Date Set For Special House Election

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has set a May 12 special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House.

The seat for the 1st Congressional District in north Mississippi has been open since the Feb. 6 death of Republican Rep. Alan Nunnelee.

Candidates have a March 27 deadline to qualify for the race, and they will run without party labels.

If a runoff is needed, it will be June 2.

The 1st District stretches from Memphis, Tennessee, suburbs in DeSoto County, down to the Golden Triangle area in the north central part of the state.

It includes Southaven, Oxford, Tupelo, Iuka, Columbus and Louisville.

Nunnelee, of Tupelo, first won the seat in 2010. He was 56 when he died of brain cancer.