By Taylor Vance

Mississippi Today

Rep. Andy Stepp, a freshman House member from Bruce, died on Thursday morning, according to a fellow state lawmaker. He was 66.

The cause of death for the Republican lawmaker who represented Calhoun County and portions of Lafayette, Webster and Pontotoc counties had not been released at the time of publication.

“I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of fellow House colleague, Rep. Andy Stepp,” House Speaker Jason White wrote on social media. “A freshman member, Andy joined the legislature in 2024, and as a pharmacist and business owner for 35 years, made a great contribution to legislation.”

A pharmacist in Bruce and a University of Mississippi clinical instructor, Stepp had lived in Calhoun County since 1984 and had only represented his House district for a year.

He initially ran in a special election to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Jim Beckett in 2022. Stepp narrowly lost the special election to Perry Van Bailey in the subsequent runoff election. But he came back to defeat Van Bailey and win the seat in the regularly scheduled election in 2023.

Sen. Ben Suber, a Republican from Calhoun County, told Mississippi Today the community was shocked to learn of Stepp’s death because he was a fixture in the area before he was elected to represent the northeastern Mississippi town at the Capitol.

“He was always willing to go above and beyond,” Suber said. “He would meet people at night at the pharmacy and would do whatever he could to help people.”

A special election will take place next year to fill the vacant seat. State law says Gov. Tate Reeves has 30 days to set the date for the special election.

State lawmakers will convene for their regular session on Jan. 7, which means voters in the rural part of north Mississippi will likely be without a House representative for much of next year’s session.