Meet the Candidates: 1st Congressional District of Mississippi

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) – The next congressman for Mississippi’s 1st District will be decided on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Incumbent Republican Trent Kelly, Democrat Cliff Johnson, and Libertarian Johnny Michael Baucom Jr. will all be on the ballot.

Republican

Kelly, a retired Major General from Saltillo, has held the first district seat since winning a special election in 2015.

He served 39 years in the Mississippi National Guard, chairs the Seapower Subcommittee and is vice chair of House Intelligence.

Kelly is a staunch Pres. Donald Trump ally, backing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the SAVE ACT, more shipbuilding, and supports the president’s war with Iran.

He believes the president’s Monday night visit to Corinth helped his campaign.

“I hate war more than anybody because I’ve actually served in war,” Kelly said. “I’ve actually sent people home who are no longer here with us. I’ve got all 29 of my kids that I’ve lost outside on my wall in D.C. So I know what war costs. But I also know what not being strong when you’re supposed to and being weak against an opponent who is determined to destroy you. I’m supportive of what they’re doing in Iran.”

Democratic

Johnson, of Lafayette County, is a civil rights attorney and director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Ole Miss Law.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Johnson said he will fight inflation, protect ACA subsidies, ban Congressional stock trading, and end the war in Iran.

Johnson would be the first Democrat to hold the seat since Travis Childers in 2008, if elected.

“The reason I ran, I saw people hurting,” Johnson said. “I heard young people asking me, ‘Where are the fighters?’ Where are the people who go up and get in front of these politicians and powerful folks and tell them, ‘No.’ And that’s what I’ve done all my life. And I just became convinced that this moment in history, I needed to step up.”

Libertarian

Baucom, of Columbus, is an Army Guard veteran and environmental health and safety tech.

He wants deregulation, which includes repealing the EU Deforestation rule to lower timber and housing costs. Baucom wants to end the war on marijuana, reform immigration, and abolish the IRS.

He said he is not taking donations.

At 31 years old, he said it is time for a new generation to lead.

“It may not happen this election, but it needs to happen,” Baucom said. “I’ve been trying to get people to get into these offices. Get into your city offices, city councils, your state councils. Get into all these public offices that you can get into because these people who are in there now don’t understand the world that we are living in.”

The first district encompasses a lot of Mississippi, from DeSoto County to the Golden Triangle.