Who will run for #MS03 to replace Gregg Harper in Congress?

With U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper announcing he will not seek re-election in this year's midterm congressional elections, the list of possible candidates is forming quickly.

Here is a list of confirmed and possible candidates for the 3rd Congressional District, which is considered to be a safe Republican seat, plus rumored candidates who have said they will not run. We will update this list with new names and information about each candidate and their decisions.

Last update: Tuesday, Feb. 6

Confirmed

Michael Guest. Guest, a Republican, on Jan. 5 became the first candidate to qualify for the race. The third-term district attorney for Rankin and Madison counties is known for being a media-savvy elected official. His name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for statewide offices in the past. Harper’s daughter, Maggie, and his former campaign manager, Stanley Shows, have joined Guest’s campaign.

Whit Hughes. Hughes, a Republican, qualified to run Jan. 17. He is president of the Baptist Health Foundation and chief development officer of Baptist Health Systems. The Republican is a former deputy director of the Mississippi Development Authority under Gov. Haley Barbour. He was also part of the Mississippi State basketball team that went to the 1996 Final Four, which may sound trivial but isn't. If nothing else, it shows the deep connections he has to Bully Bloc, the powerful MSU fundraising PAC.

Perry Parker. The Covington County businessman qualified Jan. 17 to run in the Republican primary. Parker has owned Sanford Investment since 1994, working with financial market investment portfolios. His campaign manager said he was unavailable for comment at the time of his filing.

Sally Doty. The second-term Brookhaven lawmaker qualified Jan. 22 for the GOP primary. Doty chairs the Senate Elections Committee. Doty was a leading proponent of the divorce reform bill that passed during the last session. She played a key role in passing campaign finance reform last year, too, but killed House efforts to include early voting and online voter registration.

Possible

Michael Evans. Evans, a second-term state representative from Kemper County, is the first Democrat whose name surfaced as a possible candidate. He is little known outside his district, but he has ties within the state's firefighter ranks and among poultry farmers.

Joey Kilgore. Kilgore is a chancery judge in Neshoba County. The Philadelphia native took the bench in 2010. He is a Republican.

Jason McNeel. The Madison County resident is president of Craft Coswell, a commercial and residential flooring business based out of Ridgeland. He reportedly has talked with politicos about the race.

William E. Shirley Jr. (added 1/10) Shirley is a Republican state representative from Quitman, who has served in the District 84 seat for Clarke, Jasper and Newton counties since 2012. Shirley is the owner of The Family Fish Camp restaurant. He's known as a conservative lawmaker and made news recently for repeated efforts to strip state funding from any universities that don't fly the state flag.

Katherine B. Tate. Tate is an "advocate for educational choice" and an education consultant. She is a former teacher and school administrator. The Tupelo native now lives in Jackson and is a Republican.

Mitch Tyner. The Jackson attorney first entered the political arena when he unsuccessfully challenged then-Gov. Haley Barbour in the 2003 Republican primary. Tyner also represented state Sen. Chris McDaniel in challenging the outcome of the 2014 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, which McDaniel lost to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in a runoff. Tyner qualified to run for the central district seat on the Public Service Commission, but he dropped out of the race just before the qualifying deadline to avoid a contested GOP primary.

Not running

The following possible candidates have confirmed they will not run:

State Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton

Rhonda Keenum, lobbyist and political consultant

Gerard Gibert, Madison businessman

State Treasurer Lynn Fitch

State Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Flowood

Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith

Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon

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