A fourth candidate has entered the District 3 supervisor race, and the Lowndes County coroner’s race is now competitive.
Christopher Moore is running as an independent in District 3, joining fellow Republicans Chad Frasher, Tony Hannah and Andy Williamson.
Incumbent John Holliman is not seeking reelection.
Moore was born in Noxubee County but has lived in Lowndes County most of his life.
He served for 20 years in the Air National Guard, including four tours overseas, and has been a volunteer fireman in District 3 for the past 18 years. He currently works for 4-County Electric Power as a lineman, a post he’s held for 16 years. For the past five years has owned the Import Doctors car repair and maintenance shop in Columbus.
He said he’s running as a new way to give back to the community.
“I like helping the community and my country,” he said. “I just found another way, since I’m retiring from the Guard this year, to serve my community.”
He said he looked forward to hearing from the residents of District 3 about what their concerns are.
“I want to hear from the people first before I say what I want to do,” he said. “There are a lot of needs that you don’t hear about because people don’t speak out about it.”
This is Moore’s first run for political office.
In the coroner’s race, incumbent Republican Greg Merchant is facing Democratic challenger Leonard Williams Jr.
Merchant was elected in 2003 and is looking forward to continuing to serve Lowndes County.
“I have enjoyed the time and the trust that the county has placed in me to serve for the last 19 years,” he said. “I still have a love of the county and of the people and I want to continue what I’m doing.”
He said if reelected the biggest issue facing his office is the impending relocation — the coroner’s office is in the old Maxxim Medical building, which has recently been sold to Apex Ammunition.
“We’ve got this move that’s impending, and we’ve got to get this situation settled with the sale of the property,” he said. “Things also seem to be getting a little better with the medical examiner’s office in Jackson and hopefully we’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the delays that we’ve been facing.”
The Dispatch was unable to reach Williams by press time. He did not leave his contact information on his qualifying form.
The deadline to qualify is Feb. 1. Primary elections are Aug. 8, and the general election is Nov. 7.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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