Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) defeated challengers Evan Turnage and Pertis Williams III in the March 10 Democratic primary election to run for Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District.

Thompson received 86 percent of the vote, as of 12:20 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The 78-year-old congressman is a longtime civil rights leader who chaired the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach. He currently serves as the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee and has represented the district in Congress for more than three decades.

Turnage, 34, was part of a broader effort by younger Democrats to challenge long-serving party incumbents.

He previously worked as an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). His platform focused on government reform, lowering costs, protecting voting rights, creating good-paying jobs, investing in infrastructure and education, expanding healthcare access, reforming the criminal justice system, regulating major technology companies, and supporting agriculture.

Williams campaigned on job creation and economic development, emphasizing the use of technology to modernize infrastructure while protecting the environment. His platform also highlighted public safety, reforming assistance incentives, raising wages for working Americans, and expanding youth and professional development programs.

Thompson’s most competitive primary during his time in office came in 2006, when he won about 64 percent of the vote against then-state Rep. Chuck Espy, the nephew of former Congressman Mike Espy, whom Thompson succeeded in 1993.

Thompson, the only Democrat representing Mississippi in Congress, is the state’s longest-serving current member of Congress.

In the Republican primary, physician assistant Ron Eller is running against Adams County supervisor Kevin Wilson. The race was too early to call, with only a few hundred votes separating the two candidates.

Eller previously challenged Thompson in the 2024 general election but was defeated.

Eller’s campaign focused on education, economic growth, energy policy, support for the Second Amendment, opposition to abortion, stronger border security, and voter ID and election integrity measures. He has also opposed federal healthcare mandates, including vaccine requirements.

Wilson’s platform emphasized economic development, agriculture, education, faith and family values, support for rural communities, and infrastructure investment.

Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District spans much of the western part of the state along the Mississippi River and borders Arkansas and Louisiana. The district, whose current boundaries were adopted in 2022, covers roughly 40 percent of Mississippi’s geographic area and includes most of the state capital, Jackson.

The district’s black population is about 64 percent, the highest share of any district in the state. In the 2024 presidential election, voters in the district supported former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, over President Donald Trump, a Republican, by a margin of 60 percent to 39 percent.

Mississippi does not provide for automatic recounts, and candidates cannot request them. Recounts can only be conducted if ordered by a court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.