Harrison County elects a new sheriff. Here are the other primary election winners
Harrison County has a new sheriff who will take over for retiring Sheriff Troy Peterson in January.
It was a race to the end between the two long-time deputies Matt Haley and Louis Elias with just 12 votes separating them with 22 of 51 precincts reporting. Haley was up 200 votes with 32 of the precincts reported.
At the end, Haley won by 1,520 votes, which was 53% of the vote. Elias got 47%.
Elias started in law enforcement in 1994, joined the Sheriff’s Department in 2008 and has the rank of major.
Peterson endorsed Haley, who has worked at the Sheriff’s Department for 26 years and is a captain.
There are no Democratic or independent contenders to face in November.
Supervisor races
Harrison County will have two new supervisors after Dan Cuevas won over incumbent Beverly Martin In District 1 and Biloxi Councilman Nathan Barrett won the District 5 seat vacated by Connie Rockco, who is retiring.
In the Republican contested races:
District 1 — Cuevas took 52% of the vote, defeating Martin with 48% of the vote.
District 2 — Rebecca Powers won a second term with 66% of the votes to John Hoggatt’s 34%
District 5 — Barrett had 57% of the vote to win, while Howard Walkinshaw had 35% and Alan Chouest had 7.5%.
Democratic race for supervisor District 4:
Incumbent Kent Jones finished with 71%, followed by Chris Fisher with 20% and John Johnson with 9%.
None of these races has a contender in the November general election.
Justice Court Judge:
District 1 — Albert Fountain won another term with 62% of the vote, holding off challenger Rena Wiggins, who had 38%.
District 3 — Incumbent Dianne Ladner won another term with 77% of the vote to 23% for Jason Edmonds
State races
Harrison County voters gave Gov. Tate Reeves 71% of the vote in the Republican primary and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann 56% to 33% for challengers Chris McDaniel and 11% to Tiffany Longino.
State Senate District 46: Incumbent Phillip Moran was defeated by Philman Ladner in both Harrison and Hancock counties. Ladner got 53% of the vote in Harrison County and lost by 732 votes in Hancock County.
House District 115:
This race goes to a runoff Aug. 29 after Zachary Grady got 776 votes, or 47%, to Felix Gines with 625 votes, or 38%.
This story was originally published August 8, 2023 at 9:59 PM.
