Another candidate running for Lowndes County circuit clerk has put the field at seven.
Jackie Leach, 49, of Columbus has qualified as the second independent seeking the office, and she has guaranteed that at least four candidates for circuit clerk will appear on the November general election ballot.
Leach said she is an elder and church administrator at Genesis Church in Columbus. She holds a master’s degree in elementary education and taught for five years in Tennessee. After moving to Columbus, she served as teacher/enrichment coordinator for the Columbus Municipal School District’s Lace-Up after school program, and she said she has worked as a substitute teacher with the district for the past five years.
She also served as Columbus Ward 5 councilman from 1993 to 1997.
“I’ve been in politics before, and I feel the circuit clerk’s position is very important from a political standpoint,” Leach said. “It’s important in making the political process work properly, because it deals with things like elections and voter registration, and I want to be a part of that process in Lowndes County.”
Leach added she is running as an independent because she feels the circuit clerk’s job should be nonpartisan, especially since that person must deal regularly with the local Democratic and Republican parties.
Four Republicans are seeking election as circuit clerk — Deputy Clerk Teresa Barksdale, retired teacher Margie Canon, local attorney and former Mississippi Supreme Court justice Chuck Easely, and Packet co-owner Justin Shelton. Columbus Ward 2 councilman Joseph Mickens is running as a Democrat and Golden Triangle Planning and Development District director for computing services Tim Heard is the other independent candidate.
All are jockeying to replace Haley Salazar, who is retiring at the end of the year following 24 years in office.
Circuit clerk pay is based on fee collection and is capped at $90,000 per year. Salazar said she has only made $29,750 annually as circuit clerk for the last several years, since state law allows her to simultaneously draw retirement. She has worked for the county since 1976, beginning as a deputy circuit clerk.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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