Turnout dismal during Tuesday’s primaries
Gluckstadt’s Republican primary on Tuesday whittled the available candidates for the five aldermen-at-large seats from seven to six in the Luck City’s first election.
Incumbents Jayce Powell and John Taylor took 185 and 183 votes respectively. The other three candidates in the six-person field to move on to the general election this summer were Chip Williams, Jessie Campbell and Samuel Stonestreet.
Williams got the most votes at 200. Campbell was just behind him with 192 and Stonestreet garnered 147 votes.
Candidate Paul Harty came in last with 133 votes and was eliminated from the race.
The candidates who remain will move onto the general election. Incumbent Miya Warfield Bates is the only Democratic candidate running in the race.
City Clerk Lindsay Kellum said all ballots featured all candidates for the alderman-at-large positions and voters could vote for up to five. She said they did receive ballots with fewer than five votes cast.
“We encourage everyone to cast all five of their votes,” Kellum said
Mayor Walter Morrison was also on the ballot but was running unopposed for the mayoral seat.
The general election is scheduled for June 3. The deadline to register to vote in that election is May 5.
The new terms will begin July 1.
MADISON
Madison did not hold primary elections because the incumbents were not challenged.
RIDGELAND
Incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Chuck Gautier beat out his Republican challenger Pat Truesdale with 408 votes to Truesdale’s 123 votes.
Unofficial results record three write-in votes. A total of 534 votes were cast in Ridgeland.
Ward 2 was the only primary in Ridgeland.
CANTON
Canton voters will return to the polls later this month for runoff elections in the Democrat Party primaries.
The runoff elections will be held on April 22.
In Canton three races are headed to a runoff. Canton is the only municipality that will host a runoff in the county for the municipal primaries.
The mayor’s race will head to a runoff between Comelia Walker and sitting Alderman Tim Taylor. Walker took the most votes with 1,202 or 47.85 percent of the vote based on unofficial returns. Taylor was close behind with 971 votes. His total came in at 38.65 percent of the votes cast.
Daphne Johnson-Sims received the least votes in the Mayoral Democratic Primary with 339 or 13.50 percent of the votes cast.
The winner will face Chip Matthews, who is on the Republican ticket, and Walter Peeples and Daniel Spivey, who are running as Independents in the general election this summer.
The Ward 4 Democratic primary race will head to a runoff between Incumbent Markee Blount and challenger Cynthia Allen. Candidates Victor Hughes and Crystal Luckett have been eliminated from the race. Allen received the most votes with 133, totaling just 36.84 percent of the votes cast Tuesday. Blount came in a close second with 30.75 percent of the vote receiving 111 votes.
Luckett received 97 votes and Hughes received 20 votes.
Janice Diamond and Laura Elaine Blair will vie for the Ward 5 seat vacated by Tim Taylor in a runoff. Diamond took the majority of votes in this race 139 totaling 37.87 percent of the votes. Blair came in a close second with 135 votes and 36.78 percent of the votes cast.
Barbara Brown and Fredrick Mayfield were eliminated from the race during Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Brown got 80 votes for just over 21 percent of the votes cast and Mayfield received bout 3.5 percent of the vote with 13 votes
In Ward 2, sitting Alderman Fred Esco lost out to challenger Dr. Shannon Whitehead. Whitehead took 69 percent of the vote with 236 votes. Escoe got 105 votes.
In Ward 6 Monica Gilkey faced challenger Dexter Brim. Gilkey received 56.88 percent with 215 votes and Brim had 163 votes for 43.12 percent of the votes cast.
Incumbent Lafayette Wales faced challenger Ronald Carter for the Ward 7 seat. Wales came away with 216 votes at 58.22 percent and Carter lost with 155 votes or 41.78 percent.
Gilkey, Whitehead and Wales are all running unopposed in the general election.