A former city councilman is once again trying to get his old seat back.

Marty Turner, 47, qualified Tuesday afternoon as a Democrat in the Ward 4 race. He will join longtime NAACP chapter president Lavonne Latham Harris on the party primary ballot.

Turner, now a salesperson at Carl Hogan Toyota, served on the council from 2013-2017, losing to Fred Jackson in a runoff. He narrowly lost to Pierre Beard in 2021.

Turner twice ran for District 5 Lowndes County supervisor, in 2015 and 2019, losing both times to incumbent Leroy Brooks.

He said he planned to stay out of politics, but his neighbors and members of his old campaign team asked him to try again for Ward 4 councilman.

“I love people. I know what a public servant is,” Turner said. “I wouldn’t get in this office and then act like it’s mine. It belongs to the people.”

If elected, Turner said he would focus on improving infrastructure, especially seeking ways to replace clay pipes that cause flooding across the city. He would also actively fight poverty by advocating for workforce readiness programs, which he believes will curb crime.

“A lot of crime is done by people who are poor,” Turner said. “If you’re poor, that leads to hopelessness. That produces desperation. That creates crime. … When you have something to lose, you don’t go out and try to take something.”

Robert S. Johnson IV qualified as a Republican in the ward but has since dropped out. Beard, the incumbent, has not yet qualified for reelection.

The qualifying deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Party primaries are April 1. The general election is June 3.

Ward 6

A third candidate has joined the Ward 6 council race.

Kimberly McCarty-Davis qualified this week as a Republican. She joins fellow Republican Jason Spears and independent Donald Pope.

McCarty-Davis, 67, helping with the successful campaign of her father and former councilman Mac McCarty.

She is a licensed mental health professional, returning to Columbus about six years ago where she works at the Mississippi University for Women Counseling Center.

While she has compassion for young people and supports criminal justice reform, she also wants to promote tourism and make the city both cleaner and safer.

“I love Columbus and the historic value of the city,” she said. “We were on the same trajectory, years ago, to grow like Tupelo. We just didn’t grow like that.”

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.