Republican Mike Ezell takes decisive win in Mississippi's 4th congressional district

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell will be Mississippi’s next District 4 congressman after defeating Democrat Johnny DuPree and Libertarian Alden Johnson in the midterm election.

"I'm ready to go to work," he said. "I'm so grateful to the people in this district who have entrusted me the opportunity to serve as a congressman."

In his acceptance speech, given shortly before the Associated Press called the race in his favor, Ezell said he will be "available and accountable" to his constituents, regardless of whether they voted for him.

Ezell won by nearly 75% of the vote with 99 percent of the vote counted. Ezell swept every county in the district.

The election win was bittersweet for Ezell, since it means he will have to leave the job he loves.

"It's been a joy serving the citizens of Jackson County," he said. "That's all I've done. My whole life has been a policeman."

The 63-year-old Republican defeated incumbent Steven Palazzo in a runoff following the June primary races.

Ezell said earlier Tuesday if he won, his priority would be addressing crime and the nationwide push to defund the police.

Border security is another concern, he said. The longtime law enforcement officer is concerned about public safety, too.

"I want to make sure that our elderly are taken care of, I've got a 91-year-old mother. I want to make sure we look after our senior adults who have made this country great," he said, along with the kids coming up.

In Hattiesburg, the mood was festive at DuPree's campaign headquarters in Hattiesburg on Tuesday as supporters waited for election results to come in.

DuPree chatted with family and friends after a day of campaigning that started at 7 a.m., when he and his family cast the first ballots at their precinct.

He traveled to the Coast and back to the Pine Belt to meet and greet anyone who would lend an ear.

"To boil it down, I'm doing this for my children, for my grandchildren," he said. "It's to leave a better world than I lived in."

He said it's important for Congress to focus on the people at the kitchen table, the people on Main Street. And he hopes the nation's leaders can remember what it's like to compromise, to get things done together for the good of all Americans.

"That's the only way you're ever going to get to where you need to get to," DuPree said.

The longtime political leader said, win or lose, there's one thing he'd like to see across the nation.

"I hope that we can regain the hope that we lost," DuPree said.

Dupree, the former Hattiesburg mayor, lost Forrest County to Ezell by more than 4,000 votes.

Johnson last week told the Hattiesburg American he would not be available for comment Tuesday since he was scheduled to work a 24-hour shift as a fire lieutenant/EMT.

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This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Sheriff Mike Ezell easily wins south Mississippi congressional seat