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Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo faces challenger Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell in Tuesday\u2019s runoff for the GOP primary for the 4th District House seat, serving South Mississippi.<\/p>\n
Palazzo, facing a crowded field of Republican challengers in the midterm primary, received about 32% of the vote; Ezell about 25%, forcing a runoff.<\/p>\n
The two candidates spoke with Mississippi Today ahead of the runoff and a scheduled Friday debate on Coast television station WLOX.<\/p>\n
Here is some background on the candidates, what they believe the top issues are and what differentiates them from one another.<\/p>\n
The candidates<\/strong><\/p>\nEzell, who grew up in Pascagoula, is a 42-year veteran law enforcement officer in South Mississippi.<\/p>\n
He started his career with the Pascagoula Police Department, working his way from jailer to chief of detectives, then served as chief of police for the city of Ocean Springs. He was elected sheriff of Jackson County, a post he has held since 2014.<\/p>\n
Ezell has a degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.<\/p>\nMississippi Today Senior Politics Reporter Geoff Pender interviews Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPalazzo, a Coast native, is a certified public accountant who ran his own business before taking his current office. He is a former state legislator, and has held the 4th District U.S. House seat since 2011. <\/p>\n
Palazzo is a Marine Corps veteran and serves in the Mississippi National Guard.<\/p>\nMississippi Today Senior Politics Reporter Geoff Pender interviews U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nVoters\u2019 issues<\/strong><\/p>\nBoth candidates said inflation \u2014 particularly soaring gasoline prices \u2014 is the top issue they hear from 4th District residents as they campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost of energy is off the charts,\u201d Palazzo said. \u201cIt was to be expected \u2014 President Biden when he was on his campaign said we would end our reliance on fossil fuels. Well, guess what? Now we have $5 a gallon gas. He cancelled Keystone pipeline on day one, killing hundreds of thousands of jobs, and many of those were in Mississippi, where we have pipe manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezell said he hears from constituents: \u201cGas prices, grocery prices, not having groceries in some stores. I\u2019ve talked with some of our trucker friends and they said the fuel prices are killing us, making it hard to get our goods to the stores. People are very upset about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palazzo said illegal immigration, with attendant human trafficking and drug smuggling is another major issue for South Mississippi.<\/p>\n
Ezell said high taxes and overregulation are also major issues.<\/p>\n
Policies and proposals<\/strong><\/p>\nBoth candidates said they would push for deregulation, particularly on the energy sector.<\/p>\n
Ezell said he would work to get fertilizer and other costs down for Mississippi farmers \u201cso they can make a profit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many regulations out there right now,\u201d Ezell said. \u201c\u2026 We need to work with like-minded conservative people in Congress to get some policies in place to make life better for people, like getting grocery prices down \u2026 We need to see about cutting the gas tax, for the truckers who get the goods to the stores \u2026 We\u2019ve just got to remove some of these regulations so that we can help people earn a living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palazzo said: \u201cAs someone who\u2019s worked offshore, I know the importance of American energy \u2014 drill here, drill now. We need to unleash American energy resources and get America back to being energy independent, and I think we can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palazzo said he would also push to re-start plans to build a U.S. southern border wall and increase military spending, and protect tax cuts and jobs legislation passed in 2017.<\/p>\n
Candidates list accomplishments<\/strong><\/p>\nPalazzo said his accomplishments as a congressman include, \u201cI was able to secure $1.4 billion for the border as the homeland security negotiator on the Appropriations Committee in 2019, and we were building the wall two years ago and securing America.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/amp-analytics><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n
\u201cWith the ships we build at Ingalls (shipyard) we\u2019ve been able to secure $26 billion for 26 different ships in 10 years, and that is so vital to our national security, but also to our quality of life here, because of the dependence we have on those jobs created locally,\u201d Palazzo said. He said he has also worked to keep federal flood insurance affordable for homeowners on the Gulf Coast and worked to support the state\u2019s military installations, including for upgrades at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg to expand training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number one driver of the economy in South Mississippi is federal spending,\u201d Palazzo said. \u201cWe have to admit that to ourselves, but it\u2019s good federal spending \u2014 national security, NASA programs, NOAA to help predict storms \u2014 and every bit of that goes through my committee where I sit on Appropriations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezell said: \u201cSome of my greatest accomplishments are being a husband and a father and a grandfather \u2026 I started working in the jail, and worked my way all the way up to chief of detectives at Pascagoula. During that time, I was a competitive shooter, and got to travel all around the southeastern part of the country to compete and shoot and learned a lot of techniques from other officers. I also graduated from the FBI\u2019s national academy, where I excelled in all fields of training and received an award for physical fitness and attention to duty. I am also proud of that. During my time at the Pascagoula Police Department, I went to night school at USM and got a degree in criminal justice. That was a big thing for me. I was only the third person in my family to get a college degree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezell said that as sheriff, Jackson County was the first in the state to open its own crime lab, to avoid backlog problems faced by the state lab and \u201cto save taxpayers money and help all the surrounding agencies in our county have a crime lab.\u201d Ezell said under his tenure his agency has also recently opened its own shooting range and training facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first took over as sheriff, the former sheriff had been indicted and removed, and all the police chiefs came to me and said, \u2018Mike, help us rehabilitate and get this (narcotics) task force back together,\u2019 which we have done and now have a highly respected organization,\u201d Ezell said. \u201cWe have our own budget, and don\u2019t have to depend on seizures or anything like that for funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
What differentiates them?<\/strong><\/p>\nEzell said one thing that differentiates him from Palazzo is, \u201cI will be available. You won\u2019t have to look for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palazzo has for years faced criticism for not being very visible or accessible in his district.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve heard so many times around this district is we don\u2019t know where (Palazzo) is at,\u201d Ezell said. \u201cWhere is our representative? We don\u2019t know where he\u2019s at, we can\u2019t talk with him, he won\u2019t call us back. I will be available. I will be in the district and I will return your phone calls \u2026 General rule 101 with the sheriff\u2019s office is if you call, somebody better call you back and if not, I\u2019m going to be asking you why did you not call that person back. That\u2019s just a common courtesy, be it a sheriff or police officer or state representative or congressman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palazzo said his experience and seniority in Congress, and relationships he\u2019s built over years are needed for the 4th District.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost importantly, I have a proven, conservative voting record,\u201d Palazzo said. \u201cMy opponent has no record where he has ever cast a vote on issues that matter most for South Mississippians, whether it\u2019s pro-life, whether it\u2019s pro gun, pro military or pro business. For 12 years I\u2019ve been serving South Mississippi and I have a proven record of delivering for them on all those issues.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 Seniority is important in the military and it\u2019s important in Congress,\u201d Palazzo said. \u201cThat\u2019s how you get on the key committees and get key assignments.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said that should Republicans retake the House this midterm, he would be in line to be the chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee of Appropriations where he can push for building a border wall.<\/p>\n
Recently, all other Republican challengers in the first primary vote threw their support behind Ezell. U.S. House Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a trip to South Mississippi endorsed Palazzo.<\/p>\n
The two candidates have agreed to a televised debate, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday on WLOX-TV on the Coast. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to multiple debates, Steven Palazzo has not been to any of them,\u201d Ezell said of this election cycle.<\/p>\n
Palazzo said: \u201cI think it\u2019s important for voters in South Mississippi to see the contrast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winner of the June 28 GOP runoff will face Democratic former longtime Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree and Libertarian Alden Patrick Johnson in the Nov. 8 general election.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/amp-analytics><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n<\/p>\n
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