Most Union County elected official incumbents have kept their jobs for another four years but one did not and some others won’t know until the November 5 general election.
At least two local candidates went home happy Tuesday night because their races for the year are over.
A few will have to wait two weeks to see whether they will make it to the general election in November when several incumbents will still face challengers.
The lone defeated so-far incumbent was first-term incumbent Republican Third District Supervisor Dave Kitchens who lost to challenger C. J. Bright by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. Because there is no Democratic candidate, Bright will be the new supervisor as of the first of the year. Bright came close to defeating Kitchens four years ago.
The other settled race was for District 14 Representative, whose area covers almost all of Union County. Architect and developer Sam Creekmore IV received 72 percent of the vote compared to 28 percent for educator Robbins Ellis Rogers. That seat is currently held by Rogers’ mother, Margaret Ellis Rogers.
As in the supervisor’s race, there is no Democratic candidate so Creekmore will be the new legislator.
Still having to make it through the runoffs in a couple of weeks are candidates for supervisor and senator.
In the District 1 race, incumbent Democratic supervisor Evan Denton received 30 percent versus challenger Sam Taylor’s 32 percent. Since none got more than 50 percent of the total vote they will face each other Aug. 27.
The District 3 Republican Senate race will go to a runoff also.
In Union County, Kathy Chism led Jeff Olson narrowly, 44 percent to 42 percent but apparently polled slightly better in Benton and the northern half of Pontotoc counties to put her in a runoff with Pontotoc County’s Kevin Walls.
Walls only received 9 percent of the Union County vote but, again, did much better in the Pontotoc-Benton total.
In the Democratic sheriff’s race, incumbent Jimmy Edwards won clearly, receiving 76 percent of the vote compared to challenger Danny Dillard, who received 23 percent.
On the Republican side, Ashley Kidd defeated Brandon Garrett with 56 percent versus Garrett’s 42 percent.
Edwards and Kidd will face each other in the November general election.
This race had been watched, partially because a high Republican turnout was expected, resulting in a low Democratic turnout. That meant a smaller number of votes in the Edwards-Dillard race could be critical.
As expected, the ratio of Republican to Democratic votes was about two to one, and even higher at some precincts.
Statewide, Tate Reeves will face Bill Waller in the Republican runoff for gubernatorial nominee and Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart will compete for the Republican nominee spot for attorney general.
John Caldwell and Geoffrey Yoste will compete for the Republican nominee sport for Northern District Transportation Commissioner.
Attorney General Jim Hood was the clear winner as Democratic nominee for governor and current Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann was the clear winner in the GOP race for lieutenant governor nominee. Johnny DuPree will be the Democratic nominee for secretary of state while Michael Watson will represent the Republican party in that race. David McRae won the Republican nomination as candidate for state treasurer.
Voter turnout in Union County was higher than for most recent elections with 49 percent of the county’s 15,830 registered voters going to the polls. Totals have sometimes been in the 30-percent range or worse.
The first box Tuesday came in about 7:45 and counting then proceeded smoothly with only one precinct having any delay.
Many of the incumbents were unopposed and will automatically return to office next year.
The races still to be settled in November include sheriff, District 1 supervisor, District 2 supervisor, District 4 supervisor, East Post constable and District 3 senator.
The runoffs will be Tuesday, Aug. 27, and absentee ballots probably will be available shortly after primary results are certified.
Those who voted in the Republican primary will not be allowed to vote in the District 1 Democratic runoff and those who voted in the Democratic primary will not be allowed to vote in the District 3 Republican senate runoff since crossover voting is illegal in Mississippi.
Below are totals that include absentee ballots but not a handful of about 40 affidavit ballots. Those are cast when the voter does not have valid ID or there is some irregularity in information and the voter has five business days in which to show ID or otherwise correct information.
The chart accompanying this story is broken down by race and precinct but includes only machine vote totals.
Totals below may not add up to 100 percent because of write-ins, which do not count. Incumbents are noted with (i) and those in a runoff with R.
Democratic
Party
Sheriff
Danny Dillard 592 23.10%
Jimmy Edwards (i) 1,954 76.24%
Circuit Clerk
Phyllis Stanford (i) 2,311 100%
Tax Assessor-Collector
Tameri Dunnam (i) 2,266 100%
Medical Examiner-
Investigator
Pam Boman (i) 1,994 84.06%
Gabriel Wilson 378 15.94%
Supervisor 1
Evan Denton (i) R 201 29.60%
Gary Floyd 79 11.63%
Carl Graham 50 7.36%
Paul Patterson 131 19.29%
Sam Taylor R 218 32.11%
Supervisor 2
Chad Coffey (i) 730 99.73%
Supervisor 4
Randy Owen (i) 294 62.03%
Keith Roberts 179 37.76%
Supervisor 5
Steve Watson (i) 257 99.62%
Justice Court Judge East
David “Bruno” Garrison (i) 748 99.73%
Justice Court Judge West
Chris Childers (i) 1,494 99.87%
Constable East
Mickey McGill 699 99.71%
Constable West
Ronnie Goudy (i) 1,448 99.86%
District 13
Representative
Pamela J. Denham 407 99.03%
District 3 Senator
Tim Tucker 1,844 99.30%
Republican
Party
Sheriff
Brandon Garrett 1,970 42.17%
William Ashley Kidd 2,601 55.67%
Chancery Clerk
Annette M. Hickey (i) 4,729 99.89%
County Prosecuting
Attorney
Joe Marshall Davis (i) 4,605 99.85%
County District:
Supervisor 1
Jerry C. Burke 659 97.20%
Supervisor 2
Jim Gann 715 98.76%
Supervisor 3
C. J. Bright 843 54.95%
David A. Kitchens (i) 690 44.98%
Supervisor 4
Tommy “Junior” Courtney 641 95.81%
Constable East
P J Doyle (i) 2,268 99.74%
District Attorney District 3
Ben Creekmore (i) 4,716 9.87%
District 13
Representative
Steve Massengill (i) 380 99.74%
District 14
Representative
Sam Creekmore IV 3,152 71.82%
Robbins Ellis Rogers 1,234 28.12%
District 18
Representative
Jerry R. Turner (i) 135 100%
District 3 Senator
Kathy L. Chism R 2,152 43.72%
Jeffrey Mitchell 247 5.02%
Jeff Olson 2,074 42.14%
Kevin Walls R 447 9.08%
