Two of the six Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by Roger Wicker are heading to a runoff June 26 as a result of Tuesday’s primary.
David Baria, a state representative from Bay St. Louis, will face Howard Sherman, a Los Angeles-native and husband of actress Sela Ward of Meridian, for the right to challenge Wicker, who easily topped Republican opponent R. Warren Boyanton Tuesday.
Even though voter turnout rates are expected to be anemically low in Marion County — less than even Tuesday’s 17 percent of registered voters — the one race requires the county to conduct business just like any other election.
“We are beginning preparations for the runoff,” Marion County Circuit Clerk Janette Nolan said as she and employees of her office cleaned up the courtroom where ballots were tabulated on Wednesday. “The runoff, even though it is only one race, is like a regular election. We have to have all 22 polling places open, and we’re mandated to staff each with three poll workers. We have to have so many machines out and so many ballots. As I calculated the costs this morning, I’m figuring it over $15,000.”
Nolan said absentee ballots for permanently disabled voters would be sent out as soon as this week’s election was certified.
“This is only the Democratic Senate race. If you voted as a Democrat in the primary or did not vote at all in the primary, you can vote in the runoff,” Nolan said. “If you voted as a Republican in the primary, you can’t vote as a Democrat in the runoff.”
Nolan said Tuesday’s primary went off with only a few minor glitches.
“We had some small problems with power cords and machines that weren’t charging or holding a charge,” she said. “We also had a few issues with some new voting machine cards, but they were very few and the manufacturer knows about the problems.”
Turnout was light in Marion County as only 2,719 voters out of 16,018 registered voters went to the polls. The 16.97 percent rate included several polling places that had lower turnouts and some with higher totals. The highest turnout was at the Union precinct, with 24.36 percent of the registered voters casting ballots. Other higher totals included Darbun with 23.15 percent, Goss with 22.74 percent and National Guard with 22.49 percent. On the low end, only 29 voters, or 11.74 percent, turned out at the South Columbia precinct. Pine Burr at 12.74 percent was also low.
Statewide, Sherman received 32 percent versus 31 percent for Baria with Omeria Scott coming in third at 24 percent. Wicker cruised with 83 percent on the Republican side and is expected to win re-election easily against whomever wins the Democratic runoff.
For the runoff, Nolan said her office at the courthouse will be open two Saturdays before the election in addition to regular business hours. The Circuit Clerk’s Office will be open from 8 a.m. until noon on June 16 and June 23 to accommodate voters on Saturdays.
Marion County primary results
Senate Democrat
Omeria Scott 421 votes (50.8%)
Howard Sherman 142 votes (17.1%)
David Baria 127 votes (15.3%)
Jerone Garland 55 votes (6.6%)
Victor G. Maurice Jr. 51 votes (6.2%)
Jensen Bohren 33 votes (4%)
Senate Republican
Roger F. Wicker 1,513 votes (81%)
R. Warren Boyanton 350 votes (18.8%)
Write-in votes 4 (0.2%)
House Republican
Steven Palazzo 1,625 votes (86.7%)
E. Brian Rose 247 votes or (13.2%)
Write-in votes 2 (0.1%)
Pictured Above: Isabella Rowell helps her dad, Brandon deliver a ballot box to the Marion County Courthouse and waiting election commissioners on Tuesday. Area voters cast ballots on several state races in the primary. A runoff for a Democratic race is set for June 26. | Photo by Mark Rogers
