Election results in Simpson County will necessitate a run-off election for August 27.
Primary elections were held Tuesday, August 6, to determine Democratic and Republican candidates for several offices.
Of the 16,873 registered voters in the county, 7,665 cast ballots, or 45 percent of the electorate. The following results have yet to be certified and are considered unofficial as of press time.
Offices that were voted on include governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture and commerce, public service commissioner, transportation commissioner, district attorney, senate, representatives, sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, justice court judge, supervisor positions, and constable.
Jim Hood won the Democratic nod for governor, convincingly after capturing 199,467 votes statewide, good for 68 percent. Republican candidates Tate Reeves and Bill Waller Jr. will advance to a runoff. Reeves received 48 percent of the votes compared to Waller’s 33 percent. Jay Hughes ran uncontested for lieutenant governor in the Democratic Primary and will face Republican Delbert Hosemann in the general election. Hosemann defeated Shane Quick with 86 percent of the votes.
Secretary of State Representatives were decided for both parties. Johnny Dupree defeated Maryra Hodges Hunt in the Democratic primary, and Michael Watson defeated Sam Britton in the Republican Primary.
Jennifer Riley Collins ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the office of Attorney General. Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart received the most votes of the three candidates in the Republican Primary for Attorney General. Fitch finished with 44 percent of the ballots cast compared to Taggart’s 28 percent.
Addie Lee Green ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary for the office of Treasurer. David McRae defeated Eugene Clarke and will be the Republican candidate for Treasurer. Democrat Rickey L. Cole will face Republican incumbent Andy Gipson in the general election for the office of Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. Democratic candidate Robert E. Amos and Republican candidate Mike Chaney both ran unopposed in their respective primaries for Commissioner of Insurance.
Matt Sullivan will retain his position as District Attorney after running unopposed. Representative of District 90 will be decided in November between Republican incumbent Noah Sanford and Democratic candidate L.R. Easterling. District 91 Representative incumbent Bob Evans ran unopposed and will retain his office. Republican candidates for representatives of District 62 Tom Weathersby and District 77 Price Wallace both ran unopposed. Incumbent Senator Chris Caughman will retain his office after defeating C. Kay Mitchell in the Republican Primary.
The majority of the local races were decisive in determining candidates. Democrat Willie Ree McDonald will face Republican incumbent Tommy Joe Harvey for the office of Chancery Clerk in November. Witt Fortenberry received 60 percent of the ballots cast,defeating Keilah Berry in the Republican Primary for Circuit Clerk. Fortenberry will face Democratic candidate Terrene Norwood in the general election for the office of Circuit Clerk.
Sheriff candidate Darrell Walker defeated Cedrick Allbritton in the Democratic Primary, and will face Republican Candidate Paul Mullins in the general election. Terry Keys Tutor will remain the Simpson County Coroner after running unopposed. Jamie Reed Brewer also ran unopposed and will assume the office of tax assessor.
All five Supervisor seats were featured in this election. There will be a runoff for Supervisor District 1 between G Mitchell Chatman and incumbent Curtis G Skiffer in the Democratic primary. Skiffer emerged as the leader with 411 votes followed by Chatman with 342 votes. The third candidate Wayne Stubbs received 157 votes. Supervisor District 2 will be determined in the Republican primary. There will be a runoff between incumbent Danny Craft and Allen Maddox. Craft was close to receiving the necessary 50 percent of the votes to be declared the outright winner. Craft received 537 votes good for 49 percent. Allen Maddox received 484 votes.
Supervisor Brian Kennedy will retain his office as Supervisor of District 3 after running unopposed. The Supervisor of District 4 will be decided in the general election. Donny Welch defeated Gerald Brown in the Republican Primary. Welch will face Democratic candidate Hardy Williams, who ran unopposed, in the general election.
Larry Barnes will be the Democratic candidate for the office of Supervisor of District 5 after defeating Fred Alexander in a close race. Barnes’s opponent will be decided in a runoff election between Republican candidates Dean Barnard and Randy Moore. Moore received the majority of the votes in the Republican Primary with 747, which was good for 46 percent. Barnard followed with 568.
Both Justice Court Judge and Constable posts were decided in the Republican Primary. Ted Blakeney defeated Allen Floyd to retain his office as Justice Court Judge Post 1. Charles Savell defeated Joey Womack to hold his position as Justice Court Judge Post 2. Randall Coleman defeated Jamie Freeman for the office of Constable Post 1, and Christopher Jones defeated Dusty Drennan for the office of Constable Post 2.
Runoff elections will be held on August 27. The Democratic ballot will feature a single local race for Supervisor of District 1 between G Mitchell Chatman and Curtis G Skiffer. The Republican runoff ballot will feature two local races. Supervisor of District 2 will be decided between Danny Craft and Allen Maddox. The Republican candidate for Supervisor of District 5 will be decided between Randy Moore and Dean Barnard. Republican Ballots will also feature a runoff between Tate Reeves and Bill Waller for Governor, and Lynn Fitch and Andy Taggart for Attorney General.
For a detailed box by box chart of unofficial election results see pages 19 and 20.
