Shena Knight ousts incumbent C.J. Hill in Dist. 2 school board runoff

From Staff Reports

District 2 will have a new representative on the Greene County Board of Education to start the new year.

According to unofficial results, political newcomer Shena Knight defeated incumbent Curtis J. ‘C.J.’ Hill in Tuesday’s runoff election for the post. Knight claimed 144 votes compared to 103 by Hill to give her 58 percent of the total vote count.

With only one race on the ballot, turnout was not expected to be high. But, even under those circumstances, Tuesday’s turnout was particularly low with less than 19 percent of the district’s 1,321 registered voters turning out to cast a ballot.

Knight won handily in her home precinct of North Leakesville with 80 votes compared to Hill’s 13. Hill won his home precinct of State Line, but by a much tighter 90-to-64 vote margin.

Hill led a tightly-contested 3-person ticket in the general election three weeks ago, taking 36 percent of the total tally. Knight finished second with 31.8 percent of the votes to force a runoff. The third candidate, Brenda Debose Mosley, received 24.9 percent in the general election.

With Knight’s victory, the Greene County Board of Eduation will have two new faces on it in January. Longtime educator Shannon Walters was the outright winner in a 3-candidate race for the District One seat on the board on Nov. 8.