After 13 years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Voters elected Democrats to two seats previously held by Republicans, reducing the number of Republican senators in the upper chamber from 36 to 34—one fewer than necessary to constitute a supermajority.

“Mississippi just broke the supermajority—and the people have taken back their power,” the Mississippi Democratic Party wrote in social media posts Tuesday night. “From the Delta to the Pine Belt, voters stood up for fair leadership and community progress: Better schools. Fairer representation. Expanded healthcare. Good-paying jobs.”

When a party has supermajority status in the Mississippi Senate, it can more easily override a governor’s veto, propose constitutional amendments and execute certain procedural actions.

In the Mississippi Pine Belt region, Democrat Johnny DuPree won Senate District 45, previously held by Republican Sen. Chris Johnson of Hattiesburg. In North Mississippi, Democrat Theresa Gillespie Isom won the Senate District 2 seat held by Republican Sen. David Parker of Olive Branch, who decided not to run for reelection.

Republicans had held a supermajority in the Senate since sweeping the state government in 2011.

In the House, Democrat Justin Crosby also flipped House District 22, defeating incumbent Republican House Rep. Jon Lancaster. That district includes parts of Chickasaw, Clay and Monroe counties.

The victories followed Tuesday’s special legislative elections. Six Senate seats were up for a special election on Tuesday, along with one House seat, because a federal court ordered the State to create more Black-majority legislative districts earlier this year. Two other Senate districts were up for special elections to fill vacated seats, along with a House seat.

Democrats will likely hold 18 Senate seats when the Legislature returns to session in January 2026.

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In the inaugural Michelin Guide American South, Mississippi restaurants from the northern corners to the coast were recognized, with two winning the prestigious Bib Gourmand distinction and another eight making Michelin’s “recommended restaurants” list.

One of the monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on a Mississippi roadway on 28 October was shot and killed early Sunday by a homeowner who said she feared for the safety of her children.

Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone, and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 ft (18 meters) away.

Bond said she and other residents had been warned that the escaped monkeys were potentially diseased, so she fired her gun.

“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Bond, who has five children ranging in age from four to 16, told the Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”

The Jasper county sheriff’s office confirmed in a social media post that a homeowner had found one of the monkeys on their property Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have any details. The Mississippi department of wildlife, Fisheries, and parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s office said.

The Rhesus monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the school. In a statement, Tulane University said the monkeys do not belong to the university, and they were not being transported by the university.

The Jasper sheriff’s office initially said the monkeys were carrying diseases including herpes, but Tulane said in a statement that the monkeys “have not been exposed to any infectious agent”.

After also initially reporting that all but one monkey had been killed, the sheriff’s office said that three monkeys remained at large and were being searched for.

The Associated Press contributed to this report