District 32 election set for Tuesday

Tuesday is an important day for Kemper Countians.

It is the day when they will go to the polls to help elect the next person to represent District 32 in the Mississippi State Senate. There are nine candidates on the ballot who live in various locations and have various backgrounds — which is a good thing for a ballot to have.

While this election is important for all of District 32, it holds particular significance for Kemper County. While District 32 covers parts of Lauderdale County (including a nice chunk of Meridian) Winston County, and Noxubee County, it swallows up the entirety of Kemper County. The only person Kemper County will have to represent it in the State Senate is who comes out of this election as the winner.

According to Kemper County Circuit Clerk Shirley Steele Jackson, In-person absentee voting will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today (Thursday) and Friday in her office at the Kemper County Courthouse, as well as this Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. At that point, in-person absentee voting will close. Mail-in absentee ballots will be accepted for several days after Tuesday’s Election Day as long as they were postmarked no later than Nov. 2, 2021.

In-person absentee voting was also available last Saturday, but that date was left out of last week’s Kemper County Messenger due to a typographical error by the reporter.

The polls will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday in all 15 precincts spread across the county’s five districts and will close at 7 p.m.

If none of the nine candidates receive at least 50 percent of the vote there will be a run-off election on Nov. 23.

The Kemper County voting precincts by district are as follows:

— District 1: Scooba A-L, City hall in Scooba; Scooba M-Z, Humans Services Building in Scooba; Farmers Market in DeKalb.

— District 2: The DeKalb Library; Porterville Fire Department; Kemper Springs Community Center.

— District 3: Little Rock Community Center; Fort Stevens, Bella Villa Community Center; Damascus Community Center.

— District 4: Old Lynville School; Preston Fire Department; Kellis Store, Spring Hill Fire Department.

— District 5: Courthouse A-L at Kemper County Courthouse; Courthouse M-Z, Kemper County Courthouse; Mt. Nebo Fire Department.

The nine candidates vary widely. They are:

— W.J. Coleman, a former counselor at Parchman who lives in Louisville.

— Stan Copeland a member of the Northwest Water Association Board of Directors who lives in Preston.

— James Creer, a member of the Kemper County Board of Education.

— Justin Curtis Creer, a former member of the Kemper County Board of Supervisors who represented District 3.

— Minh Duong, a Meridian Optometrist.

— Rod Hickman, a county prosecutor with the Noxubee County Justice Court who lives in Macon.

— Kim Houston, a former candidate for Mayor of Meridian and a former Meridian City Council Ward 4 Alderwoman.

— Keith K. Jackson, son of retired State Sen. Sampson Jackson.

— Bradley Joseph Sudduth, a General Agent at Transamerica Agency Network.