Five Oktibbeha County residents have either qualified for November’s circuit clerk race or announced their intentions to run for the vacant position.
Starkville Municipal Court Clerk Tony Rook was the first candidate to announce his intentions and qualified to run this week after supervisors appointed former Circuit Clerk Angie McGinnis to serve in the interim and set the special election for Nov. 7.
Teresa Davis, who unsuccessfully ran for the position in 2011, also qualified this week.
Three other expected candidates — Deputy Elections Clerk Sheryl Elmore and Brickfire Project Executive Director Cheikh Taylor and Elaine Boykin Turner, an administrative assistant at Mississippi State University — said they will qualify as early as next week.
All three said they are still in the process of collecting the 50 signatures from qualified Oktibbeha County voters required before a candidate can formally qualify for the nonpartisan race.
Other candidates could emerge later on, including Deputy Criminal Clerk Melody Monts, who said she’s still weighing an election bid.
E. Regina Evans, who ran for circuit clerk in 2015, confirmed to The Dispatch she would not seek office.
The circuit clerk’s position became vacant this month after Glenn Hamilton, 61, pleaded guilty to felony possession of methamphetamine in Clay County. He and Rufus Edward Lewis were charged with trespassing, drug possession and possession of Native American artifacts last summer.
Hamilton will serve one year of supervised probation and pay $1,500 in combined fines and restitution.
Davis, who works with MSU’s receiving and property control division, was defeated in 2011 by Hamilton by about 1,000 votes.
Elmore has worked in the clerk’s office for eight years, which included a stint as the deputy over the county’s civil division. Her job includes managing voter data — including registrations, rolls and the address library — and handling marriage licenses, passports and restitution payments.
Rook has 24 years of court experience, including 18 years as Starkville’s court administrator and department head. He also served with the Starkville Police Department and Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department.
Taylor, who has led the Brickfire Project for 18 years, last ran for District 3’s justice court judge position in 2015.
Turner works at MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and previously worked in an administrative role with the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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