Ten of Oktibbeha County’s 44 county-wide candidates failed to turn in campaign finance forms due Tuesday, and two more candidates submitted their respective documents after the deadline.
Tuesday’s deadline was the fourth such this election cycle and the last before next week’s Democratic and Republican primaries.
Six incumbents and five challengers — including District 1 supervisor candidate Donald Thompson; District 2 supervisor candidates Tremell Orlando Sherman and Gene Autry Perry; District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams; Chancery Clerk Monica Banks; circuit clerk candidate E. Regina Evans; District 1 Justice Court Judge William “Tony” Boykin; District 3 Justice Court Judge James “Jim” Mills; District 2 Constable Curtis Randle and Surveyor Tom Gregory — failed to meet the 5 p.m. deadline on July 28.
Two others — District 1 Justice Court candidate Lynn Williams and District 2 constable candidate Andre Quinn — were late with their filings.
Candidates for local and statewide races are required by law to report campaign expenditures at regular intervals.
Half of the field has either missed a deadline, failed to turn in a report or both across four reporting deadlines.
Former chancery clerk candidate Michael Womack, who Oktibbeha County GOP Chairman Marnita Henderson said would exit the race, has yet to file a termination report. The absence of his documents are not reflected in the above list due to his withdrawal.
Documents — the up-to-date filings and the last submissions from those who missed Tuesday’s deadline — show the 44 candidates have reported a combined $63,698 in contributions and $64,831 in expenses this election cycle.
Bart Gregory, a Republican candidate for District 4’s supervisor post, has raised $17,144, the most of any other person seeking office. The candidate with the second-highest donation total is C. Martin Haug, a Democrat attorney running for District 3’s justice court seat, with $9,349.
Gregory’s reported $14,742.69 tally is also the highest year-to-date expenditure total of all the candidates. The second-highest total reported was Bricklee Miller’s $9,311.42 mark.
Miller is Gregory’s opponent in Tuesday’s GOP primary.
Nineteen candidates have reported raising no money this election cycle, while 13 said they have not spent any money on campaigning.
Only County Prosecutor Haley Brown, District 1 Constable Shank Phelps, Tom Gregory and Banks are running unopposed.
NOTE:
■ Year-to-date contribution totals were developed from candidates most-recent campaign finance report submissions.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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