MISSISSIPPI'S 4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT


'Mississippi's Fourth Congressional District' covers the southeastern region of the state. The People of the Fourth District are currently represented by Democrat Gene Taylor of Bay St. Louis.

Contents
Cities
Counties
Federal highways
Boundaries
History
Political history
District evolution
Historical representation
Elections
2006
2004
2002

Cities


Three of Mississippi's four most heavily populated cities, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg are in the Fourth District. Other major cities within the district include Bay St. Louis, Laurel, and Pascagoula.

Counties


The entire counties of Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, George, Lamar, Forrest, Perry, Greene, Wayne, and Clarke, most of the county of Jones, and parts of both Jasper and Marion counties are counted in this district.

Federal highways


Interstate 59 is an important north-south route that traverses the district, while coastal Interstate 10 serves as the major east-west route.

Boundaries


The perimeter of the Fourth District extends across the ninety mile coastal southern edge of Mississippi from the Louisiana border to the Alabama border, following the Alabama state line north along the eastern border of the state to the northern boundaries of Clarke and Jasper counties, with its western limit then gerrymandering southwest alongside the 3rd District, through Jasper county and the northeast corner of Jones county, then following the east Jones, and north Forrest and Lamar county lines mostly until it cuts across southwest into Marion to include Columbia, south of which the western district boundary is defined more or less by the Pearl River winding to its outlet in Lake Borgne.

History


The Fourth District, like most of Mississippi, is built on a strong history of agriculture.

Political history


District evolution

Historical representation

RepresentativeTook OfficeLeft OfficePartyCongress
Albert G. Brown 1847 1853 Democratic 30th - 32nd
Wiley Pope Harris 1853 1855 Democratic 33rd
William Augustus Lake 1855 1857 Republican 34th
Otho Robards Singleton1 1857 1861 Democratic 35th - 36th
Vacant 1861 1870 36th - 41st
George Colin McKee 1870 1873 Republican 41st - 42nd
Jason Niles 1873 1875 Republican 43rd
Otho Robards Singleton 1875 1883 Democratic 44th - 47th
Hernando D. Money 1883 1885 Democratic 48th
Frederick G. Barry 1885 1889 Democratic 49th - 50th
Clarke Lewis 1889 1893 Democratic 51st - 52nd
Hernando D. Money 1893 1897 Democratic 53rd - 54th
Andrew F. Fox 1897 1903 Democratic 55th - 57th
Wilson S. Hill 1903 1909 Democratic 58th - 60th
Thomas U. Sisson 1909 1923 Democratic 61st - 67th
T. Jeff Busby 1923 1935 Democratic 68th - 73rd
Aaron L. Ford 1935 1943 Democratic 74th - 77th
Thomas G. Abernethy 1943 1953 Democratic 78th - 82nd
John B. Williams 1953 1963 Democratic 83rd - 87th
W. Arthur Winstead 1963 1965 Democratic 88th
Prentiss Walker 1965 1967 Republican 89th
Sonny Montgomery 1967 1973 Democratic 90th - 92nd
Thad Cochran 1973 1979 Republican 93rd - 95th
Jon Hinson2 1979 1981 Republican 96th - 97th
Wayne Dowdy 1981 1989 Democratic 97th - 100th
Mike Parker 1989 1995 Democratic 101st - 103rd
Mike Parker 1995 1999 Republican 104th - 105th
Ronnie Shows 1999 2003 Democratic 106th - 107th
Gene Taylor 2003 Present Democratic 108th - 110th

#Otho Robards Singleton resigned on January 12, 1861 upon Mississippi's secession from the union.
#Jon Hinson resigned on April 13, 1981.

Elections


2006

Main articles: U.S. House elections, 2006

Fourth District incumbent Gene Taylor(D) was re-elected, gathering 80% of the Fourth District's vote. He is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the House[1]. His district has a Cook Political Report rating of R+16.
Taylor faced challenger Randall "Randy" McDonnell, a former IRS agent. McDonnell, the Republican Party nominee, had also unsuccessfully challenged Taylor in both 1998 and 2000.
Taylor first was elected in 1989 to Mississippi's 5th congressional district, after having lost to Larkin I. Smith in the 1988 race for that open seat, which had been vacated by Trent Lott when Lott made a successful run for the Senate. Smith died eight months later in a plane crash. Taylor came in first in the special election primary to fill the seat, winning the runoff election two weeks later and taking office on October 18, 1989.
In 1990, Taylor won a full term in the 5th District with 81% of the vote, and has been reelected at each election since.
His district was renumbered the 4th after the redistricting of 2000, which cost Mississippi a Congressional seat.
In 2004, although John Kerry, the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate, received only 48% of the district's votes, the People reelected Taylor to the House with 64% of their vote, choosing him over both Republican nominee Michael Lott and Reform nominee Tracella Hill.
2004

2002


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