Newly elected Lee S. Coleman and re-elected Jim Kitchens, both of the 16th Circuit Court District, won their November judicial elections, but not without a price.
Coleman won his runoff election Nov. 24 after paying $101,656 in campaign expenses, according to campaign finance reports filed this month.
Kitchens raised $35,682 — $8,915 less than the $44,597 raised by his opponent, William Starks — and spent $36,203.
Coleman, a former state representative of Clay County, raised $58,016 and took out $55,000 in loans from Cadence Bank for his race against runner-up Nebra Porter and Bob Marshall.
Meanwhile, Porter raised just $14,429 while Marshall raised $51,253, including a $25,000 loan from BancorpSouth in West Point.
Of the seven circuit judges who took out loans in 2010, Coleman was loaned the second largest amount behind newly-elected Third District Circuit Judge John A. Gregory, who received $75,000 in loans from the Bank of Okolona.
The largest chunk of Coleman”s finances, $43,187.32, went to campaign consulting company Magnolia Tide for direct mailers, grass roots work and consulting.
Magnolia Tide was also Kitchens” largest expense at $10,233.
Coleman”s next largest expense, $21,688.31, was made to The T-Shirt Shop of Columbus.
Among Coleman”s largest contributors were companies and people with ties to the medical and chemical industries.
Southern Ionics of West Point, which manufactures specialty and intermediate inorganic chemicals, gave $1,000 to Coleman, and its president and CEO, Milton Sundbeck, gave $2,500. His wife, Christy Sundbeck, owner of Downtown Yarns in Columbus, also gave $2,500.
The Mississippi Physicians Political Action Committee of Ridgeland contributed $2,500 to his campaign.
Kitchens also received $1,000 from Milton Sundbeck and $2,500 from the Mississippi Physicians PAC.
Another contributor was the Columbus office of North Atlantic Extradition Service Inc., which is regularly hired to transport prisoners from court to prison. The company contributed $500 to the campaign.
Coleman also received $6,209 from the following attorneys:
· Inside the district: $2,000 from William C. Cunningham, of Columbus; $500 from Jason Merchant of Columbus; $500 from Charles Yoste of Starkville; $399 from Jack Hayes of Columbus; $300 from West Point Mayor Scott Ross; $300 from Lowndes County prosecutor candidate Chuck Easley of Columbus; $250 from Thad Buck of West Point; $250 from Mark Williamson of Starkville; and $210 from Sen. Bennie L. Turner of West Point.
· Outside the district: $1,000 from Danny Cupit, of Jackson; $500 from E. Scott Slater and Vicki R. Slater of Madison; $500 from Edward A. Williamson of Philadelphia; and $300 from Rhett Russell of Tupelo.
Meanwhile, Kitchens received $3,610 from the following attorneys:
· Inside the district: $800 from Charles Easley of Columbus; $600 from Vollor Law Firm of Starkville; $500 from Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau President DeWitt Hicks; $500 from Pearson Liddell of Starkville; $500 from Charles Bruce Brown of Starkville; $250 from Charles Guest of Starkville; and $250 from Taylor B. Smith of Columbus; $210 from Sen. Bennie L. Turner of West Point.
· Outside the district: $250 from Dan W. Webb of Tupelo.
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