Nine Starkville aldermen candidates reported taking in $17,108.25 in combined campaign donations this year as they worked to secure their respective ward races.
Tuesday was the deadline for mandatory, pre-primary filings from candidates seeking municipal office this election cycle, and City Clerk Lesa Hardin’s office released documents detailing contributions and spending for 10 of the 15 candidates from Jan. 1 to Tuesday.
Reports from Ward 2 candidate Jesse Carver, Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker, Ward 4 candidate Pete Ledlow, Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn and Ward 7 candidate Roben Dawkins were unavailable.
Hardin said those candidates whose races will be decided in June’s general election were not required to file Tuesday. Ward 2 and Ward 4 both will be decided then, but Vaughn is challenged in Tuesday’s Ward 7 Democratic Primary by Margareta Moore, who filed her campaign finance report on time with the clerk’s office.
Ward 1
Ward 1’s three-way race between Democrat Christine Williams and Republicans Jason Camp and Ben Carver reported the highest combined receipts and spending so far in Starkville’s seven wards.
The trio took in a combined $8,912, split between incumbent Carver ($4,730), Williams ($2,632) and Camp ($1,550). That total amount is more than half of the money reported as contributions in all of this year’s races, excluding the mayoral election.
Ben Carver reported spending as much as he took in, while Camp reported $1,408.41 in disbursements and Williams spent $1,200.53.
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican Primary between Camp and Carver will face Williams in June’s general election.
Carver works for Insurance Associates; Camp is employed with the Mississippi State University Extension Center for Government and Community Development and serves as Ward 1’s representative on the Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission; and Williams is a graduate teaching and research assistant at the MSU Department of Political Science and Public Administration.
Ward 2
Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn and candidate Sandra Sistrunk combined for almost $5,000 in campaign donations this year, making Ward 2 the second-highest in terms of intake even without Jesse Carver’s information on-hand.
Sistrunk, a Democrat, outpaced Wynn in contributions, taking in $2,959 compared to the incumbent’s reported $2,000. Sistrunk has also outspent Wynn $1,828.75 to $892.05 this year.
Jesse Carver, a Republican who works as an agent with the New York Life Insurance Company, will face both Sistrunk and Wynn in June.
Sistrunk served one term as Ward 2’s alderman before Wynn unseated her in 2013.
Ward 5
Now down to two candidates after Republican Chase Neal dropped out of the election, Ward 5’s race between Democrats Kayla Gilmore and Patrick Miller has garnered a little more than $3,000 in total contributions this year.
Miller reported $1,750 in donations compared to Gilmore’s $1,269. He has also outspent his opponent $1,498.96 to $823.83 since Jan. 1.
A termination report required by candidates when they cease campaigning was unavailable for Neal from City Hall by press time.
Tuesday’s Democratic Primary will decide the Ward 5 race.
Gilmore is a former city election commissioner who vacated her position to run for office. She is the owner of KMG Creations Dance, Fitness and Productions.
Miller is an employee of the MSU Extension Center for Government and Community Development. He is also Ward 5’s representative on the Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission.
Ward 7
Moore, the only candidate running for Ward 7 to file a campaign finance report, has not raised any money this year but did spend $798 on her election bid.
She will face Vaughn in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary, and the winner of that race will face Dawkins in June.
Dawkins, a Republican, works as a senior pilot at the MSU Flight Department.
Moore has worked in the health care industry for more than 25 years.
Vaughn was first elected in 2009 when he unseated incumbent Janette Self in that year’s Democratic Primary.
Unopposed races
Both Ward 3 Alderman David Little and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins effectively locked up their re-election bids in March when challengers did not come forward and qualify in March.
Little reported $172.25 in campaign contributions and $370 in expenditures this year, while Perkins took in $46 and spent $296 on advertising. A previous filing for 2016 states Perkins collected $525 — including a $275 personal loan and a $275 donation from former Mayor Dan Camp — last year and spent $275 on push cards in anticipation of the 2017 municipal cycle.
Perkins, who has practiced law for more than 28 years, will begin his seventh term July 1, while Little, a claims manager with Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, will return to the board for his second term.
Coming Sunday
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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