The district, like most of Mississippi, is built on a strong history of
agriculture. Politically, the district has been conservative even by Mississippi standards. What is now the 4th has not supported the official Democratic candidate for president since 1956. Since the turn of the millennium, it has given the Republican presidential candidate his highest margin in the state. Long after this area turned solidly Republican at the federal level, conservative Democrats like longtime congressman
Gene Taylor still held a number of local offices. Nevertheless, it was a foregone conclusion that Taylor would be succeeded by a Republican. This came to pass in 2010, when then-state representative Palazzo narrowly defeated Taylor in that year's massive Republican wave. The Democrats have only put up nominal challengers in the district since then; only one Democrat has managed even 30 percent of the vote. Indeed, the Democrats did not even field a candidate in 2020. Palazzo's win touched off a wave of Republican victories down ballot, and today there are almost no elected Democrats left above the county level. Underscoring this, Taylor sought to take back his old seat in 2014 as a Republican.
Counties Since 2013 the entire counties of
Hancock,
Harrison,
Jackson,
Pearl River,
Stone,
George,
Marion,
Lamar,
Forrest,
Perry,
Greene,
Jones, and
Wayne, along with the southeastern part of
Clarke are counted in this district. Then, in 2021,
Clarke county is redistricted into one county and is added to the 3rd district along with
Marion county.
Jones County, on the other hand, was split into two parts thanks to
2020 redistricting, with the northern part of the county being added to the 3rd district and the rest of the county in this district. == Recent election results from statewide races ==