# Josh Harkins

Josh Harkins is a Republican member of the Mississippi Senate for district 20.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Mississippi Senate, district 20
- Serving since: 2012-01-03
- Current term: MS 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/13163ae5-a55d-4eff-8b23-b9f7df9e354a

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/13163ae5-a55d-4eff-8b23-b9f7df9e354a (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Harkins missed 10% of 2,120 roll calls, attendance in the bottom 5% of the Mississippi Senate (average 97.1%).

## What Harkins says (MS 2025–26 session)

15 classified statements: 15 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Harkins | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 6.7% | 2.3% | 40 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 6.7% | 9.5% | 178 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 20.0% | 37.3% | 284 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 2.3% | 311 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 13.3% | 15.4% | 180 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 33% (State Senate Republicans 14%); Health 33% (State Senate Republicans 9.1%); Labor and Employment 33% (State Senate Republicans 3.2%); Science, Technology, Communications 33% (State Senate Republicans 2.5%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State Senate Republicans 6.2%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.08 (standard error 0.01), from 60 donors and 985 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 14% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MS 2025–26 session)

2,120 roll calls. Attendance 90% (Mississippi Senate 97.1%). Party unity 96.1% (88%). 9 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-07-16 · voted yea · Passage · HB 2 Appropriation; Department of Human Services of. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/HB2/
- 2026-07-16 · voted yea · Passage · HB 1 Appropriation; Department of Human Services to establish and implement youth diversion program. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/HB1/
- 2026-07-15 · voted yea · Passage as Amended · SB 2001 The Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026; enact. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/SB2001/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2474 Rare Disease Task Force; establish within the Mississippi Rare Disease Advisory Council. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2474/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1761 Alcoholic beverages; extend repealers relating to festival wine permits. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1761/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1772 Mississippi Department of Human Services; extend repealers on. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1772/
- 2026-04-02 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2917 Budget; provide for various transfers of funds, and create various special funds. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2917/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1330 Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; revise definition of "qualified resort area". · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1330/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · HB 1662 Joint custody matters; create rebuttable presumption in favor of. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1662/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Passage · HB 4120 Suffrage; restore to Charles Kenneth Landrum of Jones County. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB4120/

## Legislation (MS 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 55 bills: 55 reached committee, 47 passed one chamber, 27 passed both, 17 became law. Cosponsored 43. 85.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Mississippi Senate 34.7%; rank 2 of 47).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 3410: City of Brandon and West Rankin Utility Authority; authorize to enter agreements w/data center for water & wastewater infrastructure. (became law, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3410/
- SR 93: Recognize outstanding career of All-SEC basketball guard Josh Hubbard from Madison, Mississippi. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SR93/
- SB 3227: Qualified equity investment tax credits; authorize Governor to designate winter storm recovery zones for. (passed both chambers, 2026-03-20) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3227/
- SB 3124: Pregnancy Resource Act; revise tax credits authorized for contributions to certain charitable organizations. (became law, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3124/
- SB 3229: Bonds; authorize revenue bonds to be issued to pay for damage to electric utilities caused by the 2026 winter storm. (became law, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3229/
- SB 3228: Income tax credits; increase aggregate amount for certain employers sponsoring employee skills training, and extend repealer. (became law, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3228/
- SB 3116: Ad valorem tax; add categories for energy projects and enterprises for purposes of certain exemptions. (became law, 2026-03-16) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3116/
- SB 2824: Ad valorem tax; extend deadlines for 50% exemption and lower fee-in-lieu minimum for certain projects and qualified businesses. (became law, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2824/
- SB 2825: MS Health Care Industry Zone Act; revise certification requirements and extend repealer on act and related incentives. (became law, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2825/
- SB 2894: Local Improvement projects; require return of unexpended funds and earned interest. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2894/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $68.3K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 89% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/2102607926448062898
- 2026-09-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/2098582107496808922
- 2026-03-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/2030131216637182056
- 2026-02-20 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/2024952480614818304
- 2025-11-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1988264934744957172
- 2025-09-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1965611888235987081
- 2025-08-19 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1957810243380855026
- 2025-06-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1938189437483008151
- 2025-06-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1936194142054289884
- 2025-06-13 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenatorHarkins/status/1933355729638809886

## Links

- Official site: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/senate/harkins.xml
- X: https://x.com/SenatorHarkins
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmharkins
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jmharkins5/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-harkins-35006717/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/13163ae5-a55d-4eff-8b23-b9f7df9e354a