Live updates: Runoff election results for 5 cities across the Mississippi Coast

Primary runoffs were held Tuesday across the state after the primary election two weeks ago.

Runoffs were only held in cities in where party candidates did not receive a majority vote — 50% of the vote plus one.

On the Coast, the cities of Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Gulfport, Long Beach and D’Iberville held runoff races.

The polls closed at 7 p.m., and the first race was called in less than an hour.

Ocean Springs

Real estate broker Kenny Holloway has defeated civic leader Melanie Allen in the Republican primary runoff to become the next mayor of Ocean Springs.

Holloway cinched the race with 1,926 votes, or 52%, compared to 1,801 votes, or 44% for Allen.

Allen was the top vote-getter of five candidates in the Republican primary, with Holloway finishing second.

City election officials said 261 more residents cast votes in the runoff than in the primary, which is almost unheard of. They said the mayor’s race was the main driver of interest and voter turnout.

At his victory party, Holloway said both candidates worked hard on turnout for the runoff. When he takes office July 1, Holloway said priorities will be meeting with department heads and aldermen about the city’s needs.

He said that he wants to work on traffic issues along U.S. 90 and downtown, and on the cleanliness of downtown. He’ll also be looking to boost city revenues through economic development.

“Ocean Springs doesn’t have spending problem,” Holloway said. “We have a revenue problem. We need to figure out, collectively, how we’re going to raise that revenue.”

After the primary, Holloway secured the endorsements of defeated candidates Chic Cody, a former alderman, and Summer Devrow, who left her city job to run. They were joined at a Holloway news conference in front of city hall by outgoing Mayor Shea Dobson and aldermen Bobby Cox and John Gill.

Holloway, brother of the late Biloxi mayor A.J. Holloway, grew up in Ocean Springs and returned to the city in recent years after living in Biloxi and serving on its school board.

Holloway stressed his business experience in the race. He said the city needs an updated comprehensive plan to determine where and what kind of development takes place, but the city has room to grow along U.S. 90 in east Ocean Springs.

He also said that he does not plan to sit behind a desk but will be out talking with residents and will actively seek federal and state funds for city projects from the state Legislature and federal government.

One alderman’s race also was decided Tuesday, with Kevin Wade besting Doug Walker Wineki, 365 votes, or 56%, to 282 votes, or 44%.

Two races for alderman will be decided in the general election: Alderman-at-large: Incumbent Bobby Cox (R), and Matt Stebly (Ind.); Ward 1 — Jennifer Burgess (R), Greg Gipson (Ind.), Brandon Riches (D); and Ward 4 — Incumbent Ken Papania (R), Elizabeth Feder-Hosey (Ind.)

Moss Point

Longtime public servant Billy Knight has won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Moss Point, defeating state Rep. Jeramey Anderson (D-Moss Point). Knight will face Independent Howard Bailey and Republican Richard McBride in the general election on June 8.

Before the result, representative of both Democrats’ campaigns said they expected the winner of the Democratic primary would likely win the general election.

In 2017, the winner of the Democratic runoff, Mario King, easily defeated his opponents in the general election. King had barely beaten Knight in the Democratic primary, winning 1,279 votes to Knight’s 1,180.

Knight watched the results come in with supporters at the Pascagoula River Audubon Center in Moss Point.

“We gotta work together,” was the message he said he’d like to share with the people of the River City. “I can’t do it by myself.”

He said he was eager to get started on plans to improve infrastructure and bring more economic development to Moss Point, especially around Escatawpa.

More recreational opportunities for kids will help improve public safety, he said, but he also wants to expand recreational programs for senior citizens and adults.

Following the tumultuous tenure of Mario King ended with the mayor pleading guilty to federal fraud charges, Knight has promised to end the flood of negative stories from City Hall.

“We’re not who people think that we are,” he said of Moss Point.

In a concession speech Tuesday night, Anderson pledged to support Knight as the Democratic nominee.

Anderson is still a state representative and said he remained committed to the district and the city of Moss Point.

“Our campaign worked very hard to promote policies that we believed would move our community and our city forward,” he said. “Tonight, we look for additional ways to put those policies to action.”

In a much closer race, Timothy DuBose defeated Jimmy Wilson Jr. to win the Ward 3 Alderman’s seat, according to unofficial results.

Here are the results for the two Moss Point races in Tuesday’s runoff:

Mayor, Democratic

• Jeramey Anderson: 41.23% (1,018 votes)
• Billy Knight: 58.61% (1,447)
• Write-in votes: 0.16% (4)

Ward 3, Democratic

No Republicans or Independents are running in the general election, so DuBose has won the seat, according to the unofficial results.

• Timothy DuBose: 51.94% (241)
• Jimmy Lee Wilson, Jr.: 48.06% (223)
• Write-in votes: 0

Gulfport

In a surprise in the Gulfport runoff, one incumbent won while another lost to the challenger.

Incumbent Cara Pucheu, who had 271 votes, lost her Ward 7 seat to Richard Kosloski with 327 votes.

Pucheu had 44.44% of the votes in the primary election and Kosloski 34.64%.

In Ward 4, Incumbent F.B. “Rusty” Walker held off Derek Bullock to win another four years on the council. Walker had 749 votes to Bullock’s 630.

The winners have no general election challengers.

D’Iberville

Gerald Burdine, who squeezed by Travis Burke in the primary election by two votes, was elected the next Ward 4 councilman in D’Iberville. The final count was 159 for Burdine and 143 for Burke, with 3 write-in votes.

Two council seats will be determined in the general election. Republican Joey Bosarge, the incumbent councilman at large, faces Democrat Quentin Lyles. In Ward 3, incumbent Craig “Boots” Diaz, a Republican, is running against Crystal Wingo, an Independent.

Long Beach

Peter McGoey took the final seat on the Long Beach Board of Aldermen, winning the Ward 6 runoff by 8 votes. The Republican candidates were just 7 votes apart in the primary, which McGoey also led. In the runoff, McGoey had 185 votes and Owen McNally 177 votes.

With no remaining opposition for the general election, the mayor and aldermen are set for the next four years.

Poplarville

The Picayune Item reports Louise Smith has beaten Heather Holliday for mayor of Poplarville

All results are unofficial until certified.

This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 8:00 PM.