Mississippi voters to decide whether to send longtime Rep. Thompson back to Washington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Democrats on Tuesday will decide between longtime U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and his 34-year-old primary challenger in a race that reflects generational struggle for control of the party.

Thompson, a 78-year-old civil rights leader who chaired the House Jan. 6 Committee and serves as a ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, has held his seat for more than three decades. He is running against Evan Turnage, an antitrust lawyer who previously worked for top Democrats in Washington, and Pertis Herman Williams III, who has called for a new era of leadership.

Turnage is part of a wave of young Democrats who are hoping to oust older incumbents and usher in a new era. He has staked his candidacy on a message of economic populism and cast himself as a leader capable of understanding and regulating Big Tech and artificial intelligence.

Turnage faces an uphill battle against Thompson, who has more than $1.5 million in his bank account. Since mid-December, Turnage's campaign has raised just over $200,000 and has a little under $40,000 left to spend.

Posing an additional challenge is Thompson's incumbency advantage.

Marvin King, an associate professor of political science at the University of Mississippi, said Thompson's 17 terms in Congress have made him an institution in a state where voters tend to reelect incumbents.

“He's basically been there like half of people's lives on average,” King said. “No other challenger has effectively shown why Bennie Thompson should be dethroned.”

Thompson has faced a few meaningful challengers from both the right and left, but none of his races have been considered close, King said.

The two are vying for control of Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District. The district stretches from the central part of the state west to the Mississippi River and is a majority Black Democratic stronghold in a state led mainly by Republicans.

Given the district's demographic makeup, whoever wins the Democratic primary on Tuesday will likely succeed in November's general election.

On the Republican side, Ron Eller, a military veteran and physician assistant, is running against Kevin Wilson, an oilman and county supervisor. Thompson previously defeated Eller in 2024, winning with 62% of the vote.

George B. Jones, left, and Jessie Ree Jones pose for a portrait after casting their votes in Mississippi's Democratic primary on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

FILE - Democrat Evan Turnage, who is challenging Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in the March primary, poses for a portrait in Jackson, Miss., Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates, File)

FILE - Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., right speaks as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., left listens during a hearing on the 5th anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Mark Hopson holds up a campaign sign for U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson outside a polling location in Jackson, Miss. on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed.

Ivey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole, marking just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency of a death row inmate since taking office in 2017.

Burton was sentenced to death for the 1991 shooting death of a customer, Doug Battle, during a store robbery. However, another man, Derrick DeBruce, shot Battle after Burton had left the building. DeBruce's death sentence was later reduced on appeal to life in prison.

Ivey, who has presided over 25 executions, said she firmly believes in the death penalty as "just punishment for society’s most heinous offenders," but said it also must be administered fairly and proportionately.

“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances. I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not,” Ivey said in a statement.

Burton was scheduled to be executed Thursday night by nitrogen gas.

Battle was shot in the back during an Aug. 16, 1991, robbery of an AutoZone auto parts store in Talladega. Court testimony indicated that DeBruce shot Battle after Burton and other robbers had left the store. Battle had entered the store as the robbery was winding down and exchanged words with DeBruce.

Burton’s supporters and family members had urged Ivey to consider clemency for the inmate, who is sometimes confined to a wheelchair. Multiple jurors from Burton’s 1992 trial were among those urging his life be spared. Battle’s daughter sent a letter to Ivey urging clemency, asking “how does it legally make sense” to execute Burton.

Members of Burton's legal team cheered when they received the news Tuesday.

“I’m just so happy, so happy. It’s just tears of joy,” Burton’s daughter, Lois Harris, said through sobs during a telephone interview. Harris said she wants to thank Ivey for her decision.

Burton told The Associated Press last month that no one was supposed to be injured in the robbery and that he didn't know until later that DeBruce had shot anyone.

“I didn’t know anything about nobody getting hurt until we were on the way back. No, nobody supposed to get hurt,” Burton said in a telephone interview from Alabama’s Holman Correctional Facility

Burton said he wants to apologize to Battle’s family. “I’m so sorry. If I had the power to bring him back, I would. I’m so sorry,” Burton said.

People gather outside the Alabama Governor's Mansion in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 16, 2026, to urge Gov. Kay Ivey to grant clemency to Sonny Burton, who is scheduled to be executed on March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)