Northeast Mississippi regional elections only see handful of contested races
Nov. 8—TUPELO — General elections across Northeast Mississippi went as expected with only a handful of upsets or surprises.
In Calhoun County, the incumbent chancery clerk and coroner were defeated by Republican challengers; Lafayette County saw one incredibly close race, one blowout and two supervisors unseated; and the region will also see two new sheriffs sworn into office in January.
Calhoun County Chancery Clerk Romona Tillman (D) lost her bid for a third term when challenger Kathy Weeks Poynor (R) collected just more than 60% of the vote. Amy Poynor (R) garnered 65% of the ballots cast for coroner, defeating Salena Westmoreland, who had served the last four years.
In the three-way race for the vacant Lafayette County chancery clerk seat, Republican Mike Roberts picked up 6,603, or 47.1%, of the vote. Independent challenger Marsha Pierce Theobald finished in second place with 41.7% of the vote. Even no candidate received a majority of the vote, there will not be a run-off. Under state law, candidates in county races only have to win the popular vote.
Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East won his first full term, collecting more than 10,000 votes for 75% of the total ballots cast. A pair of incumbent supervisors lost their bids for re-election in the same county. Dale Timothy Gordon and Scott Allen will be the new representatives for districts 3 and 4, respectively.
The region will also see new sheriffs in Itawamba and Oktibbeha counties. Fulton Police Chief Mitch Labors defeated incumbent Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickerson in the Republican primary in August. Tuesday, Nabors handily defeated independent challenger Brandon Lee Pace.
In Oktibbeha County, Shank Phelps and John L. Rice both ran to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Sheriff Steve Gladney. Phelps picked up just over 51% of the vote to become the next sheriff.
The following a breakdown of results from contested races from across Northeast Mississippi:
ALCORN COUNTY
Chancery Clerk
Keith Settlemires, R — 5,587
Willie D. Justice, I — 2,744
Circuit Clerk
Crystal Starling, R (i) — 7,269
Nestly Gates, D — 1,105
BENTON COUNTY
Circuit Clerk
Kathy Graves, D (i) — 1,764
Stephanie Moffitt, R — 1,082
Sheriff
Robby Goolsby, D (i) — 1,709
David Matlock, R — 1,160
Coroner
Michael Alberson, I -1,441
LaQuita Scruggs Reaves, D — 1,270
Justice Court Judge South
Gary McBride, D (i) — 1,037
Wayne Gadd, R — 557
Constable Post North
Tracy Hampton, D — 645
Joe Mederios, I — 307
Early H. Smith, I — 212
Supervisor District 1
Chris Shoup, D — 387
Shane Brooks, R — 133
Supervisor District 4
Tony Fortner, D (i) — 341
Jason Hunter, R — 182
Supervisor District 5
Craig Briscoe, R — 395
Kirk Childers, D — 285
Johnny Thompson, I — 96
CALHOUN COUNTY
Chancery Clerk
Kathy Weeks Poynor, R — 2,525
Romona Tillman, D (i) — 1,652
Sheriff
Greg Pollan, R (i) — 2,802
Roger Westmoreland, D — 1,305
Tax Collector/Assessor
Bill Malone, D (i) — 3,148
Joseph "Bubba" Hopkins, R — 1,010
Coroner
Amy Poynor, R — 2,700
Salena Westmoreland, D (i) — 1,441
Justice Court Judge Post 2
Benny Langford, I — 1,152
Danny Rogers, R — 887
Constable Post 1
Thomas Sosa, R — 1,160
James "Jay" Vanlandingham, D (i) — 887
Constable Post 2:
Kenneth White, R — 1,098
David Poynor, I — 913
Supervisor District 2
Tony (Homer) Moore, R (i) — 541
Martin Ray White, D — 305
CHICKASAW COUNTY
Chancery Clerk
Sherri Bevels, D — 2,900
Janine Freeman, R — 2,096
Justice Court Judge Post 1
