The Cost To Be The Boss
By William Browning
WATER VALLEY – Looking at the reported flow of money in these countywide elections, the race for the county’s top law enforcement position is where you find the fastest ebb and flow.
With elections set for Aug. 7, of the 38 candidates in the running for 15 seats, only seven have reported campaign contributions with the latest mandatory deadline to file those numbers falling on July 10.
Of those seven, Yalobusha County Sheriff Lance Humphreys leads the pack. The incumbent in the race for the sheriff’s position has reported $3,500 in campaign contributions.
Bruce Short, also a candidate in the race for sheriff, pulls up the rear with his $10 in reported campaign contributions.
Another competitor for the sheriff’s position has reported the second most campaign contributions. Jamie Caldwell has reported $2,547 in campaign contributions as of July 10.
And while Jimbo Thompson, another candidate for sheriff, has reported no campaign contributions, he has detailed $4,222.74 in campaign expenditures. Of that amount, Thompson has listed $1,476.38 in gasoline costs.
Of the $3,316.60 Caldwell has reported in expenditures, $1,838.70 has gone to churning out campaign signs.
J. Wayne Burns, also in the race for sheriff, has not listed any campaign contributors. But Burns has reported $1,958.35 in campaign expenditures.
Leading the pack in campaign expenses is Daryl Burney. Burney, the incumbent in the race for Circuit Clerk, has listed $4,942 in expenditures. Of that amount, $2,500 has been paid to Varner’s Printing.
Burney reports $200 in campaign contributions.
Burney’s challenger for the Circuit Clerk position, Linda Gail Stevens, has not listed any campaign contributions. She has, however, listed $1,817.05 in campaign costs.
Coming in just behind Burney’s lead in expenditures, is Humphreys. He has spent $4,548 thus far in the sheriff’s race.
In the five races for supervisor positions, Keith Miller leads in both campaign contributions and expenditures. Miller, a candidate for supervisor in Beat 3, has reported $1,200 in contributions and $1,831.05 in expenses.
Another candidate for the Beat 3 position, Lee McMinn, has spent $1,612.53 in his campaign. Of that amount, $680 went to political signs.
The incumbent in the Beat 3 race, Butch Surrette, has reported $321.63 in campaign expenditures.
A fourth candidate in the bid for Beat 3, Charles “Wobble” McCullough, has reported spending $820.
Over in the Beat 1 race, Mickey Hall has spent $1,745 on his campaign. He faces incumbent Tommy Vaughn has reported spending $1,090 as of June 8.
District 2 Constable Randy Simmons has reported $1,767.18 in campaign expenditures. His opponent, Susan Taylor has reported no contributions or expenditures.
A complete list of candidates expenditures and donations is on file at the Yalobusha County Circuit Clerk’s office.
