Mike Ezell
Mike Ezell, a Republican former Jackson County sheriff who has represented Mississippi's 4th congressional district since 2023, faces Democrat Jeffrey Hulum III, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Mike Ezell.
- Born
- April 6, 1959
- Birthplace
- Pascagoula, Mississippi
- Education
- Pascagoula High School (1977)
University of Southern Mississippi (Bachelor of Science in criminal justice)
Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy (1981)
FBI National Academy (1990)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Mike Ezell was born Walter Michael Ezell on April 6, 1959, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to S.H. "Buck" Ezell, a police officer, and Betty Ezell, secretary for the family church.
He graduated from Pascagoula High School in 1977 and attended night school at the University of Southern Mississippi, earning a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice.
He also graduated from the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy in Pearl in 1981 and attended the FBI National Academy in 1990.
Career
Ezell began his law enforcement career in 1980 as a patrolman for the Osyka police department, and he became captain of the Pascagoula detective department in 1992.
He served as chief of the Ocean Springs Police Department from 1998 to 2000 and as Pascagoula School District's chief of law enforcement from 2003 to 2007.
After Jackson County sheriff Mike Byrd pleaded guilty to state and federal charges, Ezell won the 2014 special election for sheriff in a runoff with 64% of the vote, and he served as sheriff from 2014 to 2022.
In 2022 Ezell challenged Republican incumbent Steven Palazzo in the 4th district, finishing second in the seven-way June 7 primary and winning the June 28 runoff 54% to 46%. He then defeated Democratic nominee Johnny DuPree, a former mayor of Hattiesburg, in the general election.
In 2024 he won re-election against Democrat Craig Rayborn with 74% of the vote. For the 119th Congress he serves on the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
2026 race
Mississippi's 4th congressional district encompasses the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg and Pascagoula, and Mike Ezell is its Republican incumbent. Ezell won the 2026 Republican primary with 84.1% of the vote against former congressional staffer Sawyer Walters.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Jeffrey Hulum III, a state representative from the 119th district, who won his primary with 57.7% of the vote against U.S. Navy veteran Paul Blackman and marketing consultant Ryan Grover.