A candidate for Lowndes County circuit clerk has raised $30,200 for her campaign, according to campaign contribution forms filed at the courthouse.
Republican Margie Canon has raised the amount — mostly through donations from family members and family businesses — dwarfing not only the other candidates in her own race but also amounts any candidate in a Lowndes County contested race reported raising through April.
Candidates, by law, had to report their first round of campaign contributions by May 8. While most candidates filed forms by the deadline, some still had not complied as of Friday afternoon.
Canon is among eight candidates running for circuit clerk, including three other Republicans she will face in an Aug. 4 primary. Fellow Republicans Teresa Barksdale and Chuck Easley reported $4,928 and $4,016 going into their campaigns, while independent candidate Tim Heard reported $2,778. The other independent candidate, Jackie Leach, filed a report showing no contributions.
Republican Justin Shelton, Democrat Joseph Mickens and Libertarian Shari Bedwell had not filed reports as of Friday.
In state races, Republican incumbent Jeff Smith has spent $8,420 on his re-election campaign for District 39 representative. He reported $5,750 in contributions so far this year and $7,330 in cash on-hand. His opponent, Democrat James Samuel, reported $500 in his campaign.
Democratic challenger Kabir Karriem has outraised incumbent Esther Harrison by a margin of $3,265 to $1,879 in the District 41 representative race. Republican challenger Bobby Patrick has outraised his opponent in the District 17 Senate race, incumbent Chuck Younger, by a margin of $4,275 to $2,000.
Mississippi law requires candidates file periodic campaign finance reports detailing contributions and expenditures.
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