Nearly a half dozen Oktibbeha County residents have qualified this week for the county elections set to take place later this year.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 27 people had qualified for the Aug. 2 primary election. The most recent qualifiers were Steve Gladney, who entered the race for sheriff; William Ford, who is running for constable in District 1; Shank Phelps, who also is running for the District 1 constable position; Buddy Johnston, who qualified for the District 3 Justice Court judge race; and Willie L. Thompson, who is running for the District 1 Supervisor seat.
In the sheriff”s race, Gladney will face incumbent Sheriff Dolph Bryan and fellow challenger Charles Sanders, both of whom qualified last week.
In the District 1 constable race, Ford and Phelps enter a contest in which two other candidates, Curtis White and Joe Morse, already have qualified. District 2 Constable Curtis Randle and District 3 Constable James Lindsey also qualified last week for reelection.
For the Oktibbeha County Justice Court District 3 judge”s seat, Johnston will face incumbent Jim Mills, while Thompson joins the District 1 Supervisor race against incumbent Carl Clardy, who qualified last week.
For the District 2 Supervisor seat, Democrat Tremell Sherman qualified last Wednesday in an attempt to unseat longtime Supervisor Orlando Trainer, who also has qualified.
In the District 3 Supervisor race, incumbent board President Marvell Howard is running for reelection, while Republicans Benny Perkins and Dennis Daniels Jr. qualified last week in bids to unseat Howard.
Only incumbent Daniel Jackson has qualified for the District 4 supervisor race, while in District 5, incumbent John Young qualified last week and has a challenger in Democrat Sheila Lane.
Oktibbeha County Justice Court Judges William “Tony” Boykin and W. Bernard Crump qualified for reelection last week, along with Chancery Clerk Monica Banks and Oktibbeha County School District Superintendent James Covington. Allen Morgan and Debbie Carrithers qualified to run for the office of tax assessor, which is currently held by Pat Kight.
Potential candidates have until March 1 to qualify. While the primary election is set for Aug. 2, the general election is scheduled for Nov. 8.
Prospective candidates can fill out qualifying documents at the Oktibbeha County Courthouse Annex, located at 108 W. Main St., Starkville, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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