Thomas, Flemon, Bennett win


Thursday, November 8, 2007
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Thomas, Flemon, Bennett win

By BARRY BURLESON
and SUE WATSON
Staff Writers

Photo by Sue Watson

Reelected

Constable Johnny Fitch and his mother Martha look over some election totals Tuesday night at the courthouse.

Four incumbents in Marshall County political offices have easily reclaimed their seats after Tuesday’s general election.

They include chancery clerk Chuck Thomas, District 1 supervisor Willie Flemon, District 5 supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett and constable North District Johnny Fitch.

The other winner in a county contested race was James R. Anderson for coroner.

Unofficial totals at presstime showed Thomas defeating Tim Wilson 5,724 to 1,229.

“Humbling – it’s overwhelming and hard to believe,” Thomas said about the landslide win. “One thing about it, I don’t have to go through the four years of training again. I’m ready to hit the ground running in the morning.”

Flemon beat Scott Foster 793 to 401.

Bennett defeated Edward Overall 1,430 to 566.

Fitch beat challenger George W. Kahrs 2,045 to 675.

Anderson received 4,680 to Bobby Watson’s 1,778. Anderson beat incumbent coroner John Garrison in the August primary.

The unofficial county totals did not include absentee or affidavit ballots. There were approximately 330 absentee ballots cast.

District and state

Other races on the ballot Tuesday in Marshall County were district and state contests.

Perhaps the most watched was the battle for the Senate District 2 seat between Republican incumbent Ralph Doxey and Democratic challenger Bill Stone.

Stone, the mayor of Ashland, appeared to be the winner without any totals from Benton County at press-time.

In Marshall County, Stone beat Doxey 4,058 to 2,932; in Tippah, Stone won 2,047 to 1,416. That gave him a lead of 6,105 to 4,348.

“First of all, we’re relieved it’s over,” Stone said from his campaign headquarters. “We’ve been running since the first of March. Of course, we are ecstatic.

“I want to thank my family and friends who helped, and my opponents for running a clean race all the way through.”

Democrat Kelvin Buck rolled easily to a second term in the House of Representatives, District 5. It includes parts of Marshall and Benton counties. In Marshall, Buck racked up 2,807 votes to James R. Dunworth’s 1,163. Benton totals were not available at press-time.

“We had a good night – a good campaign,” Buck said. “The people helped make it happen, and we’re fortunate. It’s just another opportunity for us to serve the people four more years and try to do things to improve the quality of life in both counties. Now it’s my turn to help them.”

Another Democratic incumbent, Jack Gadd, also coasted to reelection by beating his Republican challenger, John Helmert. The district covers parts of four counties – Marshall, Union, Lafayette and Benton.

In Marshall County, Gadd received 1,523 votes to Helmert’s 609. In Union, Gadd won 223 to 109. Helmert claimed more votes in Lafayette, 717 to 663.

That gave Gadd a lead of 2,409 to 1,435 without any totals from Benton County.

Some of those unofficial totals in the district do not include absentee and affidavit ballots.

In statewide races, Marshall County favored the Democratic candidates, while the Republicans appeared to be dominating state-wide at press-time.

Unofficial Marshall County only totals follow:

For governor – John A. Eaves Jr., 3,513; Haley Barbour, 3,488.
For lieutenant governor – Jamie Franks, 3,728; Phil Bryant, 3,122.
For secretary of state – Rob Smith, 4,071; Delbert Hosemann, 2,581.
For attorney general – Jim Hood, 4,608; Al Hopkins, 2,145.
For state auditor – Mike Sumrall, 4,258; Stacey Pickering, 2,379.
For state treasurer – Shawn O’Hara, 3,860; Tate Reeves, 2,711.
For commissioner of agriculture – Rickey L. Cole, 3,785; Lester Spell, 2,469; Paul Leslie Riley, 342.
For commissioner of insurance – Gary Anderson (a Marshall County native), 4,082; Mike Chaney, 2,788.
For public service commissioner (Northern District) – Brandon Presley, 4,551; Mabel Murphree, 1,984.

Statewide, at press-time, according to The Clarion-Ledger, Barbour, Bryant, Hosemann, Hood, Pickering, Reeves, Chaney and Presley had been declared winners.

Approximately 40 percent of the 18,000 registered voters in Marshall County participated in the election.

Circuit clerk Lucy Carpenter said things went well.

“It was a really good day,” she said. “The poll workers had no problems with opening or closing.”

All boxes arrived at the courthouse for tallying by 8:55 p.m., less than two hours after polls closed at 7 p.m.

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