A few more voters on Warren rolls

Published 12:00 am Sunday, July 31, 2011

Less than 1 percent more voters are registered in Warren County heading into Tuesday’s primary elections compared to last year, an update from the Secretary of State’s Office showed.

Active registrants totaled 30,592 — more than the 30,401 on the rolls for last year’s general election for Congress. The local list is 17 percent smaller than it was for the 2008 presidential election cycle and about 14 percent smaller than the 2007 state and county election cycle.

Rolls are routinely purged during each election cycle to reflect names deemed inactive for a number of reasons, most commonly because they have either moved or died. Statewide, voter registration totals 1.8 million.

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By noon Saturday, 310 voters showed up to cast absentee ballots. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday for primary voting.

Five of seven offices elected countywide are on this year’s ballot — though only three of those are on primary ballots — along with all five seats on the Board of Supervisors, two of which will be in Tuesday’s lineup. Any runoffs necessary after Tuesday’s voting will be Aug. 23, and the general election is Nov. 8.

Contested local primaries Tuesday include the chancery and circuit clerk’s positions, tax assessor and supervisor districts 1 and 2.

Republicans in the chancery race are Donna Farris Hardy, a retired health care industry administrator, City Accountant Doug Whittington and Dawn Cain Barnes, a dental hygienist. The winner faces City Clerk Walter Osborne Jr., the lone Democrat in the race, and independents Alecia Ashley and Gene Thompson, where the ultimate victor replaces retiring incumbent Dot McGee.

A pair of races highlight each major party’s ballot in the circuit clerk’s race. Incumbent clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree, first elected to the office in 2003, and Preston Balthrop, an auto sales manager, vie for the Democratic nomination. The Republican primary features Bill Jeffers, a Vicksburg police officer, and David Sharp, a schoolteacher. Primary winners face independents Jan Hyland Daigre, a former school board member, and Robert Terry, a real estate broker.

For assessor, Democrats Angela Brown and Gary Lick face off to advance to November, where the winner faces lone Republican Mike Caruthers and independents Ben Luckett and Doug Tanner. Brown and Luckett are deputy tax assessors. Lick, Tanner and Caruthers are businessmen.

District 1 Supervisor David McDonald faces John Arnold, a real estate broker, and Joe Channell, a businessman, for the GOP nod in Tuesday’s races. McDonald defeated Arnold by 17 votes in the 2007 primary before winning the general election. The winner faces independents Jerry Briggs and Reed Birdsong.

District 2 Supervisor William Banks is opposed for the Democratic nod by Tommie Rawlings, a city zoning board member. The winner faces Republican Trey Smith, unopposed on Tuesday, and independent De Reul.

Parts of south Warren County will help decide one legislative race, in Port Gibson-centered House District 85. State Rep. Chuck Middleton faces Jeffery Harness in the Democratic primary. The winner takes the seat.

Contested races that don’t appear before Warren County voters until November include:

• Tax Collector, where incumbent Antonia Flaggs Jones, a Democrat, faces Republican Patty Mekus.

• Sheriff, where incumbent Martin Pace, an independent, faces Democrat Bubba Comans.

• District 3 Supervisor, where incumbent Charles Selmon, a Democrat, faces James Stirgus Jr., an independent.

• District 4 Supervisor, where incumbent Bill Lauderdale, an independent, faces Democrat Casey Fisher.

• District 5 Supervisor, where incumbent Richard George faces J.W. Carroll, Joe Wooley and Ellis Tillotson. All are independents.

• House District 55, where incumbent George Flaggs, a Democrat, faces Republican Sam Smith.

• House District 56, where incumbent Philip Gunn, a Republican, faces Democrat Jim Culberson.

Unopposed throughout this election year in Warren County are justice court judges Eddie Woods, James Jefferson and Jeff Crevitt; constables Glenn McKay, Randy Naylor and John Heggins; Coroner Doug Huskey; 9th Circuit Court District Attorney Ricky Smith; House District 54 Rep. Alex Monsour; and District 23 Sen. Briggs Hopson III.