Turn Out For What

Yes, the headline is a play on Lil

Jon's party anthem “Turn Down for

What” ... so let's get that out of the way first. The dust is still settling, but two of the most contentious races during this municipal election season have just about been decided - or so it seems.

The Republican Primary for the

Ward 1 seat on the Board of Aldermen saw incumbent Ben Carver defeat challenger Jason Camp on Tuesday to advance to the June 6 General Election.

This comes on the heels of a race decided by one vote, which was ultimately overturned and sent to a runoff.

On Wednesday, the mayoral race was also decided, with Lynn Spruill pulling out the narrowest of victories to win Starkville's highest office against attorney Johnny Moore. While Moore plans to review several rejected ballots, all signs point to a victory for Spruill in a race not soon to be forgotten in the Golden Triangle.

This could change, but for now, let's focus on the numbers.

Seven votes determined the outcome of the mayoral race on Wednesday morning - a number that should underscore the importance of voter participation at the local level.

Of the 13,155 registered voters in the city of Starkville, roughly 4,000 took to the polls, with turnout coming in at around 30 percent.

The Mississippi Secretary of State's office told me this week that 30 percent turnout is the norm for most Mississippi cities, but the number for Starkville is better than normally seen in a small town runoff.

Pretty darn exciting, right?

What's nearly as exciting as the close finish is the apparent excitement and urgency shown by voters on Runoff Day - a day normally capped off with unpredictably low turnouts. I remember ahead of the May 2 Primary being told by several citizens that it would be surprising if the city even achieved a 20 percent turnout.

While both the mayoral and Republican Ward 1 Alderman races were close in their respective primaries and runoffs, the one fact that should be recognized is the substantial voter turnout seen during Tuesday's runoffs.

For example, the Ward 1 GOP Primary barely saw turnout crack 200 on May 2, while the runoff saw 271 ballots cast.

Voters also got to the polls earlier in Ward 1, with 153 votes cast by noon in the Ward 1 GOP Primary Runoff Tuesday, while only 113 votes were cast as of 2 p.m. on May 2.

I love talking about the impact of weather on voter turnout, so another off-the-wall factor to look at is heat. It likely didn't factor in, but it's fun and somewhat plausible to think more people managed to make it to the polls on a day where the high temperature in Starkville was a humid 82 degrees, as opposed to the May 2 Primary Day when the high was a mild 78 degrees. We aren't in the dead of summer, but 82 degrees in Mississippi is enough to keep many stuck inside and wary of venturing out into the humidity.

Neither day saw even a drop of rain in Starkville, so you can take it at face value. But something was definitely motivating voters to stand in line.

Maybe it was the weather or maybe it was the tight competition - only the individual voters truly know what captivated them to cast ballots Tuesday.

In the mayoral primary, 3,361 votes were cast during the three-candidate Democratic Primary on May 2, while the runoff saw 3,720 votes (omitting affidavits).

It's no secret the Democratic Mayoral Primary impacted Republican voters in Ward 1 more than anywhere else, with voters having to choose to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. But after speaking with voters, candidates and election officials, it seems plausible to assume that voters found their motivation to get to the polls at least in part after seeing the low turnout in Ward 1 on Primary Day.

Granted, some voters in Ward 1 participated in the mayoral primary and were left on the outside looking in for the Ward 1 Republican Primary. But somehow that turnout number jumped on May 16.

For the mayor's race, both candidates ramped up their campaigns in the last two weeks and it appears that hard work on the stump paid off for both Spruill and Moore, who saw a closer margin separating them on Tuesday than on May 2.

In Ward 1, both Carver and Camp hit the bricks hard and showed they could inspire new voters to give them support.

Candidates in both races deserve any praise they get, if for nothing else other than getting people to vote. It sounds paltry, but getting voters to the polls in the 21st Century is more akin to pulling teeth than providing political and civic inspiration to get folks to the polls.

If you see any of these candidates on the streets of Starkville, thank them for that.

Runoffs traditionally see a smaller turnout than the initial race - but Tuesday bucked all conventions and showed that whatever candidates were doing on the campaign trail to get people to the polls worked and should be given due consideration in the future to further galvanize the voter base.

Regardless of who won and lost, candidates and voters alike in Starkville should feel a sense of pride when looking at the numbers. Voters here have proven the exception in a state notorious for its low voter participation and my hope is that we will continue to see that kind of civic engagement in elections to come.

It is also a likely possibility that voter turnout will be at its highest this election cycle with the June 6 General Election, which is non-partisan. With that in mind, be sure to participate in the final round of voting and show the state and rest of the country that Starkville is the engaged and socially-conscious place that we all know it can be.