaigns were often accompanied by fraud and violence as Democrats tried to reduce black Republican voting. Finally, the Democratic-dominated legislature passed a new constitution in 1890, with barriers to voter registration and other measures that effectively disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites for decades, subduing the Republican and Populist movements of the late 19th century.[4]

The legislature has redefined congressional districts over the years to reflect population changes in the state. Districts 5 through 8 were reallocated to the 1st, 3rd and 4th. The 2nd, bounded by the Mississippi River on the west, continues to have a black-majority population. Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided federal oversight and enforcement to protect voting, African-American residents here have consistently supported Democratic party candidates. On the other hand, most white conservatives have shifted into the Republican Party, which would eventually dominate the legislature. The district is one of the poorest in the state,[5] with 26.2% of people in poverty as of 2017.[6]

The district's current Representative is Democrat Bennie Thompson.

Recent election results

2000

2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	112,777	65.07
	Republican	Hardy Caraway	54,090	31.21
	Libertarian	William G. Chipman	4,305	2.48
	Reform	Lee F. Dilworth	2,135	1.23
Turnout			173,307
Majority			58,687	33.86

2002

2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	89,913	55.14	-9.93
	Republican	Clinton B. LeSueur	69,711	42.75	+11.54
	Reform	Lee F. Dilworth	3,426	2.10	+0.87
Turnout			163,050
Majority			20,202	12.39

2004

2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	154,626	58.38	+3.24
	Republican	Clinton B. LeSueur	107,647	40.64	-2.11
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	2,596	0.98	-1.12
Turnout			264,869
Majority			46,979	17.74

2006

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	100,168	64.27	+5.89
	Republican	Yvonne R. Brown	55,672	35.73	-4.91
Turnout			155,832
Majority			44,496	28.55

2008

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	201,606	69.05	+4.78
	Republican	Richard Cook	90,364	30.95	-4.78
Turnout			291,970
Majority			111,242	38.10

2010

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	105,327	61.47
	Republican	Bill Marcy	64,499	37.64
	Reform	Ashley Norwood	1,530	0.89
Total votes			171,356	100.00
	Democratic hold

2012

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	214,978	67.13
	Republican	Bill Marcy	99,160	30.96
	Independent	Cobby Williams	4,605	1.44
	Reform	Lajena Williams	1,501	0.47
Total votes			320,244	100.00
	Democratic hold

2014

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	100,688	67.7
	Independent	Troy Ray	36,465	24.5
	Reform	Shelley Shoemake	11,493	7.7
Total votes			148,646	100.00
	Democratic hold

2016

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	192,343	67.1
	Republican	John Bouie II	83,542	29.1
	Independent	Troy Ray	6,918	2.4
	Reform	Johnny McLeod	3,823	1.3
Total votes			286,626	100.00
	Democratic hold

2018

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi: District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bennie Thompson (Incumbent)	158,921	71.8
	Independent	Troy Ray	48,104	21.7
	Reform	Irving Harris	14,354	6.5
Total votes			221,379	100.00
	Democratic hold

List of members representing the district

Name	Party	Years of Service	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1847
Winfield S. Featherston	Democratic	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1851	30th 31st	[data unknown/missing]
John A. Wilcox	Unionist	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	[data unknown/missing]
William T. S. Barry	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	[data unknown/missing]
Hendley S. Bennett	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	[data unknown/missing]
Reuben Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – January 12, 1861	35th 36th	[data unknown/missing] Withdrew.
Vacant		January 12, 1861 – February 23, 1870	36th 37th 38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War and Reconstruction
Joseph L. Morphis	Republican	February 23, 1870 – March 3, 1873	41st 42nd	Elected in 1869 to finish the term and to the next term. [data unknown/missing]
Albert R. Howe	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	[data unknown/missing]
G. Wiley Wells	Independent Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	[data unknown/missing]
Van H. Manning	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883	45th 46th 47th	[data unknown/missing]
Vacant		March 4, 1883 – June 25, 1884	48th
James R. Chalmers	Independent	June 25, 1884 – March 3, 1885	48th	Seated after contested election with Van H. Manning.
James B. Morgan	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891	49th 50th 51st	[data unknown/missing]
John C. Kyle	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1897	52nd 53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing]
William V. Sullivan	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – May 31, 1898	55th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when appointed U.S. Senator.
Vacant		May 31, 1898 – July 5, 1898	55th
Thomas Spight	Democratic	July 5, 1898 – March 3, 1911	55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st	[data unknown/missing]
Hubert D. Stephens	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1921	62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing]
Bill G. Lowrey	Democratic	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1929	67th 68th 69th 70th	[data unknown/missing]
Wall Doxey	Democratic	March 4, 1929 – September 28, 1941	71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when elected U.S. Senator.
Vacant		September 28, 1941 – November 4, 1941	77th
Jamie Whitten	Democratic	November 4, 1941 – January 3, 1973	77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 1st district.
David R. Bowen	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	[data unknown/missing]
Webb Franklin	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987	98th 99th	[data unknown/missing]
Mike Espy	Democratic	January 3, 1987 – January 22, 1993	100th 101st 102nd 103rd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Vacant		January 22, 1993 – April 13, 1993	103rd
Bennie Thompson	Democratic	April 13, 1993 – present	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th	Elected to finish Espy's term.

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

References

https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=28&cd=02
"Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
Eric Foner, Reconstruction, 1863-1877, New York: Perennial Classics, p. 590.
Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908 (2000), ch 4.
"Rich, poor, young, old: Congressional districts at a glance | Bloomberg Government". Bloomberg Government. 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
"datatables". www.frac.org. Retrieved 2018-11-21.

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

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[1] ttps://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=28&cd=02

[Cook-2] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

[3] Eric Foner, Reconstruction, 1863-1877, New York: Perennial Classics, p. 590.

[4] Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908 (2000), ch 4.

[5] "Rich, poor, young, old: Congressional districts at a glance | Bloomberg Government". Bloomberg Government. 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2018-11-21.

[6] "datatables". www.frac.org. Retrieved 2018-11-21.