DuPree ready to do it all over again

By Alice Thomas-Tisdale

JA Publisher Emerita 

On a solemn Tuesday, January 6, 2026, marking the fifth anniversary of rioters’ failed attempt to overtake Capitol Hill, a bright light shined through the Senate Chamber in the Mississippi State Capitol. On that day, newly elected Senator Johnny DuPree from District 45 was sworn in by Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann. 

His 2026 legislative session was met with as much enthusiasm from colleagues as his ability to sponsor and co-sponsor legislation, particularly the Robert G. Clark, Jr. Voting Rights Act of Mississippi.

However, due to Mississippi Secretary of State’s directive to move the district maps back to the 2022 lines, Senator DuPree is required to run in the district where he resides, which is District 34.

This week, the first Black mayor of Hattiesburg who served four terms, as well as the 2011 Democratic Mississippi gubernatorial nominee, gathered his supporters in Forrest, Jones, and Jasper counties to inform them that he’s up for the task to not just campaign for District 34 in the upcoming special election on Tuesday, December 22, 2026, but win it!

“The lines may have changed, but my commitment to the people has not,” stated Senator DuPree. “District numbers can change, boundaries can be moved and maps can be redrawn. But none of that changes why I serve, or who I fight for.”

Senator DuPree said he will continue to show up and fight for families and communities – regardless of how they draw the lines or what number they put beside his district.

“My community has always been my first priority, and it always will be. We’ve walked this road together before. Now, I’m asking you to walk with me again. Let’s get to work.”