Three Longtime Supervisors Will Retire This Year

 
WATER VALLEY – A flurry of first-day filings Monday accounted for many of the incumbents seeking re-election to county offices in Yalobusha. Monday also brought the announcement that three long-time supervisors will not seek re-election.
    District 5 supervisor Frank “Bubba” Tillman, District 1 Supervisor Tommy Vaughn and District 2 Supervisor Amos Sims all confirmed Monday they would not seek re-election. Sims has served since 1992, Tillman since 1999, and Vaughn since 2003.
    Incumbents filing the necessary paperwork Monday and Tuesday to seek another term include Chancery Clerk Amy McMinn, Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney, Sheriff Lance Humphreys, Tax Assessor/Collector Linda Shuffield, District 1 Justice Court Judge Gary Tippit; District 2 Justice Court Judge Steve Riley, District 2 Constable Randy Simmons, Coroner Ronnie Stark, District 3 Supervisor Lee McMinn and District 4 Supervisor George Suggs.
    Other candidates filing to run for office include two candidates for sheriff, Tyler Wortham III and Luther Folson; Gaylon Gray for District 4 Supervisor; Fred White for District 2 Supervisor; Janet Caulder for District 1 Justice Court Judge; and Ben Box for District 1 Constable.
    Gray currently works as a member of the District 5 road crew and is the son of former supervisor Henry Dean Gray. White currently serves as aldermen in Water Valley and previously ran for supervisor in 1992, when he was defeated by Sims during a runoff in a special election.
    Caulder ran against incumbent Gary Tippit in the last election and was narrowly defeated by 11 votes. Box serves as the fire chief of Tillatoba Volunteer Fire Department.
    All of the candidates qualifying Monday and Tuesday are running on the Democratic ticket and will run in the Democratic Primary on August 4.
    The deadline to qualify is Friday, February 27, at 5 p.m. That includes candidates for party primaries and independents from the governor all the way to constable.
State Seats
Incumbent Democrat Tommy Reynolds (D-Water Valley) told the Herald last week he will seek re-election for District 33 in the House. He was first elected in 1979. District 33 includes all of Yalobusha County and portions of Tallahatchie and Grenada.
District 14 incumbent Senator Lydia Graves Chassiniol (R) Winona is also seeking re-election in a district that was drastically changed following redistricting in 2012. District 14 starts in the southeast corner of Panola County and runs south to Kosciusko. The district runs through portions of Panola, Yalobusha, Tallahatchie, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery and Attala counties along with all precincts in Carroll County.
“I am chair of the Senate’s Tourism Com-mittee and view this as an important part of the state’s economic development picture,” Chassiniol stated in an email confirming that she is seeking reelection to the District 14 Senate post. She is also vice-chair of the Corrections Committee and serves on the Agriculture, Drug Policy, Elections, Ethics, Finance, Investigative State Office and Municipalities Com-mittees.
 In Yalobusha County, six of 11 precincts in the county are included in District 14 – District Three Sylva Rena, District Four Oakland, District Five Tillatoba, District Five Scobey, District Five Coffeeville and District Five Scuna-Vann’s Mills.
The remaining northeast portion of Yalobusha County is in Senate District 8, which also includes all of Calhoun and Chickasaw counties and portions of Pontotoc and Lee counties. Russell Jolly (D-Houston) is the incumbent in the district and has been actively politicking in Yalobusha County as he prepares to run for a second term.
Speaking at a November Rotary meeting in Water Valley, Jolly reported he will represent his constituents while serving in Jackson, “I don’t vote for the party, I vote for the district. That’s what we need more of in Jackson,” Jolly said.
Precincts in Yalobusha County that are located in District 8 include District Three North West, Beat One North, Beat One South, Beat Two Water Valley and District Four Coffeeville.