Five MS Coast races will be decided in Mississippi runoff election. Here’s the list.

Mary Perez
·3 min read

Voters return to the polls Tuesday to decide five races in the Mississippi Primary Election Runoff.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Runoff elections typically draw a smaller turnout than in the primary and it’s anybody’s race, determined by which candidate can get supporters to the polls.

Here are the runoff races in each Mississippi Coast county:

Hancock County

Three races went to a runoff in Hancock County.

Sample ballot for Hancock County primary runoff August 2023
Sample ballot for Hancock County primary runoff August 2023

Chancery Clerk

Tim Kellar is retiring after 28 years on the job and it’s a hotly-contested race to see who will be the next chancery clerk. The job requires the clerk to record land deeds, manage the court docket, attend supervisor meetings and record the minutes.

Tiffany Lee Cowman, a teacher 15 years, led with 41% of the vote in the primary election.

Hancock County Supervisor Kodie Koennen took 31% of the vote in the four-candidate primary.

Tiffany Cowman
Tiffany Cowman
Kodie Koenenn
Kodie Koenenn

Mississippi election law requires a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote to win outright, or the race goes into a runoff.

Other races still to be decided in Hancock County are:

Supervisor District 1

Incumbent Theresa Ryan did not get enough votes to be in the runoff election. The race is between Donald Wayne Graham, who led by about 55 votes after the primary, and Christopher “Packer” Ladner.

Supervisor District 2

Incumbent Greg Shaw was up by about 150 votes over challenger Byron Ladner after the primary and now faces him in the runoff.

The winners of both supervisor races will face opponents in the fall general election.

Harrison County

The only race to go to a runoff in Harrison County is House of Representatives District 115, where Rep. Randall Patterson decided not to seek another term.

Biloxi Councilman Felix Gines faces D’Iberville resident Zachary Grady, who led after the primary with 53% of the vote.

Felix Gines
Felix Gines
Zachary Grady
Zachary Grady

Precincts involved in this race are:

  • 101-1 East Biloxi

  • 102-1 Biloxi Central

  • 103-1 Biloxi No. 8

  • 105-1 North Bay

  • 108-1 Biloxi No. 10

  • 509-1 Bay Central

Jackson County

The only runoff race in Jackson County is on the Democrat ticket for Supervisor District 2.

A three-way race prevented incumbent Ennis Morris from winning in the primary. Morris had 47% of the vote and now faces Felix ‘FeFe’ Fornett, who had 28% of the primary vote.

Voters will be back at the polls Tuesday in the runoff election taking place in all three Coast counties.
Voters will be back at the polls Tuesday in the runoff election taking place in all three Coast counties.

Who can vote in runoff?

How a person voted in the primary election on Aug. 8 determines if they are eligible to vote in the runoff.

Those who voted Republican in the primary or didn’t vote Aug. 8 can vote in the Republican runoff election.

Those who voted Democrat or didn’t vote in the primary can vote in the Democratic runoff race in Jackson County.

The circuit clerk offices in the three Coast counties will be open this Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon for the final chance for voters to cast an in person absentee ballot.

A poll worker holds up an election sticker at a polling location at Dr. Frank Gruich Sr. Community Center in Biloxi during the Mississippi Primary Election on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.
A poll worker holds up an election sticker at a polling location at Dr. Frank Gruich Sr. Community Center in Biloxi during the Mississippi Primary Election on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023.