CORRECTED! PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS – County turnout below 50% despite hefty ballots
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CORRECTION: our original story posted late Tuesday night contained at least one error. In the race for the Mississippi House of Representatives Dist. 105, we initially reported that incumbent Roun McNeal led the ticket with 41 percent of the district-wide vote with Dale Goodin finishing a close second. Those numbers were reversed. Goodin actually led the ticket district-wide.
Barrow, Walley, Roberts and Busby claim big wins to advance to General Election in November. Others headed to Aug. 27 runoff
From Staff Reports
Voting traffic picked up around the county late Tuesday afternoon, but turnout in Tuesday’s party primary elections was still low with just over 47 percent of the county’s 7,354 registered voters casting their votes.
County supervisor races, along with the race for an open Justice Court Judge’s seat were the big races on the local level and several came down to the wire on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s results were unofficial at press time. County officials still have some affidavit ballots to count on Wednesday, but it isn’t likely those will change the outcome of any of the races.
Oliver Walley appears to have claimed the Democratic nomination in the race to replace retiring Dist. 2 Supervisor Morris Hill. Walley held a 222-to-187 margin over Hill’s longtime road foreman Dorothy Mimbes-Woods. Walley garnered just under 54 percent of the vote count and looks to be headed for a November matchup with Republican Elton L. Clark, who was unopposed on that ticket.
In District 3, incumbent Jerry C. Mills is headed for a runoff election later this month with Piave businessman Wayburn D. ‘Danny’ Smith Jr. Smith held a 353-to-275 vote lead over Mills in the 3-person race on the Republican ticket. Scott Maxie claimed 17.4 percent of the vote (132 votes). Mills and Smith will face off in a runoff on Aug. 27 with the winner moving on to take on Democrat Efird Eubanks in November.
In District 4, incumbent John Wayne Barrow Sr. survived a scare from challenger Mark Hicks to advance to the General Election. Barrow claimed just under 54 percent (256 votes) to win the Republican nomination outright over Hicks, who claimed 195 votes (41 percent). Cecil Pat Dickerson received 18 votes in the race.
Barrow will now face off with Democrat Stuart McLeod, who won his primary with 82.5 percent of the vote total over challenger Nate Williams.
In District 5, Lonnie A. ‘Little Al’ Roberts held a slim majority in the 3-person Democratic Primary. With only affidavit ballots remaining to be counted, Roberts had 50.6 percent of the vote total with 170 total votes. Jack Howard was in second place with 102 votes (30.4 percent), while former McLain Mayor Clyde Sylvester claimed 62 votes (18.5 percent). It appears Roberts will move on to take on Republican Gary Fairley who swept his party nomination over William Gammill and current McLain Mayor Steve McCluskey on Tuesday. Fairley pulled 57 percent of the total vote (212 votes) to move on to the General Election. McCluskey came in second with 98 votes, while Gammill received 58.
In the race to replace longtime Justice Court Judge Joe Beard, who has retired from the bench, constable Shannon Busby pulled away in the 3-person race on the Democratic ticket to advance to the November General Election. Busby earned 305 votes to claim 53 percent of the total vote. Political newcomer Ryan Longmire claimed 25.2 percent (145 votes), while former county supervisor Vince West claimed 22 percent (126 votes).
Busby will now take on Republican Terril Green in November. Green was unopposed in his primary race.
R.L. Denmark and J. William Wilkins will battle it out in November to replace Busby as Post 2 Constable. Denmark won the Democratic Primary over Sherrel Bolton Washington by a 359-to-194 margin. Wilkins was unopposed on the Republican ticket.
Incumbent Dist. 105 State Representative Roun S. McNeal is headed for a runoff in three weeks with Perry County educator Dale Goodin. McNeal took 51.3 percent of the Greene County votes, but did not fair as well outside of the county and ended the night at approximately 38 percent district wide, according to reports out of George and Perry counties. Goodin claimed his home county handily to push him into first place with roughly 41 percent of the district vote. Greene County resident Matt Brewer had a respectable showing as well, taking approximately 22 percent of the total vote tally.
The winner of the McNeal-Goodin runoff will face Democrat Matthew Daves in November. Daves was unopposed in his primary.
In other races, county Democrats overwhelmingly supported Attorney General Jim Hood in the Governor’s race. Hood claimed the Democratic ticket statewide as well. County voters were a little more split on the Republican ticket in the governor’s race. However, current Lt. Governor Tate Reeves claimed about the same percentage in Greene County (47 percent) as he had at press time in statewide totals. It appears Reeves will face off with former Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller in the Aug. 27 runoff as Waller was hovering at just under 35 percent statewide with 80 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday night. The third Republican on the ticket, Robert Foster of Desoto County, was the second highest vote-getter in Greene County with 31 percent of the total. However, Foster didn’t fare as well in other parts of the state and was a distant third in statewide totals.
Results will be updated as official tallies become available.
