Nearly $45,000 has been poured into the race for Lowndes County sheriff in the run up to Tuesday’s primary election, according to campaign finance reports from the four candidates.
Rick Jones, a Republican and retired police officer and former jail administrator for the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center, reported spending the most money at $16,861.08, according to campaign finance reports spanning four filing periods, which The Dispatch obtained from the circuit clerk’s office. He contributed $6,185.15 to his own campaign and raised $16,930.15 total. He has $69.07 left.
Current Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Greg Wright, also a Republican, raised the second highest amount at $14,428, none of it his own money. He has spent $13,638.72, leaving him with $789.28 in his war chest.
Republican Eddie Hawkins, an investigator with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, reported $11,819 in donations and $12,176.08 in spending.
The final pre-primary reporting deadline was July 30.
Independent Anthony Nelson has raised and spent the least at $1,718.13. He will face the winner of Tuesday’s primary in the general election on Nov. 5.
Donors to Jones’ campaign include former District Attorney Forrest Allgood, as well as David Windham, Terri Songer, Roger Murray, James Hunt and Ida Belle Ables.
Wright’s donors include current Sheriff Mike Arledge, who decided not to seek re-election, along with Mahala Salazar, Billy Rickens, Gary Dedeaux, Roy Kim Price, Joe Young, Richard (Dick) Spann, C.B. “Butch” Howard, Kenneth Burns, Bill Russell, Greg Rader, Robert Cooper and McCrary-West Construction. He also raised $5,428 in non-itemized donations – those under $200 each that do not have to be listed.
Those who donated to Hawkins’ campaign include John Beard, Teresa E. Thompson, Royce Ann Butler, William Strauss, Wayne Beard, Cynthia E., McGee, Mary Thompson, P and R Recycling and Incognito Investigations. He raised $4,469 in non-itemized contributions.
Chancery clerk
Deputy Chancery Clerk Cindy Egger Goode, a Republican, led the way in the race for chancery clerk with $14,906.10 reported in donations. She also reported spending a total of $12,802.60, leaving her with $2,103.50 on-hand.
Jessica Lancaster Pierce, also a Republican and a former deputy clerk, had not turned in her most recent report as of Friday afternoon, missing Wednesday’s deadline by two days. As of the July 10 reporting deadline, she reported raising $10,058.66 and spending $8,426.82, leaving her with $1,631.84.
Republican Andre Roberts only reported raising and spending $655.56. In his list of itemized receipts, he only listed giving himself $50 in May.
Democrat Joseph Mickens only turned in a campaign report for the most recent deadline, meaning he did not report campaign finances by the first deadline on May 30, nor the later deadlines of June 10 and July 10. He also did not list itemized receipts or disbursements. He reports raising $9,525 and claims to have $6,002 in cash remaining, meaning he would have spent $3,523.
Goode contributed $642.91 to her own campaign. Current Chancery Clerk Lisa Younger Neese, who is not running for re-election and who endorsed Goode early in the campaign, contributed $500. Goode’s other donors include Gawyn Mitchell, Bobby Egger, Dicky and Beth Rambo, Lawrence and Ina Walters, Dean Brock, Brent and Courtney Teague and Weekends Plus Urgent Care. She also received $6,163.19 in non-itemized donations.
Pierce reports receiving money from A.B. Puckett IV, John Bowen, Theigh Crosby and Dogwood Investments. She also contributed $775.66 to her own campaign, and listed $4,783 in non-itemized donations.
County prosecutor
In the county prosecutor race, more than $15,000 has been spent. However, the vast majority of that went to Republican candidate Corky Smith.
Smith raised $13,671.01 and spent $13,658, leaving him with $13.01 on-hand.
His Republican opponent Steve Wallace had not turned in his most recent report as of Friday, but reported raising $400 from other donors, while spending $1,480.62 as of July 10.
Smith contributed $1,000 to his own campaign and received donations from Charles Porter, Jeff Smith, Ronnie West, Thomas Lott, Boyce Adams, Mohamad “Sam” Amor, A.B. Puckett IV, Trey Bobinger, Richard Mayers CPA, Southern Forest Timber, AF LLC, The Clay Firm and Golden Triangle Peridontal. He also reported receiving $4,346.99 in non-itemized donations.
