Dennis DeBar

Dennis DeBar

Republican Party

Mississippi State Senate District 43

Tenure

2016 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

8

Prior offices

Mississippi House of Representatives District 105

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Compensation

Base salary

$23,500/year

Per diem

$166/day

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of Central Florida

Law

Mississippi College School of Law

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Air Force

Personal

Religion

United Methodist

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Official website

Personal Instagram

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Dennis DeBar (Republican Party) is a member of the Mississippi State Senate, representing District 43. He assumed office on January 5, 2016. His current term ends on January 4, 2028.

DeBar (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Mississippi State Senate to represent District 43. He won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

DeBar is a former Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, representing District 105 from 2012 to 2016.

Biography

Email [email protected] to notify us of updates to this biography.

DeBar's professional experience includes working as an attorney. He served in the United States Air Force and Air Force Reserves.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

DeBar was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Congressional Redistricting Committee
• Senate Corrections Committee
• Senate Education Committee, Chair
• Senate Energy Committee
• Judiciary, Division A Committee
• Judiciary, Division B Committee
• Reapportionment Committee
• Public Health and Welfare Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
• Reapportionment Committee

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2020-2021

DeBar was assigned to the following committees:

• Judiciary, Division A Committee
• Judiciary, Division B Committee
• Public Health and Welfare Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Corrections Committee
• Senate Education Committee, Chairman
• Senate Energy Committee

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2019-2020

DeBar was assigned to the following committees:

• Enrolled Bills Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Corrections Committee
• Senate Drug Policy Committee
• Senate Energy Committee
• Highways and Transportation Committee, Vice-Chairman
• Judiciary, Division A Committee
• Judiciary, Division B Committee

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2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, DeBar served on the following committees:

2012-2013

During the 2012-2013 legislative session, DeBar served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2023

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for Mississippi State Senate District 43

Incumbent Dennis DeBar won election in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 43 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennis DeBar (R)	100.0	12,810

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,810
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 43

Incumbent Dennis DeBar advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 43 on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennis DeBar	100.0	11,476

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,476
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

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DeBar received the following endorsements.

• Patriot Parents

2019

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2019

General election

General election for Mississippi State Senate District 43

Incumbent Dennis DeBar won election in the general election for Mississippi State Senate District 43 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennis DeBar (R)	100.0	14,679

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,679
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 43

Incumbent Dennis DeBar advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi State Senate District 43 on August 6, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennis DeBar	100.0	9,120

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,120
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2015

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2015

Elections for the Mississippi State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on August 4, 2015, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 27, 2015. Towana Wright was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Dennis DeBar defeated incumbent Phillip Gandy in the Republican primary. DeBar defeated Wright in the general election.

Mississippi State Senate, District 43 General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dennis DeBar	76.1%	12,295
	Democratic	Towana Wright	23.9%	3,871
Total Votes				16,166

Mississippi State Senate, District 43 Republican Primary, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dennis DeBar	55.1%	3,554
Phillip Gandy Incumbent	44.9%	2,893
Total Votes		6,447

2011

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2011

On November 8, 2011, DeBar won election to District 105 of the Mississippi House of Representatives. He ran unopposed in the August 2 primary and defeated Democrat Dale Kimble in the November 8 general election.

Mississippi House of Representatives, District 105 General Election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dennis DeBar	50%	4,160
	Democrat	Dale Kimble	41.3%	3,440
	Independent	Latricia Ann Cornelson	8.7%	725
Total Votes				8,325

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dennis DeBar did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Dennis DeBar did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

2011

DeBar's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

• Economic Development & Job Creation:

"Supports legislation that creates economic development in the district"

"Supports small business growth"

• Fiscal Responsibility & Lower Taxes:

"Will fight to decrease the state tax burden"

"Supports responsible spending of taxpayer dollars"

"As a business owner and operator, understands the importance of operating within a budget"

• Better Education:

"With a large portion of the state budget funding educaiton, will work to do a better job of getting the dollars to the school level and curb overhead and administration costs. We owe it to to [sic] our children."

• Public Safety:

"Will support providing adequate funding to law enforcement, correctional officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and others who put their lives on the line for us each day."

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Dennis DeBar campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2023*	Mississippi State Senate District 43	Won general	$93,965	$0
Grand total			$93,965	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Mississippi

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Mississippi scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 3 to April 1. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. The Institute for Legislative Analysis Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 4 to April 5. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 1. Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 7 to October 10. The session was suspended effective July 1, 2020. It had been previously suspended from March 18 to May 7. The session reconvened from August 10 to October 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 29. Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].

In 2018, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 2 through March 28. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 3 through March 29. There was also a special session June 5. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].

In 2016, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 5 through April 21. ACLU Mississippi Legislators are scored by the ACLU on their whether their votes on bills "promote racial, cultural, and economic justice." Americans for Prosperity Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Empower Mississippi Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to education. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2015

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show].
In 2015, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 6 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2014

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show].

In 2014, the Mississippi State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 2. Business and Industry Political Education Committee Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Empower Mississippi: Senate and House Legislators are scored on their votes on education bills. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

Endorsements

2011

In 2011, DeBar's endorsements included the Mississippi Tea Party. The 105th is one of 10 districts the Tea Party’s Move the House Committee specifically targeted as necessary to win in order to gain conservative control of the House.

See also

2023 Elections

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External links

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Officeholder

Mississippi State Senate District 43

Website

Personal

Instagram

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mississippi State Senate District 43 2016-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Mississippi House of Representatives District 105 2012-2016	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Mississippi State Senate

Leadership

Senators

District 1

Michael McLendon (R)

District 2

David Parker (R)

District 3

Kathy Chism (R)

District 4

Rita Parks (R)

District 5

Daniel Sparks (R)

District 6

Chad McMahan (R)

District 7

Hob Bryan (D)

District 8

Benjamin Suber (R)

District 9

Nicole Boyd (R)

District 10

Neil Whaley (R)

District 11

Reginald Jackson (D)

District 12

Derrick Simmons (D)

District 13

Sarita Simmons (D)

District 14

Lydia Chassaniol (R)

District 15

Bart Williams (R)

District 16

Angela Turner-Ford (D)

District 17

Charles Younger (R)

District 18

Jenifer Branning (R)

District 19

Kevin Blackwell (R)

District 20

Josh Harkins (R)

District 21

Bradford Blackmon (D)

District 22

Joseph Thomas (D)

District 23

Briggs Hopson (R)

District 24

David Jordan (D)

District 25

Walter Michel (R)

District 26

John Horhn (D)

District 27

Hillman Frazier (D)

District 28

Sollie Norwood (D)

District 29

David Blount (D)

District 30

Dean Kirby (R)

District 31

Tyler McCaughn (R)

District 32

Rod Hickman (D)

District 33

Jeff Tate (R)

District 34

Juan Barnett (D)

District 35

Andy Berry (R)

District 36

Brian Rhodes (R)

District 37

Albert Butler (D)

District 38

Gary Brumfield (D)

District 39

Jason Barrett (R)

District 40

Angela Hill (R)

District 41

Joey Fillingane (R)

District 42

Robin Robinson (R)

District 43

Dennis DeBar (R)

District 44

John Polk (R)

District 45

Chris Johnson (R)

District 46

Philman Ladner (R)

District 47

Joseph Seymour (R)

District 48

Mike Thompson (R)

District 49

Joel Carter (R)

District 50

Scott DeLano (R)

District 51

Jeremy England (R)

District 52

Brice Wiggins (R)

Republican Party (36)

Democratic Party (16)