2026 race

MS-01 — U.S. House

3 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Trent Kelly.

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See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.

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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Democratic primary · Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Cliff JohnsonWon
  • DKelvin Oneal BuckDefeated
Republican primary · Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Trent KellyWon100.0%
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Mississippi Secretary of State.

Disclosed money in race
$2.2M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Cliff Johnson

D
ChallengerFEC H6MS01313

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Raised this cycle$849K
Cash on hand: $89K

Johnny Baucom

I
ChallengerNo FEC filing

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Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
1 defeated candidate — show

Kelvin Oneal Buck

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6MS01305

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Raised this cycle$36K
Cash on hand: −$1K
Local signal

Early read on MS-01 — U.S. House

A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.

Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Trent Kellymixed
0 pos1 neutral0 neg1 articles
Cliff Johnsonlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race

Finance breakdown

Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.

Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle

Total disclosed
$2.2M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.2M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$18K
$18K for · $0 against
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Trent Kelly(R)incumbent
$1.3M——$1.3M
Cliff Johnson(D)
+ VOTE COURAGE 4 DEMOCRACY FUND $18K
$849K$18K—$867K
Johnny Baucom(L)
$0——$0
1 defeated candidate — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Kelvin Oneal Buck(D)defeated
$36K——$36K
Where the money comes from

In-state vs out-of-state

Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside MS versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.

Trent Kelly(R)55% in-state · $478K itemized
$261K in-state$217K out-of-state
Cliff Johnson(D)72% in-state · $388K itemized
$278K in-state$110K out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Kelvin Oneal Buck(D)defeated87% in-state · $15K itemized
$13K in-state$2K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't

Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.

Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.

In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.

Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.

About this race page

Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.

Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.

News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.