Story with updated numbers
8/12/2023
In a closely watched local election, Mario Magsby emerged victorious by defeating incumbent Charles Jones with a vote count of 2,253 to 2,083, securing the Democratic nomination for the role of Sheriff. Magsby is now poised to face independent candidate Stacy Lester in the upcoming November general election.
The District Supervisor races also saw a series of outcomes, with incumbents and newcomers vying for support across the districts.
In District 1, the incumbent, Paul Pearson, managed to secure his re-election bid with a resounding vote count of 654. His challengers, Doris Haynes Miller and Dell Cannon, received 188 and 167 votes, respectively.
Similarly, District 2 Supervisor Pat Davis successfully defended his seat, garnering 606 votes compared to his opponents Archie Buford and Henrietta Ruth Peeler, who received 121 and 121 votes, respectively.
Derrell Washington, the incumbent of District 3 Supervisor, emerged victorious with 615 votes, fending off competition from Travis Haggan, who garnered 240 votes, and Alcorn Russell, who received 32 votes.
In an upset victory in District 4, challenger Jesse Harris unseated incumbent Johnny Newson, securing 487 votes compared to Newson’s 261.
The race for District 5 Supervisor proved to be a competitive one, as incumbent Roosevelt Lee and former Supervisor Will Young are headed for a runoff. Lee received 188 votes, while Young earned 345 votes. This rematch follows Lee’s previous victory over Young in the 2019 runoff. The winner of this runoff will go on to face independent candidate Tony Young in the November general election.
Shifting focus to the Chancery Clerk position, Venesia Griffin Brown and Sherita Wilson are poised to compete in a runoff, having secured 1,923 and 1,409 votes, respectively. The victor of this runoff will face off against independent candidates Maria Scheider and Tasheena Galmore in the November general election, filling the role left by the retiring Chancery Clerk Carolyn Parham.
In the Constable races, John Rybolt and Floyd Williams maintained their positions in the Northern and Southern Districts, respectively. Rybolt secured 1,421 votes, while Williams earned 1,015 votes. Solomon Gray and Jovas Haynes, Rybolt and Williams’ respective challengers, received 944 and 432 votes, respectively. Oliver Mitchell garnered 416 votes in the Southern District race.
In a projected outcome for the District Attorney race, incumbent Brenda Mitchell appears poised to secure re-election, having garnered a total of 6,706 votes compared to challenger Michael Carr’s 6,437. Mitchell’s victory was largely attributed to her substantial lead in Bolivar County, where she secured 3,589 votes to Carr’s 2,196. Carr, however, managed to secure victories in Tunica County, Coahoma County, and Quitman County with vote counts of 693 to 594, 2,479 to 1,632, and 1,069 to 891, respectively.
As the election results unfold, the landscape of local leadership in various districts is set to evolve, with both incumbents and new contenders vying for their place in the November general election.
The primary runoffs are Aug. 29 and the general election is Nov. 7.
