Tuesday, District 54 will have a new representative in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Kevin Ford and Dr. Randy Easterling will face off in a runoff election to fill the unexpired term of former representative Alex Monsour who resigned in June after being elected South Ward Alderman in Vicksburg.

District 54 covers part of Vicksburg and the northern and eastern areas of Warren County, and a portion of the northwest part of the county as well as Yazoo and Issaquena counties.

Ford and Easterling advanced to a runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in the special election Nov. 6. Joe Bonelli finished third in the race and didn’t advance to the runoff.

Incomplete and unofficial returns showed Ford finished first in the three-candidate race with 923 votes, or about 36.5 percent of the total 2,523 votes cast, to 837 votes, or about 33.1 percent, for Easterling.

Ford won Warren and Yazoo counties, getting 803 votes in Warren and 93 in Yazoo.

He and Easterling tied in Issaquena County with 27 votes each.

Ford said he is going back and knocking on doors of voters throughout the three counties prior to Tuesday’s election.

“We are going door to door,” Ford said. “We just turned around, started over and kept pushing. Education is what people are talking about. We’ve been to about 80 percent of the doors that voted in the last election and we will touch the last bit of them over the weekend.”

Easterling said he will be going door to door and also have a mix of robo calls and mailouts going out to voters before the election.

“We are going back and knocking on doors that we went to to begin with,” Eastlering said. “I found them to be real receptive. People are interested in education of course and lower taxes. That would be the main thing they talk about.”

Eastlering announced Friday he had received endorsements in the election from Vicksburg mayor George Flaggs Jr. and Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Vicksburg native.

“The significance of Flaggs and Chaney’s endorsement, Flaggs is very pro-education and pro-business, he’s moved the city in the right direction,” Easterling said. “He needs somebody in the house to work with him to do that and I think that’s significant. Chaney, when he was in the senate, chaired the senate education committee. He knows what it takes to get public school education in the right direction. Both of these endorsements say a lot because they have been in the house and they know what it takes to get something done.”

Flaggs said in a release that “Randy Easterling is a believer in the value of public education. He will make improving our schools a top priority. Before I was mayor, I spent 26 years in the Mississippi legislature. I am supporting Dr. Randy Easterling because he is ready to step in on day one and make a difference for House District 54.”

Just before the special election, the Mississippi Association of Educators announced its endorsement of Ford.

“We are impressed with Mr. Ford’s strong advocacy on behalf of students and educators, and feel he is the best candidate for the position,” said Joyce Helmick, MAE President. “We are honored to endorse him.”

Helmic said Ford has placed support of public education as the centerpiece of his campaign.

“The Mississippi Association of Educators supports and encourages those who promote excellent public schools for all Mississippians to seek elected office,” Helmic said.

The following precincts are included in the house district: all of the Bovina, Culkin, Oak Ridge and Redwood precincts, portions of the Cedar Grove and Kings precincts and all of precinct 3-61, part of Vicksburg Junior High School, all of the Beechwood and Plumbers and Pipefitters precincts, and part of the Tingleville precinct.

Anyone with questions about whether they can vote in the election can call the Warren County Election Commission at 601-638-8875, or the circuit clerk’s office at 601-636-3961.