Lauderdale will not seek re-election for 7th term

Published 8:47 am Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Bill Lauderdale is going to the house — for good this time, he told fellow county supervisors Monday.

Warren County’s longest serving county board member wrapped up an informal session Monday by announcing he would not file for a seventh term in District 4, which covers the southwestern part of the county. Lauderdale was first elected in 1987 and was won re-election five of six times he’s sought the office.

Bill Lauderdale

Bill Lauderdale

Lauderdale, 67, said he had told friends in recent weeks he wouldn’t run and that announcing against another run early in the qualifying period was in the best interest of his district.

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“You don’t get away from this job — at church, at hunting club or anywhere else,” Lauderdale said. “Twenty-four years is about enough of that.”

“I wanted to give some time for someone out there that, hopefully, is good and qualified,” he said. “And conservative, hopefully.”

Qualifying ends Feb. 27 for local and statewide races to appear on this year’s primary and general election ballot. Primaries are Aug. 4 and the general election is Nov. 3.

Incumbent supervisors John Arnold, William Banks and Charles Selmon have qualified for re-election on the five-member board. Arnold, first elected in 2011, did so last Friday as a Republican and Banks, first elected in 2005, did so a week ago as a Democrat. District 5 Supervisor Richard George, an independent, has yet to qualify but said late Monday he planned to do so soon.

Monday’s lone qualifier was Coroner Doug Huskey, as an independent. Huskey was first elected in a special election in 2006.

Lauderdale, an independent, was elected at the tail end of Mississippi’s old “beat” system of county government, when individual supervisors held strong sway over spending on roads and other projects in their district. The “unit” system, one that centralizes road maintenance and engineering in dedicated departments, was instituted in Warren County and elsewhere after investigations by state auditors found mass misuse of public money.

Lauderdale’s credits in the 1990s include pushing for a boat landing at LeTourneau and vigorous checkups on personal property tax collections. He lost re-election to Carl Flanders in 2003 by 189 votes, but regained the seat by 41 votes in a rematch four years later. In 2011, he was re-elected with 56 percent of the vote over the Rev. Casey Fisher. Fisher could not be reached for comment Monday.

Lauderdale’s district is to shrink in territory this year, as District 3 grows to the south along U.S. 61 South to Warrenton Road and to the southeast to Grange Hall Road to satisfy population shifts after the 2010 census.

Selmon, a five-term District 3 supervisor often at odds with Lauderdale over spending items large and small when both he and Lauderdale have served, ended Monday’s meeting with a succinct summation of his colleague.

“Let me tell you this, Bill,” Selmon said. “There will never be another Bill Lauderdale.”

In addition to 24 county and district races, eight statewide offices appear on Warren County ballots this year, including governor and lieutenant governor. Two multicounty district races on the ballot this year are for the Public Service Commission and Transportation Commission. Each elect northern, central and southern district commissioners.