Biden-Harris Carry Kemper County
Voters in Kemper County left no doubt where they stood after the ballots were counted Tuesday night.
According to the final, unofficial count, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris carried Kemper County with 2,873 votes. Nationally, the Biden ticket is the apparent winner. President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence received 1,781 votes in Kemper County.
There were 4,624 ballots cast during the election. That includes 861 absentee votes.
In the race for the U.S. Senate, Democratic Party challenger Mike Espy carried Kemper County with 2,953 votes. Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith received 1716 votes in Kemper County. She won the statewide election and will now serve a full six-year term.
In the race for the Third Congressional seat in Congress, Democrat challenger Dorothy Benford received 2,584 votes in Kemper County. Republican U.S, Rep. Michael Guest received 1,922 Kemper County votes. He was re-elected for another two-year term.
In a state-wide election for Supreme Court District 1 (Central) Position 1, Justice Kenny Griffis held off the challenge of Judge Latrice Westbrooks. Westbrooks received 2419 votes in Kemper County while Griffis received 1953.
Justice Leslie King ran unopposed for the Supreme Court District 1 (Central) Position 2. He received 3,539 votes in Kemper County.
The top local race was for the position of county coroner. Terry Bostick defeated Carla Pettus White, 2562 to 1792.
Two of the five election commissioners ran unopposed in their respective district: Roy Boyd, District 1 and Charles Hollingsworth Jr., District 2. In other the districts: Zac Clay defeated Dominique Eades 604-353 in District 3; Kathy Welch Clemons defeated Jennifer Kitchens Hull 604-353 in District 4; and, Mary L. Bennamon defeated Carol Ann Pittman 632-297 in District 5.
Tyrone Steele ran unopposed for another term as School Board member District 5.
There were three measures to change the state Constitution with all receiving statewide approval.
There were two versions and two votes of the initiative to legalize Medical Marijuana. First voters had to decide whether to approve the use of Medical Marijuana in Mississippi. Kemper County voters were in favor of the idea with 3,083 votes in favor and 1,091 votes against.
Then, in deciding which version to use in changing the state Constitution, there were 2,819 votes in favor of Initiative 65, and 912 for Initiative 65A.
Another initiative that passed statewide will now mandate a runoff between the top two candidates for any of the state’s eight elected offices, if no one wins a 50-plus-one majority. The state Constitution previously settled the matter by a vote of the state House of Representatives.
In Kemper County, there were 3,697 votes, or nearly 78 percent, in favor of the change and 712 against.
The third measure resulted in voters statewide approving the new design for the state flag. Kemper County results showed 3,538 or nearly 75 percent of the voters in favor and 1,086 against.