Miss. voters’ ballot is packed

State, local offices, legislative seats

DeSoto County voters will join other Mississippians Tuesday in selecting party nominees for a full slate of state and local offices as well as legislative seats.

Five contested statewide offices are on the ballot: governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, auditor and insurance commissioner.

Locally, DeSoto County voters will select nominees for the first new school superintendent in 12 years, a replacement for retiring longtime Chancery Court Clerk W.E. “Sluggo” Davis and a sheriff. Several constable posts also are on the local ballot, along with state legislative races that involve DeSoto County districts.

Winners will technically move on to the November general election, though primary results — and runoffs if necessary on Aug. 25 — will determine the winner for most races both state and locally in heavily Republican Mississippi.

Only two state offices, governor and lieutenant governor, have Democratic candidates, along with one legislative race affecting DeSoto, House District 40. None of the DeSoto local races have Democratic candidates.

Danny Klein, chairman of the DeSoto County Election Commission, said he doesn’t expect any complications since voters had a dry run.

The county’s 39 polling locations will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Here’s a look at some of the contested statewide rac-

es DeSoto County voters will find on their ballots Tuesday:

Governor:

Incumbent Republican Phil Bryant is being challenged by Mitch Young on the GOP side. In the Democratic primary, Robert Gray of Jackson, Valerie Short of Ridgeland and Vicki Slater of Madison are competing.

Lieutenant governor:

Tate Reeves, a first-term Republican, faces Alisha Nelson McElhenney of Moss Point in the Republican primary.

Two candidates are running in the Democratic primary: Jelani Barr of Greenwood and Tim Johnson of Madison, who was a Republican state senator from 1996 to 2004 but switched to the Democratic Party to run for lieutenant governor.

Three other state offices have contested Republican primaries but no Democratic challengers:

In local races voters will see the following contested Republican races:

School superintendent:

Four candidates are seeking to fill the county’s top education post, which is being vacated by retiring Supt. Milton Kuykendall after 12 years as head of the state’s largest public school district.

Some Mississippi school superintendents are appointed, but the position is an elective office in DeSoto County. Competing for the Republican nomination are: Jerry Darnell, Jim Ferguson, Edith Robinson and Cory Uselton.

Sheriff:

Incumbent Bill Rasco faces challenges from Russell Lynch and James Weifenbach.

Additionally the county will have seven seats that are either fully or partially in DeSoto County in the state House when it convenes next January.

Six feature contested GOP primaries, and one has a contested Democratic primary.