# Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a Republican member of the Mississippi House for district 120.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Mississippi House, district 120
- Serving since: 2008-01-03
- Current term: MS 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/4b4c6bbd-fcbb-4c7e-9746-83acffe80898

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4b4c6bbd-fcbb-4c7e-9746-83acffe80898 (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

55% of Bennett’s itemized money in the 2024 cycle came from Mississippi, in the bottom quarter of State House Republicans.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.27 (standard error 0.03), from 10 donors and 1,174 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 36% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MS 2025–26 session)

1,511 roll calls. Attendance 98.5% (Mississippi House 95.7%). Party unity 90.2% (90.1%). 14 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-07-16 · voted not voting · Passage · SB 2001 The Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026; enact. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/20261E/SB2001/
- 2026-04-15 · voted yea · Passage · HC 65 Suspend deadlines for the further consideration of HB 938; extend repealers on several youth court statutes. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HC65/
- 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 · Passage · SB 3410 City of Brandon and West Rankin Utility Authority; authorize to enter agreements w/data center for water & wastewater infrastructure. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB3410/
- 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/
- 2026-04-02 · 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/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2409 Mississippi Department of Insurance; establish comprehensive mitigation program for retrofitting insurable homes. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2409/
- 2026-04-01 · voted yea · Adopt Conference Report · SB 2103 Education; provide pay increases, revise counseling ethical requirements, and reform school attendance law. · pass · https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/SB2103/
- 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/

## Legislation (MS 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 11 bills: 11 reached committee, 4 passed one chamber, 3 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 55. 36.4% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Mississippi House 28.7%; rank 31 of 99).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1732: Public property; authorize Department of Finance and Administration to sell and convey. (passed both chambers, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1732/
- HB 1508: Teachers' salaries; provide $4,000.00 increase to minimum salary scale. (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1508/
- HC 40: Constitution; amend to provide that the people have the right to propose new statutes and amend or repeal existing statutes. (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HC40/
- HB 1507: Assistant teachers; provide a $4,000.00 increase to the minimum starting salary of. (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1507/
- HB 1509: Mississippi PERS Stability Act; create. (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2026/HB1509/
- HB 1436: MDOT; authorize to transfer property in Harrison County to the City of Gulfport. (became law, 2025-03-21) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2025/HB1436/
- HB 556: DFA; authorize to purchase certain real property known as the "East Hamilton Street Properties" in the City of Jackson, Mississippi. (became law, 2025-03-21) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2025/HB556/
- HB 555: Public procurement laws; exempt certain purchases and contracts for landmark buildings from for certain time. (passed one chamber, 2025-03-04) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2025/HB555/
- HB 1093: DPS; authorize to transfer MBN Headquarters to the Department of Agriculture and Commerce for the use and benefit of Agriculture and Livestock Theft Bureau. (in committee, 2025-02-04) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2025/HB1093/
- HB 1479: Insurance; revise the hurricane deductible. (in committee, 2025-02-04) https://openstates.org/ms/bills/2025/HB1479/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $29.9K (State House Republicans median $10.7K). 55% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/house/bennett.xml
- X: https://x.com/richbennettt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richard.bennett.562
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-bennett-6708b5154/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4b4c6bbd-fcbb-4c7e-9746-83acffe80898