Two Qualify For School Slots
Two Qualify For School Slots
By David Howell
Editor
WATER VALLEY – The qualifying period to run for one school board slot in the Water Valley School District (WVSD) and three slots in the Coffeeville School District (CSD) got underway last week and two candidates have already submitted paperwork to run.
Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney reported Chris Terry has qualified to run for the District 5 position in Water Valley and Larry Bland has qualified for District 4 in Coffeeville. Terry currently serves as the District 5 school board member after he was appointed in December to fill a vacancy. Bland is also the incumbent for the position he is seeking. The deadline to qualify to run for the positions, which also includes Districts 1 and 4 in the Coffeeville School District, is September 9. The races will appear on the November ballot, and the five-year terms start in January.
November’s election will also include a locally contested race for voters who live in District 4 after Eddie Harris and Patsy K. Stewart qualified for District 4 Election Commissioner. The winner will succeed Ora Faye Polk, who decided not to seek another term.
Election commissioners are elected every four years from each supervisor district. Incumbents Steve Cummings (District 1), Missy Kimzey (District 2) and Carla Peacock (District 3) will be unopposed on the November ballot after they were the sole qualifiers in their respective districts. In District 5, Vivian Simmons was also the sole qualifier for election commissioner after June Byford also elected not to seek another term. The qualifying deadline for these positions was in June.
November’s ballot will also include the highly publicized presidential bid, with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton squaring off. The District 2 Congressional District seat is also on the ballot and long-time Democratic incumbent Bennie Thompson is seeking another term. He will face Republican candidate John Bouie II, Reform candidate Johnny McLeod and independent candidate Troy Ray.
Yalobusha voters will also help determine the successor for Justice Ann Lamar, who decided not to seek another term in the District 3 Supreme Court race. District 3 spans 33 counties in North Mississippi. Four candidates have qualified for this non-partisan position – Columbus attorney John Brady, 17th District Circuit Judge Bobby Chamberlin of Hernando, Tupelo attorney Steve Crampton and 16th District Circuit Judge James T. “Jim” Kitchens.
Burney reminds all voters in the county that Saturday, October 8, is the deadline to notify his office of any changes prior to November’s election. He listed four criteria that would warrant a trip to his offices in Water Valley or Coffeeville before the deadline – if you have moved, had a name change, if you have never registered to vote or if you turn 18 years old before November 8.
