Election night leads for school board candidate John Brown and incumbent Oktibbeha County Election Commissioners Myles Carpenter and Greg Fulgham solidified into victories on Monday as processed absentee and affidavit ballots did not significantly impact their respective vote margins.
Election officials finished processing the lion’s share of remaining ballots on Monday, but about 10 ballots remain uncounted as those voters have a limited time to return with the proper identification they lacked at the polls last week.
Brown earned 53.9 percent of the three-person Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees race, beating second-place finisher Jamila Taylor by 2,142 votes. Rondeze Harris, who finished third, received almost 1,500 votes.
Brown, a parole and probation officer for the state, is the first elected school board member since the state merged Starkville School District and Oktibbeha County School District in 2015. He will join the board in January.
“I’m very excited and very humbled by the result,” he said. “I first give God the glory for allowing the results as they are. I look forward to working with the existing board and I’ll try to do everything I can to help the students, to take care of them and see that they get the best education possible.”
Incumbent commissioners return
Four incumbents of the five-member Oktibbeha County Election Commission will return to their respective jobs next term.
Incumbent District 1 Election Commissioner Greg Fulgham, who faced challenger Judy Goodman in a rematch of 2012’s race, added 31 votes to his 431-ballot lead on election night after absentees and affidavits were processed.
“I am excited to have the chance to serve another term as commissioner for District 1 and hope we can continue to improve with every election,” Fulgham said.
Unofficial results show incumbent District 3 Election Commissioner Myles Carpenter padded his 151-vote lead with an additional 64 votes as he defeated challenger Paul Short.
District 2 Election Commissioner Sissy Smitherman and District 3 Election Commissioner Joe Baker ran unopposed, while incoming District 5 Election Commissioner Ernest Rogers Jr. will replace the retiring Bettye Ford. Rogers was not challenged for the seat.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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