Five minutes after polls close, there’s a new Ward 7 representative to Biloxi Council
Voters in Woolmarket on Tuesday chose David Shoemaker, a former Biloxi police officer and investigator, to represent them on Biloxi Council.
With just one precinct and two candidates, the results came back about 5 minutes after the polls closed at 7 p.m.
The vote was:
- 256 for Shoemaker
- 118 for Kevin Kostmayer
Biloxi Municipal Clerk Stacy Thacker will add the three absentee ballots and 13 affidavit votes to the total before the election can be certified.
Shoemaker will fill the unexpired term of Nathan Barrett, who was elected Harrison County Supervisor, and serve until the next municipal election in 2025.
Only 375 votes were cast in the special election out of about 4,500 registered voters, a “disappointing” 8.3%, Shoemaker said.
“I was hoping for for a larger turnout,” he said.
“I do think Kevin ran a great campaign, a clean campaign and I appreciate that,” he said.
Shoemaker told voters his priorities are competitive compensation for city employees, common sense development, clean ditches, good roads and additional amenities for Woolmarket.
In addition to making sure city employees are paid competitively, Shoemaker said he talked to a lot of residents while campaigning.
“We have a lot of complaints about ditches and and drainage — it’s huge,” he said. “So we definitely need to look at that.”
Shoemaker said he put his phone number out there the entire election and says he wants an open line of communication with the residents.
Kostmayer said he wants Woolmarket to be “strong economically while maintaining that ‘small town’ feel, now and in the future.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 7:47 PM.
