Nearly half of all registered voters in Newton County headed to the polls on Tuesday during the primary elections.
On the Republican side, Tyler McCaughn defeated Hampton Gardner 4,007-1,092 in Newton County. McCaughn also defeated Gardner in Scott and Leake Counties, securing his spot in the Nov. 5 general election, where he will appear on the ballot against Democratic candidate Mike Marlow.
“I am thankful and humbled by the overwhelming support of Newton County in this campaign,” McCaughn said via email. “This primary win is because of the hard work of so many people who believe in my message. As we move forward, we will focus on furthering the positive message to all within the district. It is crucial to vote again on November 5th and send a hardworking conservative to Jackson to be the voice for our communities.”
Joedy Pennington will not need a run-off to win the Republican nomination, as he garnered 3,131 votes compared to 1,770 for Billy Pat Walker and 246 for Sammy Stevens.
Pennington said he was blessed to be nominated and wanted to thank his supporters for all the work they put into his campaign.
“We were blessed to have such an outstanding showing of support,” he said. “Thank you to our supporters for everything they did and for voting. I’m looking forward to November, the general election, and I’m hoping for the same result.”
Additionally, Pennington said he wanted to thank his opponent, Billy Pat Walker, and Walker’s supporters for running a clean race.
“I’d like to thank Billy Pat Walker and his supporters for running a good campaign,” he said. “I believe it was one of the cleanest sheriff’s races I’ve ever seen.”
Pennington will face Randy Patrick in the general election.
Troy Smith defeated incumbent William Shirley in Newton County 1,407-611 and appears headed to the general election.
The closest race of the night was in Supervisor Beat 3. Charles Moulds defeated John Everett 585-554.
Jacky Johnson easily defeated his fellow candidates in Beat 5. He collected 978 votes compared to 150 for Lester Miles and 60 for Richie Hillhouse.
Incumbent Beat 2 Supervisor Joe Alexander easily defeated Richard L. Hillhouse 1,049-424.
Incumbents easily won races for Justice Court Judge District 1 and both constable races. Scott Round defeated Ryan Hanner 2,211-556 in Justice Court District 1. District 1 Constable Mark Spence earned 2,125 votes compared to 464 for Robert Holder and 239 for Mike Loper. District 2 Constable Donny Collins defeated Chris Ferguson 1,267-951.
In the race for Justice Court Judge District 2, Justin K. Chaney and George “Butch” Meaders will have a runoff after garnering 1,019 votes and 867 votes respectively. Danny Todd was third with 341 votes.
Statewide gubernatorial candidates, Tate Reeves and Bill Waller Jr., will also face off in a runoff election to see which one will be the Republican nominee going up against Democrat Jim Hood in the general election. Reeves performed better than Waller in the primary, garnering 48.9 percent of the vote as opposed to Waller’s 33.3 percent. Robert Foster conceded the race while results were being tabulated Tuesday night.
Also appearing on the runoff will be Attorney General candidates Andy Taggert and Lynn Fitch, who received 28.6 percent and 44.3 percent respectively.
Runoff elections will be held Aug. 27 with polling locations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mississippi does not allow crossover voting, which means only voters who chose a Republican ballot on Aug. 6 will be able to vote in the runoff election.
