Candidates list swells for county seats

Published 9:51 am Thursday, February 2, 2023

Lafayette County voters have a clear picture of what ballots will look like for the August primaries and some understanding of the November general election matchups after the qualifying period for candidates ended Wednesday at 5 p.m. 

The following names were on the sign-up sheets on the counters of the Circuit Clerk’s offices in Oxford.

Sheriff: Jeffrey C. South and incumbent Sheriff Joey East. 

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Tax Assessor/Collector: Sheila Busby Kelly  and O.E. “Rocky” Kennedy II.

Chancery Clerk: Mike Roberts and Kasey Haynie Daniels.

Circuit Clerk: Incumbent Jeff Busby.

Supervisor Dist. 1: Anthony Cox and incumbent Brent Larson.

Supervisor Dist. 2: Dru Jones, Avery Dunn, and incumbent Larry Gillespie.

Supervisor Dist. 3: Dale Timothy Gordon, Larandust Coleman, Josh Thweatt, Will Tidwell, and incumbent David Rikard.

Supervisor Dist. 4: Scott Allen, Derek Mooney, and incumbent Chad McLarty.

Supervisor Dist. 5: Jason  Kent, Greg Bynum, Mike Fortner, and Don Mason.

County Attorney: Incumbent Bella J. Chain III.

Constable Northern: Incumbent Greg Pettis.

Constable Central: Lee Durham and incumbent Kenneth Drewrey.

Constable Southern: Incumbent Jack E. Theobald II. 

Coroner: Glenn Coleman, Marilyn P. Delbridge, Shawn Bennett, and LaVers “Deeds” Hodges.

Justice Court Judge Northern: Brent Johnson and LaSonja “Sue” Pettis.

Justice Court Judge Central: Incumbent Mickey Avent.

Justice Court Judge Southern: Benjamin Justus and incumbent Johnny Wayne McLarty.

Election Commissioner: Erin Smith (Dist. 2) and Laura Antonow (Dist. 4).

Primary elections for the Democrats and Republicans will be Aug. 8 and the general election will be Nov. 7.

Candidates must win a majority of the votes in a party primary to advance to the general, or if no candidate wins 50 percent plus one vote, there will be a runoff election on Aug. 29.

In the general election there are no runoffs for county offices, except for Election Commission and School Board of Trustees races.

Statewide races can have general election runoffs.