Ward 4 city council candidate Fredrick Jackson picked up a pair of endorsements Monday from Leroy Brooks and Kabir Karriem, who issued a warning that they’ll be watching the use of absentee ballots leading up to the May 16 runoff election.
Brooks, who represents District 5 on the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, and Karriem, who represents District 41 in the Mississippi House of Representatives and formerly represented Ward 5 on the city council, endorsed Jackson during a press conference on the steps of City Hall.
“We have not had visionary leadership for the past four years in Ward 4,” Brooks said. “We know the citizens deserve better.”
Karriem said he believes Jackson embodies the leadership Columbus needs in Ward 4, particularly in the face of possible tough times as the state grapples with a flagging budget. He said the candidate can “take Ward 4 where it needs to go.”
“Me being on the state level down at the Capitol, I understand the cuts and the tsunami that is about to come down to us on this local level,” Karriem said. “We need good leadership and I think Fredrick Jackson will exemplify that leadership.”
Jackson, who will face first-term incumbent Councilman Marty Turner in the runoff, said he is thankful for the endorsements.
“To have Supervisor Brooks and Representative Karriem helping me — they’re two very wise men, so what can you say?” he said. “I’m glad to have them on my team.”
Since no Republican is running in Ward 4, the runoff will decide the seat.
Absentee ballots
Brooks and Karriem, along with Jackson, expressed concerns about the use of absentee ballots in the May 2 Democratic primary election.
More than 1,000 absentee ballots were cast in the election. In Ward 4, 182 absentee votes were cast for the four candidates. Of those, 111 (60.9 percent) went to Turner. Jackson only received 23, or 12.6 percent.
The votes didn’t change the Ward 4 primary’s outcome. Jackson, who led before absentees with 244 votes to Turner’s second-place 168, was still set to face the incumbent in next week’s runoff. However, they pushed Turner to a first-place finish with 279 votes, compared to Jackson’s 267.
The other two candidates, Pierre Beard and Lavonne Latham-Harris, received 31 and 17 absentee votes, respectively.
“I’ve been at this game for 30-something years,” Brooks said. “I know how the absentee ballot process is supposed to go, and I’m well aware of what’s been happening. I think it’s a disgrace in some instances when you have senior citizens who may not be able to read and they’re casting a ballot form.
“I think, just listening in the last few days there’s a great concern in this community about what’s going on and no voter needs to be disenfranchised,” Brooks added.
In Ward 2, incumbent Councilman Joseph Mickens received 178 absentee ballots, compared to 177 walk-in votes cast for him at the polls. The total was enough to push him past his primary challenger, Eric Thomas, who went from leading with 180 votes before absentees, to not having enough votes to force a runoff. Thomas told The Dispatch he plans to file paperwork today with the local Democratic Municipal Elections Committee formally challenging the election results.
Turner, when contacted by The Dispatch, denied any foul play in the primary election.
“I cannot say what happened with Ward 2, but with Ward 4, if you notice, I’m not the only one that got absentees,” he said. “I know that elderly people are not going to get taken advantage of because they can read. They’re educated and they know who they want to vote for.”
State law allows voters to cast absentee ballots in person before an election or by mail, in some instances. In many cases, absentee ballots must be signed by a notary public or court clerk. However, state law allows the absentee applications and envelopes of a temporarily or permanently disabled voters to be witnessed and signed by any person who is 18 year of age or older.
Brooks and Karriem declined to comment on the Ward 2 race, but said they will keep a close watch on absentee ballots.
“If for some reason Fredrick loses, it’s going to be the will of the people, not the manipulation of a few,” Brooks said. “If we have to contact state officials, we are prepared to do that.”
Turner: Proof of plot against me
Turner said he doesn’t believe Brooks’ and Karriem’s endorsements will have much of an impact on the race, though he said he hopes Jackson doesn’t become a “puppet” for the two politicians if he wins the election.
“People know, for lack of a better word, that Kabir and Leroy don’t like me,” Turner said. “They don’t want me to win because I don’t do what they do what they tell me do to.”
Turner did, however, say it was proof of a “plot” that he’s said Brooks and Karriem have been working on to get him out of office.
In 2015, Turner challenged the seven-term incumbent Brooks for his board of supervisors seat, losing a contentious Democratic primary that saw the councilman kicked off, then later reinstated to, the ballot.
In April last year, Turner said the perception he struggles with alcoholism is a part of plot Brooks started against him. In June, he said Brooks and Karriem were “in cahoots” working against him.
“This is the plot I told you about,” Turner said. “They’re trying to fulfill the promise that they made, like when (Brooks) said he was going to make sure I never got on the city council again. He’s neglecting the work I’ve done for my ward.”
Brooks and Karriem denied that their personal issues with Turner had anything to do with endorsing Jackson.
“As far as a personal spat, politics is never personal with me — it’s just what I do,” Brooks said. “I think that Ward 4 is part of Representative Karriem’s district and mine. These are our voters. We hear what they’re saying. We have seen Councilman Turner up close — in town and out of town, at conferences, and we’ve seen the way he’s carried himself and in some instances it’s been extremely embarrassing. I think we deserve better.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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