JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Democrat Walter Zinn and Republican Trent Kelly will spend the next three weeks competing for support in a north Mississippi congressional race after emerging from a field of 13 candidates in a special election.
Following Tuesday’s vote, the two now advance to a June 2 runoff, with the winner serving most of a two-year term started by Republican Rep. Alan Nunnelee, who was 56 when he died of cancer in February.
Zinn, 34, of Pontotoc, is an attorney who has worked as a political consultant. He was the only Democrat in the contest Tuesday and appears to have been helped by a splintering of the vote among a dozen Republicans.
Kelly, 49, of Saltillo, is a district attorney for seven counties, about one-third of the state’s 1st Congressional District.
Parties were not listed on the ballot, but candidates told voters their political affiliation.