Primary elections are tomorrow

Published 12:00 pm Monday, March 7, 2016

Voters casting a ballot for whom they wish to see as the presidential candidate for their party Tuesday will see many more names on the ballot than who is actually running.

On the Republican ballot, there are 13 candidates listed; however, nine of those candidates have dropped out of the race. Those still in the running are Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasisch.

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On the Democratic ballot, only one of the five has dropped out of the race. Martin O’Malley suspended his campaign. Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Roque De La Fuente and Willie Wilson are still in the running.

Polls will open in Lafayette County, and around the state, at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Congressional primary

Also on Tuesday’s Republican ballot will be the two candidates vying for the 1st Congressional District race. Incumbent Trent Kelly will face off against challenger Paul Clever, from Holly Springs.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Jacob Owens, a Democrat candidate with no primary opposition, in the general election in November.

With Owens the only candidate in the race, Democratic voters will only see the race for the Democratic nominee for president.

In the 1st District, Kelly has been in office less than a year, having won the seat in a special election last summer after the death of Alan Nunnelee.

Kelly, 49, of Saltillo, had served as a district attorney prior to winning the seat he now holds. He sits on the Agriculture Committee and the Small Business Committee in the U.S. House.

Clever, 53, served in the U.S. Navy in the 1980s as a nuclear propulsion operator. He has since worked in a number of fields, most recently, biomedical engineering.

Idaho will hold a Republican primary Tuesday as well, and Hawaii will have precinct caucuses.

Future primaries could look a bit different for Mississippi voters under election law reforms pushed by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.

Legislators in the House last week approved bills permitting online voter registration and a form of early voting, in which ballots could be cast by anyone up to 14 days before the election date at their local circuit clerk’s office.

The Lafayette County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office reported this morning they have received 303 absentee ballets as of this morning for Tuesday’s primary.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.