Wallace has received $200 each from Dewitt Hicks and Gawyn Mitchell.
Democratic candidate William Starks has not turned in a campaign finance report since the June 10 reporting period, at which time he reported not raising or spending any money.
Contested Supervisors’ races
In the District 1 supervisor race, Republican incumbent Harry Sanders has outspent his independent challenger Steve Pyle by more than $3,000.
Sanders has reported raising $6,432 and spending $5,728, leaving him with $672. Pyle has raised and spent $2.409.69. The majority of money raised in both campaigns came from the candidates themselves, with Sanders contributing $4,832 of his own money and Pyle contributing $1,946.31.
Pyle did not list any donors who gave more than $200. Sanders reported receiving $500 each from Steve Edds and Sue Fairbanks, as well as $600 in non-itemized contributions.
Nicholas “Trip” Hairston leads fundraising in the District 2 supervisor race, having raised and spent $3,500.92 to his opponent Clarence Ray Berry’s $1,234.44 in fundraising. Hairston and Berry are both Republicans.
Hairston contributed $2,380.92 to his own campaign. He also received money from Fred Hayslett, Bill Ford and Bobby Marshall.
Berry spent $987.44 of his own money in May and received $250 in contributions in June from Weekend Plus Urgent Care. He has spent $6.42, leaving him with $243.58.
The District 2 Democratic challenger, Oliver Miller, had not turned in his most recent campaign finance report as of Friday afternoon. He reported having spent $567.10, all of which he contributed in May.
Current District 3 Supervisor John Holliman, a Republican, has not turned in a campaign finance report since May, when he reported having not raised or spent any money. His Democratic challenger, Tim Heard, reported spending $313.80 of his own money.
In District 5 race, current supervisor Leroy Brooks, a Democrat, also has not reported since May, and reported not raising or spending any money. His independent challenger, Marty Turner, had not turned in a campaign finance report for the most recent deadline as of Friday afternoon, and reported raising and spending $2,300 prior to July 10.
Turner received $1,000 from Charles Easley and $500 from the Steve Jamison family. He also received $800 in non-itemized donations.
Other races
Tax assessor incumbent Greg Andrews, a Democrat, has reported raising $2,124. He has spent $1,316, leaving him with $808 in cash. His Republican challenger, William Sherman Vaughn, has not raised or spent any money.
Andrews received contributions from Chuck Trenary and Glenn Machine Works, as well as $824 in non-itemized contributions.
In the race for District 2 Justice Court Judge, Republican incumbent Chris Hemphill has spent $1,606.84 of his own funds. However, the Committee to Re-Elect Chris Hemphill, which lists Rissa Lawrence as its treasurer, raised $3,477.50 and spent $2,709.75, leaving it with $767.75 on-hand.
The committee outraised Hemphill’s opponent, former Caledonia Marshall Ben Kilgore, also a Republican, by more than $3,400. Kilgore has raised and spent $2,868.91.
Both Dunn and Hemphill, P.A. and The Stage Door, LLC contributed to the committee. The committee also listed $2,002 in non-itemized contributions.
Kilgore received donations from Min Kim, and reported $1,500 in non-itemized donations.
For District 1 constable, Republican Chris Griffin has raised the most, reporting $5,600 in contributions and spending $3,952.22, leaving him with $1,647.78 cash on-hand. However, he did not file a report for the July 10 reporting period.
RTR, LLC in Columbus contributed $3,350. The remaining $2,250 were non-itemized.
Democrat Jason “Jake” Humbers had the next highest fundraising in that race, outraising Republican Randy “Soldier” Robles by just under $500. He has raised and spent $1,921.62, of which $477 is non-itemized. The remaining $1,444.62 he contributed himself.
Robles has spent $1,476.35. He contributed $826.35 and reported $450 in non-itemized donations. Charles Easley contributed to his campaign.
For District 2 constable, independent challenger Spence Wallingford outraised Joe F. Ables, Jr., a Democrat, by more than $500. Wallingford reported raising $1,242.76, of which he contributed $872.76. He spent $1,232.76, leaving him with $10. He listed $370 in non-itemized contributions.
Ables had spent $524.30 by the June 10 reporting period.
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