Perry Van Bailey

Perry Van Bailey is a farmer who is a former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. He served from 2023 to 2024. He is a native of Calhoun County, Mississippi. House District 23 included people in Calhoun, Grenada, Lafayette, and Webster counties. He lost election in 2023 and left office in 2024.

Political career
Van Bailey ran in a 2023 special election to succeed Republican Charles Beckett representing the 23rd district in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Beckett had resigned to become the director for the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff. Special legislative elections in Mississippi are officially nonpartisan, though Van Bailey stated he would serve as a Republican. Both Van Bailey and Andrew Stepp, a pharmacy owner, advanced to a runoff, which Van Bailey won by a margin of 7 votes.

Van Bailey faced Stepp in a rematch in the Republican primary for the 2023 general election to the same seat. Van Bailey lost to Stepp by a margin of 53–47.