Marion County voters will go to the polls again Tuesday for a runoff to determine a U.S. Senate seat, Mississippi Court of Appeals position and a place on the chancery bench.
Circuit Clerk Janette Nolan said that more than 120 people had voted absentee as of early this week, and though the courthouse would be closed Thursday and Friday, voters still had the chance to vote absentee Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
In the much-debated U.S. Senate race, Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent who was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to replace longtime Sen. Thad Cochran when he retired, faces Democrat Mike Espy. Statewide, Hyde-Smith received 41.5 percent in the Nov. 6 general election versus 40.6 percent for Espy and 16.5 percent for Chris McDaniel.
In a state Court of Appeals race covering all or part of 15 counties, Jackson attorney David McCarty faces Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill Sr. McCarty got 49 percent of the vote Nov. 6 with Weill at 28 percent and Byron Carter at 22 percent.
And Vanessa Jones of Hattiesburg faces Chad Smith of Oak Grove for the 10th District chancery position, which includes Marion, Forrest, Lamar, Pearl River and Perry counties. They were the top two vote getters in a six-person race for an open seat. The position, which has a four-year term, pays $136,000 per year.
To help educate voters, both chancery candidates shared their interests and backgrounds with The C-P ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Vanessa Jones
Jones, 49, a Grenada native, has been a resident of the Pine Belt for more than 20 years. After graduation from Alcorn State University, she was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and served as a Military Police supervisor. In 1994, Jones graduated from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas, and was admitted to the Texas and Mississippi Bar associations.
“I am the former assistant district attorney for Forrest and Perry counties, and I was appointed as the first woman judge in the City of Hattiesburg,” she said. “I served there for almost 10 years. When the soon-to-be-senior chancellor, Judge Deborah Gambrell, was appointed to fill a term, the Forrest County Board of Supervisors came to me and asked me to serve out her remaining year in Justice Court. I currently serve as one of the public defenders appointed by Judge Prentiss Harrell. It’s not only about service to my country, but service to the Pine Belt area. Out of the other candidates who ran for this position, I’m the only candidate with substantial judicial experience.”
With two spots being filled in the 10th Chancery District, Jones says “Substantial changes are coming.” Longtime judges M. Ronald Doleac and Johnny L. Williams are retiring at the end of the term. The new judges will take office in January.
“We need people who can come in with experience in our judicial system as we have judges retiring,” she said. “I have that experience. I’m committed not only to my country but to the Pine Belt Community and I look forward to the chance to serve.”
Chad Smith
Chad Smith, 51, was raised in Meadville in Franklin County. He graduated from Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Mississippi State and the Mississippi College law school.
“I’m in my 19th year practicing law,” he said. “That time has been litigating cases in the chancery courts. That’s why I got into it. I’ve been litigating the cases that now I hope to judge. The reason I got into chancery court work in the first place is because the chancellor is a caretaker for broken families. The court deals with custody matters, child support, visitation, divorce and a lot of times young kids get caught in the middle. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. That’s my motivation to try to get in there and help those kids. That’s why I’m in it, for the kids.”
Smith said he has been in the Pine Belt for about seven years.
“The first 12 years of my practice came up in central Mississippi in the Madison-Ridgeland area,” he said. “After I graduated law school from Mississippi College I decided to stay in the area, even though my dad is from Poplarville and my mom is from out there in Improve in Marion County.
“My family has really helped me throughout this process. It makes it more personal. I feel it would hold me more accountable if people in the district know me on a personal level. That’s what I’ve been trying to do is get out and go to football games on Friday night and buffets during lunch and meet people. I’m just like you are; I put my socks on one at a time. I’m nothing special. I’m just trying to help the families of this district and I just happen to be kin to some of them.”
Though the races are non-partisan, Smith said he wants voters to know a little more about him. “My background is that I am a conservative person,” he said. “I would bring some of my values to the bench.”
