BOLTON, Miss. —

Rep. Bennie Thompson has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District.

Thompson, of Bolton, faced Evan Turnage and Pertis Herman Williams III in the Democratic primary. Ron Eller and Kevin Wilson are on the Republican ticket.

“If you’re running for Congress and you want to make a difference, you have to know who lives in your district,” Thompson said. “You can’t come in five months before the election and say. ‘I want to represent you.’ I think what you’ll see tonight is people understand what they have. But again, it’s a choice, and I’ll continue to fight for you to have that right to run.”

The 78-year-old civil rights leader who chaired the House Jan. 6 Committee has held his seat for more than three decades and serves as a ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Turnage, a Jackson native, spent five years working in the U.S. Senate for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and then under Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York. Williams is a Brookhaven native.

Eller, a Republican, works at St. Dominic’s Hospital and served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army.

“I’ve been working as a PA in the State of Mississippi for over 20-plus years, providing health care to the people of central Mississippi and the Delta. As a PA, I provide a lot of ICU care and critical care thinking. I make life and death decisions every day,” Eller said. “I have the opportunity to live the American dream. I want to make sure all Mississippians and Americans have that opportunity to live the American dream.”

The 2nd Congressional District candidate said he stands for free enterprise, limited government and traditional values and believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.