Trent Kelly, Dianne Black competing for U.S. House seat in Tuesday midterm election
Nov. 5—TUPELO — An incumbent congressman hopes to secure a fifth term in the U.S. Capitol while a political newcomer is looking to reverse political norms in Northeast Mississippi and capture a historic win.
Trent Kelly, the Republican nominee, and Dianne Dodson Black, the Democratic nominee, are competing on Tuesday to represent Northeast Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next two years.
Kelly, a resident of Saltillo, is running for re-election. A former prosecutor and a current military officer, Kelly sits on the Armed Services, Agriculture and Intelligence committees.
Black, a business owner in DeSoto County, is looking to oust Kelly and serve her first term in Washington. She is the first African-American woman to be nominated by a major political party for the 1st Congressional District.
If re-elected Kelly told the Daily Journal he hopes to serve on the same committees, and if the Republican Party becomes the majority party in the House, he would be the chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee, which has oversight for Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force programs.
If elected to her first term, Black's website says she would work to improve access to affordable healthcare, fight reproductive rights, focus on education, push a strong economy, reduce the harmful impacts climate change
Candidates differ on reproductive rights
Kelly has long been a proponent of abortion restrictions while Black believes women should have the right to choose.
Kelly told the Daily Journal recently that he supported the U.S. Supreme Court's decision eliminating a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, but he would be reluctant to advocate for nationwide abortion restrictions.
"I think the more things we push down to the local and state level, the better off we are," Kelly said about a national abortion ban. "I've found very little that when the federal government gets involved, it gets better for people. It just costs more."
Black was not available for an interview, but her campaign website says she believes women have the right to make personal decisions about reproductive health.
"Women have the right to safe access to contraception, reproductive health care, and health privacy," the website reads. "We all have the right to bodily autonomy."
Black, Kelly share similarities on health care access
Mississippi ranks last in the nation for several health outcomes, and hundreds of thousands of Mississippians are uninsured. Over 339,000 Mississippi citizens in 2021 remain uninsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Black believes state leaders should expand Medicaid to the working poor and national leaders should try to lower prescription drug prices.
Kelly also believes the federal government should try and lower the cost of and improve access to prescription drugs.
"We need to be making sure that folks can get whatever drugs they need at a local pharmacy," Kelly said. "Not just certain chosen pharmacies."
He also believes access to telemedicine should be expanded, particularly in rural areas of the state.
Election Day on Nov. 8
Election officials will open polling places from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Voters must present a valid photo ID at the polling precinct on Election Day.
Proper forms of photo ID are a passport, a driver's license, a college ID card, or a Mississippi voter ID card.
Readers are encouraged to contact their local circuit clerk for questions about polling places and voting.
