The deep field for Lowndes County Circuit Clerk was narrowed Tuesday night, but a Republican candidate has yet to be determined.
Current deputy clerk Teresa Barksdale will face Columbus businessman Justin Shelton in a runoff August 25 to determine the GOP contender in November.
Barksdale had a healthy plurality of the vote with 3,139 ballots cast (45 percent) in her favor. Shelton nudged out Margie Canon by just 30 votes to earn 23 percent of the vote and a spot in the runoff. He finished with 1,604 votes; Canon had 1,574.
Current circuit clerk Haley Salazar, who is retiring after this term, told The Dispatch there were 19 Republican affidavit votes to be counted as of 11 o’clock Tuesday night, not enough to make a difference.
The field was further clouded by Chuck Easley, a Columbus lawyer who announced he was dropping out of the race more than a month ago. Salazar said though Easley had advertised in local media he was dropping out, he never submitted a formal letter to the clerk’s office, which meant his name remained on the Republican ballot. He took home 591 votes Tuesday.
Despite the number of candidates on the Republican ballot, the race garnered 26 write-in votes.
McQueen to face Arledge for Sheriff in Nov.
Former Columbus Police Chief Selvain McQueen beamed with joy when the 923 absentee votes were added to the total tally late Tuesday night.
After the unofficial results came in, McQueen held nearly 45 percent of the vote – not quite enough to seal an outright win. When the absentee ballots were counted around 11:00 p.m., he had pushed the meter to 51 percent of the vote (2,469 votes) and eliminated the possibility of a runoff.
Lowndes County Juvenile Detention Center Director Anthony Nelson took home 29 percent of the vote with 1,396 ballots in his favor. Former CPD officer Bobby Webber received 19 percent of the vote.
“We’re going to continue to run a clean race,” McQueen told The Dispatch moments after his victory. “We would certainly hope the citizens of Lowndes County take a good look at this race and decide what’s right for them.”
McQueen said he will focus on property crime and developing a closer relationship with CPD in the run up to the November election against incumbent Republican Mike Arledge.
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