With both races uncontested, two elections previously scheduled for November will no longer be held.
The secretary of state’s office informed local election officials neither the House District 41 election nor the election for a Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees seat needs to proceed, Lowndes County Deputy Circuit Clerk Ann Marie Higgins told The Dispatch.
The decision could save the county anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000, Higgins estimated.
“… With the general (election), we have to by law have 60% of the paper ballots printed for people who are registered to vote,” Higgins said. “So that’s a lot of people that probably wouldn’t be voting, so that’s where a lot of the cost probably comes in.”
Incumbent District 41 Rep. Kabir Karriem defeated challenger Pierre Beard, a former Columbus councilman, in the Democratic primary in August. Without a Republican candidate in the race, Karriem retains his seat.
The special election was called after a panel of federal judges ordered the Mississippi Election Commission to redraw select legislative districts after ruling the 2022 maps diluted Black voting power in DeSoto and Chickasaw counties. As a result, other counties saw a change in district lines as well, including House Districts 39 and 41 in the Golden Triangle.
The redrawn House map was approved in April, and the federal judges ordered more than a dozen special elections to take place in November, including in District 36, where incumbent Democrat Karl Gibbs ran uncontested, and District 39, where incumbent Republican Dana McLean ran uncontested.
The secretary of state’s office suspended elections for House Districts 36 and 39 as well, Higgins confirmed.
Dennis Dupree will also avoid a November election as the only candidate to have submitted qualifying papers for the CMSD board seat. The board on Monday voted to declare Dupree as the elected trustee without having a special election.
CMSD’s board of trustees historically consisted of five members appointed to five-year terms by the Columbus City Council on a rotating basis, with one seat coming up for reappointment each March.
Per state law, if at least 15% of a district’s enrolled students live in the added territory, an area outside of the city limits also known as the “separate school district,” one seat must be an elected position selected by voters in the added territory.
In June, Board Attorney Chris Hemphill reported roughly 19% of CMSD’s students live in the added territory, prompting the election.
Dupree will be sworn into his five-year term in January, replacing appointed board member Josie Shumake, since her term is the next set to expire. Shumake does not live in the added territory, so she could not run for the elected seat.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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