4 local races top ballot for election
Madison countians will go to the polls next week to vote for election commissioners along with a President of the United States and a U.S. Senator, among others.
Four election commissioner races are contested. Republican Helen Carney takes on Democrat Carol Mann in District 1.
In District 2, Republican Lauren Seyler Payne, Independent Vicki Slater, and Republican Teresa Sanders Speaks face off.
Republican Pat Truesdale takes on Democrat Sacia T. Dear in District 3.
Republican Dan Dickinson takes on Democrat Azzie Jackson Adams in District 4.
In District 5, Election Commissioner Leroy Lacy is running unopposed.
The general election is set for Tuesday with polls opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m. The final day of in-person, absentee voting will be Saturday. The Circuit Clerk’s Office will be opened all day, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
District 5 Madison County School Board Trustee Pollia F. Griffin is running unopposed in the only school board race this cycle.
National
President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Michael Pence are seeking re-election. They face the challenge of Democrats former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Sen. Kamala D. Harris.
There are seven other candidates for president listed on the ballot.
Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith faces the challenge of Democrat Michael Espy. Libertarian candidate Jimmy L. Edwards is also on the ballot.
Republican Michael Guest is seeking re-election as U.S. representative in Mississippi’s Third Congressional District. He is being challenged by Democrat Dorothy Dot Benford.
State
Judge Kenny Griffis of Ridgeland is seeking his first full-term as state Supreme Court Justice.
Judge Griffis was appointed as an associate justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court Place 1 on February 1, 2019. He previously served as chief judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and as a presiding judge.
He is being challenged by Latrice Westbrooks of Lexington. Westbrooks was elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 2016.
Judge Leslie King is running unopposed for re-election as state Supreme Count justice in the Central District, Place 2. Judge King has served on the court since being appointed in 2011. He is the only member of the court who is black.
There are three proposed amendments to the Mississippi Constitution on the ballot.
Initiatives 65 and 65A pertain to the legalization of Medical Marijuana. The first would make the change by writing it into the Mississippi Constitution. The latter would change the Legislature write it into law.
Voters can vote in favor of one of the initiatives or vote against both.
Voters will decide how statewide elected officials are decided.
There is also a Flag Referendum on the ballot where Mississippians vote yes or no on the new design of the Mississippi flag.
See a Sample Ballot here.