Mississippi midterms: Trump weighs heavily in 1st District contest between Kelly, Johnson

A Democratic political newcomer is hoping to unseat a six-term Republican congressman in a historically conservative district that stretches from northeast Mississippi to the populous DeSoto County on the northwestern side of the state. 

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican from Lee County, is facing Cliff Johnson, the Democratic nominee from Lafayette County and Johnny Baucom, a Libertarian candidate from Columbus.

Kelly and Johnson disagree on President Donald Trump’s performance, voting policy and the ongoing war in Iran. Baucom wants government to be hands off, and supports deregulation and the abolition of the IRS.

Kelly is running for his seventh full term in Congress. He is a native of Union, but has lived for decades in the northern Mississippi town of Saltillo in Lee County. He first won a special election in 2015 to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Alan Nunnelee. He has since been reelected to a full term six times.

Kelly also served 39 years in the Mississippi Army National Guard as a combat engineer, rising to major general. He retired from the National Guard in 2015.

He serves on the House Armed Services Committee and chairs the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. He is the vice chair of Intelligence and a member of the Agriculture Committee. 

Kelly has been a staunch defender of President Donald Trump, particularly the president’s defense and national security decisions. In an Aug. 4 press release, Kelly said he and the rest of the state’s Republican congressmen support Trump’s defense, farm aid and election-security policies. 

“The threats facing our nation require the Department of War to have the resources necessary to defend the United States and protect American interests,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our brave men and women in uniform deserve the equipment, munitions and support needed to carry out their missions and return home safely.”

Kelly also supports federal aid for farmers and the federal legislation, known as the SAVE Act, that would require people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. 

Johnson, his Democratic challenger, has lived in Lafayette County for over 30 years. He’s an attorney and the director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Before becoming a law school professor, he worked for five years as an assistant U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration. Johnson is running to be the first Democrat to represent Mississippi 1st District in Congress since Travis Childers won in 2008.  

Johnson told Mississippi Today reporters on “The Other Side” podcast that he decided to run for Congress after feeling that Trump began eroding historical norms in the federal government and that the administration is eating away at the rule of law.    

He hopes to use Trump’s sinking popularity and the rising cost of goods to raise his profile and convince voters in the rural, conservative area to support a Democrat. 

“With the war, prices, lack of trust in the government, unfavorable ratings of the president, this really is a change election, and there’s some very interesting questions about whether people who have historically voted Republican in the face of all this can take a breath, go into that voting booth and pull a lever for a Democrat,” Johnson said.

The Democratic nominee said he wants to reverse voter apathy in the congressional district by meeting with voters regularly and limiting the outsized influence of corporate donations in campaigns. 

Baucom, an Army National Guard veteran and health and safety technician who has managed mechanic shops, said he will push for deregulation to address affordability and will promote personal freedom and limiting government overreach and citizens’ reliance on government.

The general election for federal seats will be Nov. 3.