Incumbents and those looking for a political breakthrough are entering the final days before Tuesday’s general election.
Voters will decide who fills a variety of statewide positions — from governor to state agriculture and commerce commissioner — and a number of Oktibbeha-specific and regional positions.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s ballot:
House, Senate seats up for grabs
In two regional races, Starkville resident and Republican Mike Tagert seeks a new term as Mississippi’s Northern District Transportation Commissioner against Democrat Danny Woods, while a tight race has emerged for District Attorney between incumbent Forrest Allgood, a former Democrat running as an independent, against Democrat Scott Colom.
Only two of the five Miss. House of Representatives and Senate seats that represent Oktibbeha County are challenged, as Rep. Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville, Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, and Sen. Angela Turner, D-West Point, are unopposed.
Vying for the District 43 House seat are Democrat Paul Millsaps and Republican Loyd B. “Rob” Roberson. Both Millsaps and Roberson are Starkville attorneys with practices on Main Street.
Millsaps is a lifelong Starkville resident and the former owner of Millsaps Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick and GMC. Roberson previously served as Miss. House District 37’s representative from 1999-2004.
Roberson defeated Mac Smith, a general manager for The Little Dooey in Starkville, in August’s Republican Primary.
Cecil Simmons, a Democrat who resides in Webster County, is challenging state Sen. Gary Jackson, R-French Camp, for Miss. Senate District 15’s seat. Simmons previously served in the state House for almost 30 years, while Jackson, a reverend, was elected to his post in 2003.
District races
Four of Oktibbeha’s five district supervisors’ seats are up for grabs after District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams, a Democrat, secured his re-election bid in August’s primary.
Two of the four races feature rematches from 2011, as Republican Dennis “Denny” Daniels and incumbent Democrat Marvell Howard faceoff for District 3’s seat, and Democrat incumbent Daniel Jackson and Republican Bricklee Miller again fight for District 4’s position.
The Daniels-Howard race was the closest from 2011, as Howard secured re-election by three votes that year. Jackson defeated Miller in the same cycle by 441 votes.
Daniels is a former law enforcement agent and Mississippi Army National Guard veteran wounded while serving in Iraq. Howard is the past president of the board of supervisors and works at Mississippi State University.
Jackson is a former high school teacher who approaches his position as a full-time job. Miller serves as the facility director for the Miss. Horse Park.
In District 1, Republican incumbent John Montgomery seeks a second term against Democrat Donald Thompson.
Montgomery is a Starkville firefighter who also owns his own landscaping business. Thompson is a retired rural mail carrier.
The president of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer, also faces a familiar foe for re-election Tuesday, independent Robert “Bubba” Gray Jr.
Trainer defeated Gray, who ran as a Republican in 2011, by about 700 votes.
Trainer, the longest serving board member, has represented District 2 for more than a decade. Gray operates a farm in southeastern Oktibbeha County.
Changeover on the Oktibbeha County Justice Court bench is also guaranteed after two of the three justices were ousted in primary races.
While District 1 Judge Tony Boykin won re-election in August, both District 2 Judge W. Bernard Crump and District 3 Judge James “Jim” Mills lost their respective campaigns.
Larnzy Carpenter, a law enforcement officer and reverend, will serve as District 2’s judge since there is no Republican on Tuesday’s ballot.
C. Marty Haug, the winner of the District 3 Democratic Primary, will face Republican Buddy Johnston and independent Hardy Mitchell.
Haug is the only attorney in the justice court judge field; Johnston previously ran for the District 3 judgeship in 2011; and Mitchell owns Shipley Do-Nuts.
One of Oktibbeha’s three constable positions will also be decided Tuesday.
The last remaining race is between Republican Tim Cook and long-serving District 3 Constable James Lindsey.
Cook originally qualified for the District 2 race between incumbent Curtis Randle and challenger Andre Quinn — both Democrats — but redistricting placed Cook’s residence within District 3.
Cook, an Army National Guard veteran, has served with both Starkville Police Department and Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department.
Lindsey has served as constable and with OCSD for three decades.
District 1 Constable Shank Phelps, a Republican who also serves as the county’s emergency management director, was unopposed.
Four county-wide seats challenged
Voters this year have options when it comes to who they want to serve as circuit clerk, coroner, sheriff and tax assessor.
First-term Circuit Clerk Glenn Hamilton, a Republican, is challenged by Democrat E. Regina Evans.
Hamilton is a former state senator and Miss. State Parole Board chairman. Evans worked for years as a chief deputy in former Circuit Clerk Angie McGinnis’ administration.
Chris Pollan, a licensed funeral director and embalmer running as a Republican, looks to unseat long-serving Democrat Corner Michael Hunt.
Hunt, who took office in 1996, was previously named Coroner of the Year nine years ago. Pollan has also spent a decade examining financial institutions as a forensic and fraud specialist.
In the sheriff’s race, former Chief Deputy George Carrithers, a Republican, is running against Sheriff Steve Gladney, a first-term Democrat, for the county’s highest law enforcement position.
Gladney’s 2011 primary victory against former Sheriff Dolph Bryan unseated the long-serving public official, which also led to Carrithers’ retirement from the department.
Gladney previously served almost 30 years with the Miss. Highway Patrol, while Carrithers was Bryan’s right-hand man for most of his decades-long administration.
John Brown, a Democrat, also looks to oust another first-term candidate, Republican Tax Assessor Allen Morgan.
Morgan, who previously worked for 29 years with the Miss. Tax Commission, was elected to his first term in 2011. Brown is employed with the state and is connected to the Miss. National Guard.
Chancery Clerk Monica Banks, Prosecutor Haley Brown and Surveyor Tom Gregory are unopposed this election cycle.
Banks’ former opponent, Republican Michael Womack, dropped out of the race earlier this year.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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