[11/2/03]Warren County voters will cast ballots Tuesday in this year’s general election, which includes races for state senator, district attorney and county and statewide offices.

Polls in the county’s 22 precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Returns will be broadcast on radio stations WQBC 1420 AM and WBBV 101.3 FM. They will also be posted on the district attorney’s office Web site, www.msda9.com/election.

Tuesday’s election includes 13 contested races for Warren County offices, two for countywide offices and 11 for district offices, and an additional four for area district offices.

In the race for circuit clerk are Democratic nominee Shelly Ashley-Palmertree, 34, a 15-year deputy circuit clerk and daughter of retiring incumbent Larry Ashley; independents Mike Caruthers, 48, co-owner of Caruthers Inc., a locally based marine supply business; Bertha Williams Conner, 55, who has managerial experience with the U.S. military and teaches barbering at Hinds Community College; and Fred Sherard, 40, a 15-year accountant doing contract work locally; and Republican Trey Miller, 37, a self-employed home builder with government and business experience.

Running for sheriff are incumbent independent Martin Pace, 45, a 22-year veteran of the department who has been sheriff since 1995; and Gary Lick, 52, a retired local contractor.

The candidates for state senator for the district that includes Warren County and parts of Issaquena and Yazoo counties are incumbent Republican Mike Chaney, 59, an 11-year legislator who has been a senator since 2000; and Democrat Marcie Tanner Southerland, 50, Warren County’s prosecuting attorney who previously sat for 17 years on the Warren County Justice Court bench.

In the race for 9th Circuit Court district attorney, incumbent Gil Martin, 59, a 22-year Vicksburg attorney who has held the office since 1992, is being challenged by Richard “Ricky” Smith Jr., 44, a practicing Vicksburg attorney since 1993 who served as Northern District Warren County Justice Court judge from 1999 until he resigned this year to seek the post. Both candidates are running as independents.

The district includes Warren, Sharkey and Issaquena counties.

Voters in Warren County’s central district, District 3, will have a choice for supervisor between independent challenger Betty Barnes Jackson, 61, owner of the Cherry Street Cottages bed-and-breakfast who was elected to the post in 1991, and incumbent Democrat Charles Selmon, 43, who has served in the post since his election in 1995.

In the county’s southwestern district, District 4 voters will choose among independents, Vicksburg Intermediate School teacher Carl Flanders, 34; Hillcrest Service Center owner Reginald King, 56; and four-term incumbent Bill Lauderdale, 56; and Republican Charles Stevens, 79, a civil engineering technician who retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In District 1, in northeastern Warren County, independents Billy R. Boone, 53, a grocery-store market manager; Kenneth A. Downs, 39, owner of Discount Auto Repair and Muffler; and Michael J. Terry, 56, a licensed funeral service practitioner; are challenging Republican incumbent David McDonald, 53, who is seeking a second term in the post.

Voters in District 5, the county’s southwestern district, will choose among Democrat Frank A. Gardner Jr., 46, an auto mechanic; independent incumbent Richard George, 54, who is seeking his third term in the post; and independent Joe Wooley, 60, who is retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In District 2, independent Tony Hart, age unavailable, is challenging Michael Mayfield Sr., 45, who is seeking a third term in the office.

In the county’s Central District, voters will have a choice for justice court judge between incumbent Democrat Richard Bradford, 60, who has worked at W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home since 1974 and is seeking a second term, and independent Anderson White II, 45, an owner of A&A Bonding Service.

For constable, they will choose between independent James E. Jefferson, 44, owner of W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home; and incumbent Rudolph Walker, 49, a veteran Vicksburg Police Department patrolman who was elected to the post in a 2002 special election.

In the Northern District, independents W.B. Duggins, 75, a 35-year Vicksburg attorney; Bill Jeffers, 36, a sergeant with the Vicksburg Police Department; and Greg Kurtz, 36, a former Vicksburg Police officer and Mississippi College senior; and Republican Edwin Woods, 39, a 12-year Vicksburg attorney, are the candidates for justice court judge.

Independent Eddie Hoover, 38, owner of Hoover’s 24-Hour tire & auto service, is challenging Democratic incumbent Glenn McKay, 40, who is seeking his sixth term in the post and owns Dixie Paint Shop.

In Southern District races, Democratic justice court judge Joe Crevitt, 65, a retired U.S. Army recruiter who won the post in a 1997 special election, is being challenged by Republican Edward David Miller, 39, a City of Vicksburg code enforcement officer.

And Democratic constable John Henry Heggins, 41, is seeking a sixth term against opposition from independent Victor Worrell, 42, an independent-contractor newspaper carrier and a former security guard at a local manufacturing plant.

Voters in House of Representatives District 56, which includes parts of the Culkin, Bovina and Oak Ridge precincts, will have a choice between Republican Philip Gunn of Clinton and Democrat Paige Eaves Gill of Madison County.

In Senate District 36, which covers parts of Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson and Lincoln counties, will choose between Democratic incumbent Lynn Posey of Union Church and Republican Charles H. Stogner of Jackson.

Facing no general-election opposition for re-election to Warren County offices are chancery clerk Dot McGee, 65; coroner John Thomason, 44; tax assessor Richard Holland, 47; and tax collector Patricia Simrall, 56. Attorney Richard Johnson, 49, is unopposed for the county prosecutor’s post, in which Southerland is serving an interim appointment.

Reps. Chester Masterson, R-Vicksburg, of District 54; George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, of District 55; and Chuck Middleton, D-Port Gibson, of District 85 are also without general-election opposition. Masterson and Middleton won contested party primaries while Flaggs was unopposed for his party’s nomination.