Most of the state’s municipalities holding General Elections on Tuesday.
Voters in cities and towns across Mississippi will head to the polls tomorrow to elect Mayors, Councilmen or Alderman, and other municipal positions, depending on their local form of government.
Democrats, once the party of choice for most of the state’s municipal leaders, are playing defense in a number of races and hoping for upsets in others. Over the past decade, a significant number of local elected officials have either switched to the Republican Party or are now running as Independents, separating themselves from the Democratic Party.
As such, Republicans continue to see gains on the local level with each cycle. MSGOP chairman Frank Bordeaux told Y’all Politics on Friday he and party leaders are optimistic that trend will continue in Tuesday’s election.
“We have a great opportunity to pick up some seats across the state of Mississippi and we are defending a lot of seats,” Bordeaux said. “We feel very confident going into Tuesday as long as voters get out to vote.”
Two of Mississippi’s largest college towns – Hattiesburg and Oxford – have incumbent mayors who have chosen to run as Independents. Toby Barker, a former Republican state representative, is seeking re-election in the Hub City. He ran as an Independent in 2017 when he unseated longtime former Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree. In Oxford, Robyn Tannehill made the switch to Independent from Democrat when she announced her re-election bid.
Starkville, the other large university city, will continue to be ran by Democrat Lynn Spruill who was unopposed in her re-election bid this cycle.
In Tupelo, outspoken Democrat Mayor Jason Shelton chose not to seek re-election, saying at the time he wanted to focus on helping unseat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Now, Republican candidate Todd Jordan is favored to win the top job there over Democrat Victor Fleitas.
Over in Vicksburg, Mayor George Flaggs is seeking a third term. Flaggs is a former Democrat state representative who switched to Independent in 2018, less than a year after winning re-election in the 2017 cycle. Flaggs is being challenged by another Independent, Daryl Hollingsworth, and Democrat Troy Kimble.
The City of Jackson, the state’s capital city, remains a Democrat stronghold. Incumbent Mayor Chokwe Lumumba is all but assured a re-election win despite being challenged by Republican Jason Wells and three Independents. Councilman Ashby Foote will remain the lone Republican on the city’s 7 member Council.
In Meridian, incumbent Mayor Percy Bland lost to fellow Democrat Jimmie Smith in the primary. Bland has since endorsed Smith for the seat. Current Meridian city councilman Weston Lindemann shed his Democrat affiliation to run for mayor as an Independent. Robert Ray is running as a Republican but the local Republican Party in Lauderdale County is not supporting his run, and has distanced themselves from Ray following questionable comments made during the campaign.
Here are the mayoral races worth watching as voters head to the polls to see who wins seats at their City Hall this Tuesday:
Brookhaven
Joe Cox (R)
Larry Jointer (D)
Fulton
Emily Quinn (R)
John Maxcy (D)
Gautier
Phil Torjusen (R)
Casey Vaughn (I)
Gulfport
Billy Hewes (R)
Howard Page (D)
Hattiesburg
Toby Barker (I)
Lakeylah White (D)
Horn Lake
Allen Latimer (R)
Jimmy Stokes (D)
New Albany
Tim Kent (R)
James Dean (D)
Olive Branch
Ken Adams (R)
Donald Hall (D)
Oxford
Robyn Tannehill (I)
Brandon Pettis (I)
Tupelo
Todd Jordan (R)
Victor Fleitas (D)
Vicksburg
George Flaggs (I)
Daryl Hollingsworth (I)
Troy Kimble (D)
City Council elections worth watching on Tuesday to see how their majorities shake out:
Brookhaven
Fulton
Gulfport
Hattiesburg
Horn Lake
New Albany
Olive Branch
Oxford
Starkville
Tupelo
Vicksburg
Follow Y’all Politics for results from the 2021 Municipal General Elections.
Frank Corder
