‘We’re swamped,’ clerk says as absentee voters line up. Who’s on South MS election ballots?
While the race for president is the big-ticket item for the Nov. 5 general election, South Mississippi voters also will find on their ballots candidates for the Senate, House, nonpartisan judicial seats and local offices.
Circuit clerks have posted sample ballots online for Harrison, Hancock and Jackson counties.
Their offices are already busy accepting absentee ballots from eligible voters.
“We are swamped,” said Hancock County Circuit Clerk Kendra Necaise. “Its very, very busy. I think we’re going to have a huge turnout this year.”
She said that 69 residents voted by absentee ballot on the first day to do so, a record for Hancock County. Numbers are now climbing to 150 or more voters a day. She expects voting to be brisk through the deadllne for in-person absentee voting. Circuit clerks’ offices will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on the final day for in-person absentee voting, which is Saturday, Nov. 2.
The Jackson County circuit clerk’s office had voters lined up around the building Tuesday afternoon and Harrison County Circuit Clerk Justin Wetzel was too busy with voting Monday afternoon to take a Sun Herald call, his office said.
While the presidential race is the biggest draw, Mississippians also will have other races to decide. The races are discussed below, with candidates listed in alphabetical order.
Supreme Court seat on election ballot
Two judicial races are on South Mississippi ballots, one state Supreme Court and one Court of Appeals seat. These court seats are filled for eight-year, staggered terms so that all justices are not running at the same time.
The nine-member Supreme Court has the final say on cases that originate in Mississippi’s state courts.
The District 2, Place 2 Supreme Court race between incumbent Dawn H. Beam and challenger David P. Sullivan covers the lower 28 Mississippi counties. Former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Beam in February 2016 to fill the unexpired term of former Justice Randy Pierce, an attorney from Lucedale.
Beam previously served as a chancery judge for Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River, and Perry counties after working as Lamar County prosecuting attorney for justice and county courts. Her biography says that she also practiced law for 20 years and received her law degree from the University of Mississippi.
Beam’s challenger also graduated from law school at Ole Miss. Sullivan has practiced law for 30 years in South Mississippi, his biography says. He works at the Sullivan Law Firm in Gulfport and has served since 2019 as municipal judge for the city of D’Iberville. He previously served as a city prosecutor for Gulfport and is a public defender for Harrison, Stone and Hancock County circuit courts.
Court of Appeals race
Perhaps the most competitive judicial race is for District 5, Position 2 on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. The sitting judge, former Coast District Attorney Joel Smith, has decided to return to private practice, having served since 2021 after appointment by Gov. Tate Reeves to fill the unexpired term of Sean Tindell.
The Mississippi Court of Appeals, created to relieve a backlog of cases, began work in 1995, with cases assigned by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The 10-member Court of Appeals hears cases where the law is settled but facts are in dispute.
Three well-known Mississippi Coast attorneys are on the appeals court ballot for the District 5, Position 2 seat covering South Mississippi In the race are Ian Baker, Jennifer T. Schloegel and Amy Lassitter St. Pé
Baker graduated from Mississippi College law school, then worked from 2006-2007 as Court of Appeals judicial clerk for Presiding Judge Bill Myers. His biography credits him with contributing to more than 40 published appellate opinions. Baker also stresses that he has 18 years of courtroom experience, serving for the past 11 years as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties, with more than 50 felony trials prosecuted.
Schloegel has served since 2011 as a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. She graduated from University of Mississippi law school and also attended Emory University law school in Atlanta, her biography says. In Chancery Court, her decisions have been upheld in 32 of 33 cases. She has presided over trials involving fraud, governmental disputes, and public corruption, and says that she has followed the law even when it goes against government or other powerful interests.
