Gary Eugene Taylor is an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 2011 and previously a member of the Mississippi Senate from 1983 to 1989. He was defeated for re-election in 2010 by State Representative Steven Palazzo. In 2014, he changed his long-time membership from the Democratic Party, becoming a Republican. The same year, he ran for election against Palazzo to return to the House of Representatives. Securing only 43 percent of the vote, Taylor lost in the primary.

Steven McCarty Palazzo is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2023. The district included Mississippi's Gulf Coast, Biloxi, Gulfport, Pascagoula, Laurel and Hattiesburg. Palazzo is a member of the Republican Party.