The qualifying deadline for a special election in Senate District 24 has been set for Aug. 21.
Gov. Tate Reeves set the parameters for this and two other legislative special elections that will be held on Nov. 4 in conjunction with the 2025 regular general election.
Senate District 24, which encompasses portions of Tallahatchie, Leflore and Panola counties, is now vacant after Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood announced during the special legislative session in May that he would be retiring to spend more time with his family. His retirement was effective June 30.
State Sen. David Jordan
“I hate to leave, but my wife of 71 years ... she needs me at home,” the 92-year-old Jordan told fellow state senators in his farewell remarks to the chamber. “I love you, I respect you, I am going to miss you.”
Jordan was presented with a resolution recognizing him as “a dedicated public servant with extensive experience.” He had served in the Legislature for 32 years.
The special election is necessary to determine who will fill the remainder of Jordan’s unexpired four-year term, which runs through the end of December 2027.
If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in November, a runoff election between the top two candidates would be held Dec. 2.
Other special elections ordered by Reeves this week were for Senate District 26 (parts of Hinds and Madison counties), which Sen. John Horhn (D) vacated after becoming the newly elected mayor of Jackson; and House District 26 (portions of Bolivar, Coahoma and Sunflower counties), where Orlando Paden resigned after becoming the new mayor of Clarksdale.
Horhn had served in the state Senate since 1993, while Paden had been in the House since 2016.