Garry L. Turner, D (i) — 1,521
Martin Falkner, I — 569
Justice Court Judge Post 2
Vida Anderson Smith, D (i) — 1,562
Sumeka Thomas, I — 460
Guy Bowens, I — 380
Supervisor District 1
Anderson McFarland, D (i) — 531
Koary Baskin, I — 463
Supervisor District 4
Robert "Bob" Gregory, I — 434
A.L. Adair, D (i) — 397
Supervisor District 5
Margaret East Futral, R (i) — 683
Randy Kirby, D — 347
CLAY COUNTY
Supervisor District 2
Daryl Thomas — 1,070
Johnnie Collins — 340
Supervisor District 3
R.B. Davis (i) — 836
Larry Smith (R) — 328
Supervisor District 5
Joe Chandler (i) — 875
Brad Williamson — 366
ITAWAMBA COUNTY
Sheriff
Mitch Nabors, R — 5,059
Brandon Lee Pace, I — 1,441
Supervisor District 3
Wally Barnard, — R 797
Trelivie McMillen, I — 590
LAFAYETTE COUNTY
Chancery Clerk
Mike Roberts, R — 6,603
Marsha Pierce Theobald, I — 5,847
Lloyd Oliphant, I — 1,559
Sheriff:
Joey East, I (i) — 10,701
Jeffrey C. South, R — 3,508
Tax Assessor/Collector
O.E. "Rocky" Kennedy II, I -7,946
Shelia Busby Kelly, R — 6,115
Coroner
Glenn Coleman, R — 9,112
LaVera "Deede" Hodges, D — 5,396
Justice Court Judge North
Brent Johnson, R — 3,319
LaSonja "Sue" Pettis, D — 2,970
Justice Court Judge South
Johnny Wayne McLarty, I (i) — 1,566
Krisi Allen, I — 1,095
Benjamin Justus, I — 795
Supervisor District 2
John Morgan, R — 1,859
Avery Dunn, D — 1,620
Supervisor District 3
Dale Timothy Gordon, D — 1,951
David Rikard, R (i) — 1,805
Supervisor District 4
Scott Allen, R — 1,307
Chad McLarty, I (i) — 823
Anne M. Klingen, D — 765
Supervisor District 5
Don Mason, D — 499
Greg Bynum, R — 1,274
MARSHALL COUNTY
Sheriff
Kenny Dickerson, D (i) — 4,325
Billie Joe Calvert, R — 2,420
Antjuan Lester, I — 1,811
Supervisor District 1
Charles Terry, D (i) — 790
Anthony Gulledge, I — 451
Supervisor District 2
Johnny Walker, D — 1,219
Linda B. Loftin, R — 368
Joe Houck, I — 291
Michael Huckaby Jr., I -95
MONROE COUNTY
Coroner
Alan Gurley, I (i) — 5,533
Jeremy Belle, D — 3,370
Heather Lucius Smith, I — 1,469
Supervisor District 3
Rubel D. West, R (i) — 1,052
Brian Atkins, I — 963
Supervisor District 4
Fulton Ware, D (i) — 1,566
Jeremy Lee, I — 587
Supervisor District 5
Hosea Bogan, D (i) — 1,304
Jason Sullivan, R — 801
OKTIBBEHA COUNTY
Sheriff
Shank Phelps, R — 6,350
John L. Rice, D — 5,986
Tax Assessor/Collector
JoHelen "Joey" Walker, D — 6,517
John P. Montgomery, R — 5,740
Justice Court Judge Post 3
C. Marty Haug, D (i) — 1,646
Brian Michael Lindner, R — 1,498
Constable Post 1
Kenneth W. Watkins, R — 2,330
William Ford, D — 2,231
Constable Post 3
James Lindsey, R (i) — 1,904
Ronald A. Hannah, D — 1,189
Supervisor District 1
Ben Carver, R — 1,486
Erik Young, D — 1,184
Supervisor District 5
Joe L. Williams, D — 1,695
Les Lindley, R — 751
PONTOTOC COUNTY
Sheriff
Leo Mask, R (i) — 5,781
Jim Littlejohn, I — 3,070
Constable East
Neal Davis, R (i) — 3,134
Sonnie Rock Williams, I — 1,285
Supervisor District 5
Randy Ray, R — 1,516
Donald Fitzpatrick, D — 304
PRENTISS COUNTY
Supervisor District 1
Rick Owens, R — 964
Tommy Mathis, D — 194
Supervisor District 3
Kyle Murphy, R — 867
Todd Sorrell, D — 275
Supervisor District 5
Edward Smith, R — 825
Jeff Dill, D — 322
TIPPAH COUNTY
Justice Court Judge North
Benny Jackson, R (i) — 2,270
Miriam Simelton Anderson, I — 421
TISHOMINGO COUNTY
Coroner
Mack Wilemon, I (i) — 3,186
Lance Wayne Heavener Jr., R — 2,483
Justice Court Judge North
Seth Adams, R (i) — 1,959
Carly Whitehead Carman, I — 1,254
Constable South
Donald Ray Thomas, R (i) — 2,123
Curtis Blair Jr., D — 276
UNION COUNTY
Circuit Clerk
Donna Treadaway, R — 6,106
Jim Taylor, I — 1,210
