Robert Walker answers questions on Walnut Street Tuesday night after taking the Democratic nomination to seek his third full term as Vicksburg mayor. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[05/02/01] Vicksburg Mayor Robert Walker defeated first-time office-seeker Eric Rawlings in primary voting Tuesday and heads to the general election with his fourth Democratic nomination.

Walker’s victory sets the stage for the June 5 general election when he will try for his third full term as the city’s chief executive.

On that ballot, Walker, 57, will face independents Eva Marie Ford, 63, Laurence Leyens, 37, and Joe Loviza, 61, in a winner-take-all contest for the $56,531-a-year post.

Walker has faced Loviza twice before in a mayoral race. In both contests, the incumbent lost.

In 1993, when Walker was seeking his second four-year term as mayor, Loviza won by a margin of 116 votes. Four years later, Walker reclaimed the post by 1,799 votes to win his present term.

“I’m looking forward to June 5,” Walker said. “That’s the next step.”

The difference is that in their previous contests, Walker and Loviza have gone one-on-one. Next month, voters will have two more names from which to choose.

With 5,224 votes counted in unofficial returns, Walker defeated Rawlings, 38, with 2,835 votes to 2,389. Rawlings, who lost by a margin of 446 votes, said he was disappointed, but pleased with the campaign he ran.

“People will never look at me the same again,” Rawlings said. “I made a real showing.”

Initial results indicate that 447 fewer voters went to the polls Tuesday than did for the 1997 primary races. In that race, Walker got 3,513 votes and defeated state Rep. George Flaggs for the Democratic nomination by 1,362 votes.

Totaled, Rawlings got 231 more votes than Flaggs did four years ago, and Walker had 678 fewer than his 1997 total.

“I think I did a pretty good job,” Rawlings said.

Walker, who said Tuesday night that he had not gone over the results, polled the strongest at the Vicksburg Junior High School precinct with 78 percent of the vote. After the results were tallied, Walker said he planned to spend the evening unwinding by playing basketball at his home in Marcus Bottom.

“We’re very grateful to those persons who supported our candidacy,” Walker said. “My hat goes off to Mr. Rawlings who ran a very good race,” he added.

Rawlings, who waited at City Hall with his family while the numbers were read, said he was not ready to support another candidate for mayor, but that he would continue to be active in city politics.

“I’m going to make sure that he holds up his promises,” Rawlings said.

While Walker took seven out of the city’s 11 precincts, results showed strong support for Rawlings in the South Ward where he took four of the six precincts. Rawlings strongest showing was at the Porters Chapel United Methodist Church, where he won 92 percent of the 272 Democratic votes.

One thing Rawlings did express concern about was voters who were confused about where to vote in city elections when they voted at different precincts for county and state elections.

“One of the biggest disappointments was that people went to the polls and were turned away and sent to other polls to vote,” Rawlings said.

He said that many of the voters who were told they had to vote at different precincts probably never made it to the correct place to cast their ballots.

Out of the 17,407 names listed on city poll books, 5,224, or about 30 percent of eligible voters, cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. In the 1997 primary, 5,722, or about 36 percent of the eligible voters, went to the polls and 8,867 turned out for the general election.

Vicksburg residents who are not registered to vote in city elections have until noon Saturday to sign up at the City Clerk’s Office in City Hall.