Keith Gaskin did not want to run for a second term as mayor. Apparently, that does not mean he wants out of city politics.
Gaskin, 60, qualified as an independent to run for the Ward 1 council seat Friday, the last day to submit paperwork to run in this year’s municipal elections.
He is one of 23 candidates who stepped forward to run for various city offices this cycle.
Gaskin was elected mayor in 2021, edging out 15-year incumbent Robert Smith. He also serves on the East Mississippi Community College Board. He announced in August he did not plan to seek reelection as mayor.
Before becoming mayor, he was executive director for the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science Foundation. He also previously worked stints fundraising for Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama.
He will face the winner of the Democratic primary between incumbent Ethel Stewart and Tommie Smith.
Gaskin did not return calls and messages for comment by press time.
Party primaries are April 1. The general election is June 3.
Ward 4
Incumbent Pierre Beard waited until Friday to qualify for reelection, joining a field of four vying for his council seat.
Beard, 36, is running again as an independent. He first joined the council by winning a special election in 2019 and won his first full term in 2021.
“(My constituents) wanted me to come back, so I’m coming back,” Beard said of running again. “… Ward 4 looks a whole lot better than it did when I got there. I want to make sure it looks even better when I leave.”
If reelected, Beard said he wants to “continue to be a good steward” of taxpayer money, noting the city has gone from having $800,000 annual deficits to having more than $5 million in reserve during his time on the council. He also wants to work toward better equipment for departments and better pay for employees.
Also in Ward 4, Robert S. Johnson IV is back in the race.
He initially qualified as a Republican but later dropped out claiming, “I wasn’t ready.” On Thursday, he decided he is indeed willing to “put myself out there.”
“I was trying to get behind a candidate and share with them some of my ideas,” Johnson told The Dispatch. “As I got to talking to some of the candidates, I wasn’t pleased with what I was hearing. Really, I was disappointed.”
Johnson, 43, is a Columbus native and U.S. Navy veteran who moved back to the city from California in 2020. He said he is a freelance landscaper and home renovator and owns the property on Military Road that houses Schoolhouse Pops, where his wife and children sell lemonade and popsicles.
Beard and Johnson will be on the general election ballot, facing the winner of the Democratic primary between Lavonne Harris and Marty Turner.
Ward 5
Robert Raymond, a Republican, qualified Friday to round out a crowded five-candidate field for the Ward 5 council seat.
Raymond, 70, is a French instructor at Mississippi University for Women. He also is affiliated with A Better Columbus, a conservative-leaning local nonprofit that has openly criticized the city government’s competency and fiscal responsibility. He is listed as the organization’s contact person on its website.
Raymond did not return calls or messages for comment by press time.
He will face Mary Jeter in a Republican primary. The three-candidate Democratic primary includes Cequeila Clark, Sedrick Fenster and Gregory “Gary” Jefferson.
Incumbent Stephen Jones is running for mayor.
Other races
A four-candidate mayor’s race is set, with a Democratic primary between Jones and Leroy Brooks. Two independents – Darren Leach and Bill Strauss – await the primary winner in the general election.
Incumbent Joseph Mickens is facing two Democratic challengers in Ward 2 – Laisha “Ms. She-She” O’Neal and Roderick Smith. The primary winner will take the seat.
Kimberly McCarty-Davis and Jason Spears will face off in a Republican primary in Ward 6. Independent Donald Pope awaits the primary winner in the general election.
Incumbent Republican Jacqueline DiCicco is not seeking reelection.
Rusty Greene, an incumbent Republican, is running unopposed in Ward 3.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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