Exclusive WAPT Poll Shows Most Voters Staying Put

Jackson’s population has dwindled, according to the latest Census, but it is unclear whether the numbers will continue to fall.

Merl Dungey is a 30-year Jackson resident who said he is retiring and leaving the city.

“There are just a lot of different things,” he said. “Economically, sometimes I don’t feel like Jackson has provided what we need to provide.”

The poll of 500 registered voters found that one in four said they were planning to move out of the city. But there wasn’t a great disparity among white and black residents. For example, 32 percent of the white respondents said they were thinking about leaving.

Edna Casnel said she and her husband plan to stay.

“I moved and then I came back,” she said. “It was our home and this where we wanted to come back to and be close to the family.”