Editing Mississippi County, Missouri (section)

===Federal===
Mississippi County is included in [[MO-08|Missouri's 8th Congressional District]] and is represented by [[Jason T. Smith]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mo.gov/government/legislative-branch/|title=Legislative Branch|website=MO.gov|language=en|access-date=September 15, 2019}}</ref> (R-[[Salem, Missouri|Salem]]) in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]].

====Political culture====
{{PresHead|place=Mississippi County, Missouri|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 25, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|3,404|1,015|30|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|3,537|1,178|41|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|3,600|1,458|111|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,997|1,858|65|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|3,034|2,247|75|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|2,903|2,374|21|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|2,395|2,756|64|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|1,595|3,235|419|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,675|3,226|786|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|2,218|2,814|10|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|2,502|2,524|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|2,459|3,040|80|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|1,733|3,366|17|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|2,727|1,470|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|1,421|2,303|1,575|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|1,665|4,015|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|2,629|3,855|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|2,111|3,653|0|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|2,380|4,331|19|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|1,293|4,592|30|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|1,944|4,182|27|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|3,073|4,362|27|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|2,552|4,160|25|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|1,687|3,136|35|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|1,999|2,602|8|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|1,797|2,360|153|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|2,193|2,442|44|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|1,330|1,874|59|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|1,050|1,388|221|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|1,320|1,589|41|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|1,161|1,229|59|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|1,020|1,384|23|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|1,074|1,673|6|Missouri}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|734|1,240|82|Missouri}}
{{PresFoot|1888|Democratic|787|1,312|30|Missouri}}

At the presidential level, Mississippi County was a solidly Democratic county from its founding in 1845 through [[2000 United States presidential election in Missouri|2000]], breaking with the Democratic Party only to vote for [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Unionist]] [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]] in [[1860 United States presidential election in Missouri|1860]] and [[Richard Nixon]] in his [[1972 United States presidential election in Missouri|1972]] landslide within this period.<ref>{{Cite web|title=County winners, 1836-2016|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZmDRzvm83BYurKX7LsrET-C7tcIsE5Em42Wt-gTydXk/edit?usp=embed_facebook|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=Google Docs|language=en-US}}</ref> In [[2004 United States presidential election in Missouri|2004]], [[George W. Bush]] became only the second Republican ever to carry the county, despite his narrow national popular vote win, and in [[2008 United States presidential election in Missouri|2008]], [[John McCain]] carried it again, by a larger margin, despite his convincing national defeat. As of [[2020 United States presidential election in Missouri|2020]], the county has voted Republican for five straight elections, with an increased vote share every time; the Republican vote share has not gone below 60% since 2008.

Voters in Mississippi County generally adhere to socially and culturally [[Conservatism|conservative]] principles but are more moderate or [[Populism|populist]] on economic issues, typical of what was formerly considered the white conservative [[Dixiecrat]] philosophy of southern Democrats, before African Americans regained the power to vote. In 2004, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004)|a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman]]—it overwhelmingly passed in Mississippi County with 86.87 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters; Missouri became the first state to ban [[same-sex marriage]]. (This law was overturned as unconstitutional by a US Supreme Court decision.) In 2006, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)|a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state]]—it failed in Mississippi County with 57.35 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters; Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve [[Embryonic stem cell|embryonic stem cell research]].

Despite Mississippi County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing [[Populism|populist]] causes such as increasing the [[minimum wage]]. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Mississippi County with 75.66 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri, with 75.94 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state.