Five races called, one down to the wire, in runoff election for the Mississippi Legislature

Five out of the six runoff races for the Mississippi House of Representatives were decided about three hours after polls closed Tuesday, with voters electing the first openly LGBTQ member of the Legislature and at least one incumbent losing.

Another race in Alcorn County where Republican incumbent Nick Bain faces a challenge from gun store owner Brad Mattox remained too close to call after the third-place candidate from earlier this month backed Mattox due to Bain's voting record on the state flag.

In the Democratic primary for House District 66, which is in Hinds County and includes parts of Salem, Terry and a portion of Southwest Jackson, Fabian Nelson defeated Roshunda Harris-Allen. With an estimated 99% of the vote reporting Tuesday, and after the Associated Press had called the race, Nelson received 69% of the vote, compared to Harris-Allen's 31%.

Nelson, a realtor and entrepreneur, will face no opposition in the November general election, paving the way for the first openly LGBTQ member of either the House or Senate. Nelson, who ran on a platform of Medicaid expansion and fully funding education, said he would advocate for all of his constituents, and all of the state's marginalized communities, in an interview with the Clarion Ledger earlier this month.

"I'm representing every single person in District 66 and, really, in the state of Mississippi," Nelson said. "There are so many marginalized communities, and I'm the advocate for every single person, Black, white, transgender, gay, bisexual. We have to have advocates that are advocating for every person from every walk of life."

Shortly after the race was called, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund released a statement celebrating the decision. The political action committee supported Nelson's candidacy, as it supports many openly LGBTQ candidates.

"Voters in Mississippi should be proud of the history they’ve made but also proud to know they’ll be well-represented by Fabian. Fabian’s victory is a testament to his dedication to his community and the thoughtful, diligent work he put into winning this campaign," said Annise Parker, CEO and president of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, in a statement.

Nelson would replace Rep. De'Keither Stamps, who is running for public service commissioner for the central district, a seat he narrowly lost in 2019.

In the Democratic primary for House District 69, which is in Hinds County and includes much of West Jackson, Tamarra Butler-Washington defeated Patty Patterson. With an estimated 95% of the vote reporting Tuesday, and after the AP had called the race, Butler-Washington received about 63.4% of the vote, compared to Patterson's roughly 36.6%

Butler-Washington is currently an employee at the Mississippi Department of Health after formerly serving as a clerk in the Mississippi Senate and holding legislative advocacy positions with the City of Jackson, Mississippi Health Advocacy Program and American Cancer Society. In an interview with the Clarion Ledger earlier this month she said those experiences will make her an effective member of the House.

"The positions I've held over the last 20 years of my career have always been in advocating for the people," Butler-Washington said. "My jobs allowed me to be able to advocate on a different level for the people, and I want to take the work experience, the conventional experience, along with the community experience that I have and be the voice for the citizens of District 69, the voice for the voiceless."

Butler-Washington, who will face no Republican opposition in November, will replace Rep. Alyce Clarke, who has represented the district since 1985 and was the first Black women elected to the Legislature.

In the Democratic primary for House District 72, which is in Hinds and Madison counties and includes parts of Jackson and Ridgeland, Justis Gibbs defeated Rukia Lumumba. With an estimated 95% of the vote reporting Tuesday, and after the race was called by the AP, Gibbs received about 61.3% of the vote, while Lumumba received about 38.7%.

Gibbs, an attorney and executive board member of the Mississippi Democratic Party, is the son of the seat's previous holder, former Rep. Debra Gibbs, who stepped down from the seat to become a judge, leaving it vacant for a session. The younger Gibbs said earlier this month in an interview with the Clarion Ledger that he learned a lot from watching his mother represent the district, including how important it is to get work done for constituents despite being a Democrat amidst Republican supermajorities.

"That's how the most successful legislators, Democrat and Republican, bring back the most in appropriations for their districts for special projects," Gibbs said. "I've seen it done. I've watched my mother in this position for the last six years, and her voting record speaks for itself. She is a strong Democrat. However, she is able to maneuver, strategize and not cut out other legislators simply because they do not agree on the same policies."

In another areas of the state, there were three Republican House runoffs.

Bain, a powerful member of the House Republican Caucus who chairs the Judiciary B Committee, may be in one of the toughest fights of his political career. The Republican race for House District Two, in Alcorn County, was separated by just 22 votes Wednesday afternoon, with an estimated 99% of the vote reporting. Mattox led with about 50.2% of the vote, while Bain trailed with about 49.8%.

Bain faced two challengers in the primary earlier this month, Mattox and former Corinth alderman Chris Wilson. The three-term incumbent came within less than 2% of winning outright and avoiding a runoff, but after election night Wilson backed Mattox. Wilson told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that he backed Mattox because Bain voted, along with a number of House and Senate Republicans, to do away with the old Mississippi state flag, which included the Confederate battle emblem.

"The key thing that's hurt Nick and what started me is when they took our right to vote away on that flag," Wilson told the Daily Journal. "The county folks are a lot more upset than the city folks are about how that flag vote was handled."

Bain held a slim lead for much of Tuesday night, but as absentee votes were counted things shifted. Mattox gained a 23 vote lead around 9:30 p.m. as those absentee votes were added. According to a Facebook post from Alcorn County Circuit Clerk Crystal Starling, the outstanding votes at that time were 45 affidavit ballots to be processed Wednesday, five absentee affidavits to be processed within five business days and any absentee ballots that arrive postmarked by election day.

By Wednesday afternoon, the affidavits had been processed, leaving just the five absentee affidavits and the potential late-arriving absentee ballots, if they were postmarked by election day. Those additional ballots dropped the lead by one vote for Mattox, putting it at 22 votes. The race remained too close to call at press time, and Bain has indicated that he is likely to consider legal challenges to a loss, given the tight margin.

The winner of the race between Bain and Mattox will face no opposition in the November general election.

In the Republican primary for House District 105, first-term incumbent Dale Goodin was defeated by challenger Elliot Burch. With an estimated 99% of the vote reporting, and after the race was called by the AP, Burch received about 75.1% of the vote, compared to about 24.9% for Goodin.

The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Matthew Daves in the general election.

If Bain were to lose, Goodin and Bain would join five other incumbents in the Legislature who lost their primary this year.

In the Republican primary for House District 115, former D’Iberville police officer Zachary Grady defeated Felix Gines, a member of the Biloxi City Council who became a Republican in December. With 99% of the vote reporting, and after the race was called by the AP, Grady received about 61.8% of the vote, compared to about 38.2% for Gines.

Gines was seeking to become the second Black Republican elected to the statehouse this cycle, after none had served in the Legislature since 1894. A candidate from Desoto County is slated to become the first after winning earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS Runoff election results: Six state House seats on ballot Tuesday