Runoff to be held Aug. 29
The first two weeks of August have passed fast, and I don’t think the month will slow down. The Primary Election was held last week, and was my first time voting as a Mississippi resident. Tuesday is press day, and I got to the old National Guard Armory building after sending the paper to be printed sometime after six.
Many candidates and their supporters were along Highway 4 holding signs asking one last time for your vote. Walking into the building, I met Dennis Jones, a Rotarian working the polls. He said it had been slow earlier, but people were coming out to vote. The total number of ballots cast was 6,962. Ballots cast for the Democrat Primary was 5,634, and for the Republican was 1,328.
Marshall County has some returning to their office, but there are a few new faces in some county positions, and then there are those who will be asking for your vote again on August 29.
Nicole M. Phelps won the Marshall County Chancery Clerk bid with 3,054 votes.
The Democratic Primary for the Tax Assessors office was a tight race. Barbara A. Belfoure won the bid of 2,777 to Casey Hillmer’s 2,375 with 26 write-in votes.
Sheriff Kenny Dickerson won the Democratic Primary and will face Republican candidate Billie Jo Calvert and Independent candidate Antjuan Lester in the November General Election.
Charles Terry, the Marshall County Supervisor District 2 candidate, won the Democratic Primary with 611 votes but will face two Independent candidates on November 7, Anthony Gulledge and Andre C. Jones.
Marshall County Supervisor’s District 2 and District 5 had several contenders. In District 2, there will be a runoff on August 29 against Johnny Walker and John I. Seldon. Walker received 475 votes, and Seldon took 334 votes, with total votes being 1,261. In the race for District 5, Ronnie ONeil Bennett and Danny Mills will face off on August 29. Bennett had 700 votes to Mills’s 469, with a total of 1,945 voting.
The other runoff will be against Miaron ‘Bigdaddy’ Jackson and Dale Sexton for the Constable North District. There were a total of 2,466 votes, and Jackson received 931 to Sexton 443.
The runoff candidates will be working hard to ask for your vote in the runoff election in two weeks. Some winners of the runoff will go on to face Independents candidates in the General Election.
District 2 Supervisors has two Independent candidates, Joe Houck (Hawk) and Michael Huckaby Jr.
A total of 1,328 voted in the North District Public Service Commissioner. State Rep. Chris Brown, the Republican candidate for Northern District Public Service Commissioner, ran for the PSC position and won the bid with 818 votes. Brown has headed up the HSUD crisis meetings along with other Representatives.
Voting is one of the best things anyone can do to help their community. I have always been told that it is very important to vote for your local positions because it is so ‘close to home’ and you are part of choosing representatives who will make deciding factors for your county or city. So, vote for your best candidate in the runoff election.