St. Pe wins South Mississippi Court of Appeals runoff

• The Jackson County attorney won an 8-year term on the state appellate court in Tuesday’s election.

Amy St. Pe will be the new judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals for District 5, Position 2, securing an eight-year term in Tuesday’s runoff election.

District 5 consists of Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry and Stone counties as well as a portion of Wayne County.

St. Pe, a city attorney and municipal judge in Jackson County, defeated Chancery Court Judge Jennifer Schloegel, winning nearly 62 percent of the vote with 95 percent of precincts reporting.

St. Pe replaces Joel Smith on the 10-judge appellate court. Smith was appointed to the bench in 2021 by Governor Tate Reeves. He did not run for the seat in this election cycle.

The new appellate judge won the most votes in the three-person, non-partisan race in the General Election on November 5th, pulling in over 35 percent of the vote. Schloegel came in second with 33 percent, advancing to Tuesday’s runoff election over Ian Baker.

According to pre-General Election campaign finance filings, St. Pe’s campaign raised $197,000 to Schloegel’s $174,000 this cycle.