Mike Ezell defeats incumbent Steven Palazzo, securing GOP nomination for US Congress seat
The crowd at the Grand Magnolia Ballroom was hushed so the announcement could be made that Washington had just called the runoff election in the 4th Congressional District for Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell.
The word came Tuesday at 8:25 p.m., about the time incumbent Steven Palazzo arrived at his campaign event at Patio 44 in Gulfport.
Associated Press confirmed the win around 9 p.m., when 84% of the vote was counted and Ezell had 54% of the vote to Palazzo’s 46%. According to the unofficial results, Ezell swept Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties on the Coast. Palazzo is a Gulfport native.
Palazzo was elected to Congress in 2010 and was seeking a seventh term in the U.S. Congress.
Ezell has served as Jackson County Sheriff since 2014.
Ezell said that never in his wildest dreams did he thing he would be standing among his supporters Tuesday night.
“I just wish I had the words to say thank you — thank you so much from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
“My parents raised me to work hard ... and to take care of other people. And that’s what I’ve done my whole life and I will continue to do that.”
Palazzo called Ezell to concede shortly at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday.
“I congratulated him. I told him he won the lottery tonight, and it’s very rare,” Palazzo said.
Ezell will face Democrat Johnny DuPree and Independent Alden Johnson in November during the mid-term election, which is expected to be extremely contentious this year given the economic issues and social turmoil.
The 4th District is heavily Republican, so Ezell is the favorite to go to Washington, D.C. in January.
The runoff was necessary after no candidate got more than 50% of the vote in the Primary Election on June 7.
Palazzo got 32% of the vote in the primary, Ezell took 25% and Clay Wagner was a close third with 22% of the vote.
Two days after the primary election, the other five Republican candidates threw their support behind Ezell. Most of them were at Ezell’s victory party Tuesday.
“These men have come together for a common goal, which is to be better for our country,” Ezell said of the candidates. They could have gone on the sideline, he said. “But they were true Americans and I’m very thankful for that,”
Palazzo had the support of the business community on the Coast and the endorsement of House Republican Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Representative from Louisiana.
Palazzo said the endorsements from the other candidates are the reason he lost the election.
“When you have six people running against you and they’re coordinating their campaigns, they’re literally coordinating their attacks on one person—it had its impact. But the one thing they couldn’t attack is my record,” Palazzo said.
The 4th District covers from Hattiesburg to the Coast and includes all six counties in South Mississippi.
Ezell said he will be accountable to the voters of South Mississippi
“It’s been the prayers of the faithful that have brought us here tonight,” Ezell told his family and supporters. “And I am so humbled by this. I will work hard for you every day of my life. Promise.”
Asked if he’ll run for office again, Palazzo said: “I’m going to take it one day at a time now.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 9:45 PM.
