Coffeeville, Oakland Mayors Win Reelection Bids On June 2
Members of Coffeeville’s Municipal Election Commission and the Town Clerk were in Town Hall Thursday morning completing paperwork for the June 2 election. From left are Rebecca McCullar, Liffy Griffin, Town Clerk Patricia Moody, and Martha Gladney.
By Jack Gurner
Reporter
COFFEEVILLE – Incumbent Mayor Mack Burns was reelected for another term by a margin of more than 56 percent.
Burns faced Lewis R. Gray, Jr., Justin Mark Irwin, and Kerrie Staten in the mayoral race. Burns received 201 votes, Gray received 5, Irwin received 52, and Staten received 100.
In the Alderman-At-Large race, Bryan K. McCullough received 182 votes to beat Mack Dudley who had 139 votes and Marcia-Price Stark received 52.
In the Ward One Alderman race, Eva Longstreet defeated Willie Harris, 40 to 30. In Ward Two, George E. “Chick” Miller, Jr. defeated William Shelton, Jr., 63 to 58. In Ward Three, Joe Ray Bourn, Sr. was reelected with 103 votes. In Ward Four, Michael Ayers was reelected with 66 votes.
Incumbent Ward Two Alderman Shelton told the Herald that some of his constituents recommended that he take a closer look at the election. In the meantime, the election has been certified and the results are on the way to the office of the Secretary of State in Jackson.
A recount was held Monday which showed Shelton with 59 votes and Miller with 63, a change of one vote. Shelton told the Coffeeville Courier there were many irregularities in purging the registered voters and placing them in the correct wards.
In Oakland, Incumbent Mayor James Riley Swearengen defeated Carolyn Jones, 137 to 47. Aldermen are George Booker, Jr., 133 votes; Joe Willie Jenkins, Sr., 132 votes; Terry Larry Ellis,131 votes; Regina Johnson, 121 votes; and Sharonda Jones, 93 votes.
In Coffeeville and Oakland, there was no Primary Election on May 5 as all candidates sought election as independents. This means candidates only competed on the June 2 General Election ballot in a winner-take-all format.