St. Pé, in practice for 22 years, graduated from Mississippi College law school and founded her own law firm in Pascagoula, specializing in governmental law. She has served for 15 years as city attorney for Moss Point and represents both the Pascagoula and Moss Point redevelopment authorities. St. Pé is also municipal judge for the city of Gautier, her biography says. Her work as an attorney, municipal judge and city attorney have allowed her to see legal cases from all perspectives, she says in a campaign video.
U.S. Senate: Wicker vs. Pinkins
Incumbent Republican Roger F. Wicker is being challenged by Democrat Ty Pinkins for the U.S. Senate.
Pinkins, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, is a U.S. Army veteran who served three tours of duty in Iraq and was awarded the Bronze Star, his biography says.
Pinkins grew up in Rolling Fork in the Delta, moving with his family from one plantation to another as his father found work driving tractors. He says in his biography that he started chopping cotton as a teenager, work that was back-breaking. He enrolled in Tougaloo College, selling plasma to feed himself, but eventually had to drop out because of financial hardship.
Because his family stressed the importance of education, Pinkins returned to school while on active duty, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and, more recently a law degree from Georgetown University. He lays out his political positions on his website, including his support for abortion and desire to codify Roe vs. Wade.
Pinkins ran in 2023 for secretary of state, garnering 40.5% of the vote against Republican incumbent Michael Watson, who won with 59.5%.
Sen Roger Wicker has held public office since 1988, when he was elected to the Mississippi Senate. He had previously worked in the office of then-U.S. Rep. Trent Lott and as a public defender for Lee County. Wicker, who is from Pontotoc, earned his law degree at the University of Mississippi law school.
He was elected seven times to serve in the U.S. House, beginning in 1994, and was appointed in 2007 by Gov. Haley Barbour to fill Lott’s unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. Wicker was also was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force and retired in 2004 from the Air Force Reserves, his Senate biography says.
Wicker is the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a senior member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He authored an act that set as policy a requirement that the Navy have a 355-ship fleet. Wicker says he also has helped bring research funding to Mississippi universities, advocated for economic development and supported programs to fight cancer, heart disease and other ailments.
U.S. House: Ezell vs. Raybon
In the 4th District race for the U.S. House, incumbent Republican Mike Ezell faces Democrat Craig Elliot Raybon. Ezell won a three-way race for his party’s nomination, while Raybon was unopposed in Democratic primary.
Ezell was elected to a two-year term in the House over then-incumbent Steven Palazzo in 2022, then went on to defeat a Democrat and libertarian in the general election.
Ezell, who is from Pascagoula, spent more than 40 years in law enforcement. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi and is also an FBI National Academy graduate. Ezell was serving as sheriff of Jackson County before going to Washington.
Ezell opposes gun control and abortion, his campaign website says. A member of the Homeland Security Committee, he also has made border security one of his key issues, saying lax security has empowered drug cartels and is endangering lives in the U.S. He also supports cutting regulations and taxes.
Raybon is passionate about higher wages, women’s rights, job creation and health care, according to his election website. He says that he grew up poor in Gulfport. He went to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and has worked as a nonprofit director and professional truck driver, according to ballotpedia.
As a congressman, Raybon says he would work to increase funding for public schools and make college more affordable and accessible. He also says that he would work to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act, invest in infrastructure projects that would spur job creation and support raising the minimum wage.
Raybon also supports criminal justice reform and efforts to combat climate change, ballotpedia says. He is in favor of gun-safety measures such as universal background checks.
Local races on MS Coast
Harrison County ballots feature one contested race for the Election Commission, with incumbent Republican Toni Jo Kuljis Diaz running against Democrat Anna M. Gines in District 1.
In a nonpartisan race for the Pass Christian school board, which has staggered terms, Angel Fortenberry is running against incumbent Cecil Lizana. Other election commission and school board candidates are running unopposed.
In Jackson County, two independents are running for a seat on the Ocean Springs School Board. Incumbent Kacee T. Waters faces Clayton Russell in the race. An election commission candidate is unopposed in the only other race on the ballot.
School board and election commission candidates in Hancock County are running unopposed.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
