Interesting election results last week. One incumbent congressman, Steven Palazzo lost, while another came back and won, Michael Guest.

Did you know that in 40 states Michael Cassidy and Palazzo would have won?

Mississippi is one of just 10 states that require runoffs when a candidate fails to get more than 50% in the first primary. Most states have a winner-take-all approach to avoid the costs of holding runoffs. Thus, many party nominees “win” with far less than 50% of the vote.

The consequences of this rule can be extraordinary.

We all remember 2014. Chris McDaniel led Thad Cochran by 49.5% to 49% in the first primary for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, a margin of just 1,418 votes. Little known Tomas Carey got 4,584 votes (1.5%). That gave Cochran the opportunity to come back and win the runoff 51% to 49%.

The same thing happened in the Third Congressional District Republican Primary this year. Cassidy led incumbent Guest 48% to 47% in the first primary. The 5% of the vote Thomas Griffin pulled forced a runoff. Guest came back to win the runoff 67% to 33%.

The opposite happened in the Fourth Congressional District Republican Primary. Incumbent Palazzo led the first primary against five other candidates with 31.6% of the votes. Second place finisher Mike Ezell got 25.1%, edging out Clay Waggoner with 22.1%. In the runoff, Ezell topped Palazzo 54% to 46%.

Speaking of politics, Lex Taylor, president of Taylor Machine Works and chairman of The Taylor Group of Companies, called for passage of bipartisan legislation in Congress to improve supply chains.

“In Mississippi, the supply chain issues originating from the pandemic continue to worsen,” he wrote in a guest editorials published across the state. “For example, the medical supply chain in Mississippi is still impacting patient care months after COVID hospitalizations have waned. Diagnostic equipment, lab results, and availability of certain types of medicines are all currently impacted by supply chain disruptions.”

“And less life-threatening but equally disruptive are the supply chain issues that we have seen throughout the entire economy, whether it’s the shortage of semiconductors with auto and heavy equipment manufacturers, the shortage of raw materials needed in manufacturing, or the skyrocketing cost of fertilizer in the agriculture industry, no sector is immune from these supply chain issues,” he continued.

Taylor wants Congress to pass something called the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA). This is the moniker for a merger of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act passed by the Senate and the 2022 America COMPETES Act passed by the House when it comes out of the joint Senate and House conference committee. Sen. Roger Wicker is one of the conferees.

Taylor said the BIA is needed to “revitalize domestic manufacturing, rebuild domestic supply chains, and advance our nation’s economic security.”

Oops, late last week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put partisanship back in by threatening to pull GOP support over a totally unrelated bill Democrats want to pass.

Hopefully partisanship won’t side track a bill that would help Mississippi as well as the nation.

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your hand to do so” – Proverbs 3:27.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson