Candidates project MS District 2 House Republican Primary to head to runoff
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Election Day is Tuesday for Mississippi residents. On the ballot for residents are the Presidential primary elections and the U.S. House and U.S. Senate primaries for Mississippi.
10 p.m.: District 2 race inches toward a runoff
Only one race had any intrigue heading into the late night of Tuesday's primary.
As of 10 p.m., 79.97% of the precincts had reported in for the District 2 Republican primary, with Ron Eller taking the lead with 46.7% of the vote, making up 12,741 votes.
His closest competitor, Andrew Smith, had only 9,586 votes, making 35.2%, while Taylor Turcotte won 4,935 votes, making up 18.1%.
Eller told the Clarion Ledger at 10 p.m. that he believes the race is likely going to a run-off.
"If it has been a two-person race, it probably would have been decided," Eller said.
Smith said even if the election goes to a run-off, he does not intend to bow out.
"If it goes to a run-off, we will just sucker him out," he said.
Turcotte declined to comment on election night, saying she "was not in the mood."
8:24 p.m. Ezell takes GOP spot for District 4
At 8:24 p.m., Mike Ezell was declared the winner for the Republican primary in District 4, winning 17,785 votes, compared to competitors Carl Boyanton and Michael McGill, who won 4,706 and 2,331 votes, respectively.
By 8:32, more than 50% of the precincts had reported and Ezell, a first-term Congressman from Pascagoula, had 71.7% of the votes cast.
8 p.m. Wicker takes GOP Senate spot
Republican incumbent Roger Wicker took the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, garnering 21,015 votes by 8 p.m. The closest candidate to him was state Ghannon Barton, who received 7,435 votes. Rep. Dan Eubanks received 6,487 votes.
About 13% of the votes were cast when the race was called by the Associated Press.
7:55 p.m. Black takes District 1
Dianne Black, who was running against Bronco Williams for the Democratic nomination, won with 3,086 votes. Williams received only 478.
Black will now go on to face Republican incumbent Trent Kelly in the November election.
Wicker takes early lead
With 6% of the votes counted in the Republican race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Roger Wicker has taken an early lead garnering 57% of the vote to his challengers Dan Eubanks, 23%, and Ghannon Burton, 20%.
The race is too early to call but you can follow the results live here along with all of the other Mississippi races.
Dianne Black takes early lead
With 25% of the vote in, Dianne Black, with 87% of the vote, has taken an early lead against Bronco Williams, with 12% of the vote, in the U.S. House District 1 race for the Democratic Party nomination.
The race is too early to call but you can follow the results live here along with all of the other Mississippi races.
AP: Trump wins Mississippi
With only 105 total votes counted, the Associated Press has already called the Mississippi Republican Primary for former President Donald Trump.
Mississippi has 40 Republican delegates at stake. It took only nine minutes for the AP to call the race for the former President.
Associated Press calls Mississippi for Biden
It took only one minute for the Associated Press to call the race in the Mississippi Democratic Primary for President Joe Biden. The President, seeking a second term, already became the presumptive nominee with a win earlier in the evening in Georgia.
There were 35 Democratic delegates at stake in the Mississippi Presidential Primary.
Polls are now closed in Mississippi
The polls have now closed across the state of Mississippi. Follow the results as they come in Tuesday evening.
For complete Mississippi primary results, see here:
For Republican primary results, see here:
For Democratic primary results, see here:
Only 1 voter inside a Pearl precinct
Around 3:30 p.m. at the Pearson Baptist Church in Pearl, the atmosphere was still and quiet with only one woman inside the precinct casting a ballot.
Polling Administrator Winifred Love said it has been a slow day, but a "constant stream" of voters began to trickle in near lunch time.
Out of the 1,816 registered voters, only 141 have voted by Tuesday afternoon at this polling location.
"When we first got here at 7 a.m., there were people coming in who were headed to work. Then, it died down. And by lunchtime, it picked up slightly," Love said.
Love said she is expecting more voters as people get off work at 5 p.m.
— Pam Dankins
A 3-year-old voter in Richland? Not really
Richland Community Center had a slow but steady stream of voters, with 142 votes in for North Richland and 183 votes in for South Richland by 12:45 p.m.
Berklee Smith, 3, might have been the youngest voter in the center today, or at least one of the youngest to cast a ballot into the machine.
Nan and Darrel Cockroft decided to bring their granddaughter along to "teach her to vote." Darrel guided her hands up to the machine and helped her get the ballot in correctly.
Berklee left the center with not one, but two future voter stickers. She specifically requested the second one be placed on her hand.
— Lauren Witte
Hinds County Republican and Democratic parties weigh in
Jacqueline Amos, Chair of the Hinds County Democratic Party Executive Committee, said worrying about ballot shortages was nothing compared to her worries about how low the voter turn out was. Amos said her party ordered nearly 55,000 Democratic ballots for the primaries.
"The last thing we're worried about is a ballot shortage. What troubles me the most is the lack of turnout, that is disappointing," Amos said. "But I'm honestly pretty confident that this coming November is going to be different than last November as far as ballot issues."
Spencer Ritchie, chair of the Hinds County Republican Party Executive Committee, whistled a similar tune to Amos, but said he thought there was more voter turnout than he expected.
"The turnout has been a little higher than I thought it would be. Compared to other presidential primary election years it's still pretty low, but more than I thought," Ritchie said, adding there were no concerns about ballot shortages on the Republican side.
Mississippi lawmakers on primary day
In the Mississippi Legislature, lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives did not pause discussions of business as citizens head to the polls to vote.
To make up for the time, several lawmakers told the Clarion Ledger they either voted before Tuesday or early morning.
Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont, said he voted Saturday so that he could be at the Capitol on election Tuesday.
"That's what early voting is all about," he said.
Sen. Bradford Blackmon, D-Jackson, said he voted to reinstate Rep. Bennie Thompson and President Joseph Biden, as well as vote for Senate challenger Ty Pinkins, who is running against Roger Wicker. He and his whole family went to the polls early Tuesday morning.
"There was a little lighter turnout than I expected," he said.
— Grant McLaughlin
Crystal Springs precinct quiet with few voters
The door at the south voting precinct in Crystal Springs makes a loud noise as it slams shut when people come and go.
In Tuesday’s primary, there was little traffic and the door wasn’t making a lot of sounds.
“It’s poorly,” Beatrice Jackson, poll manager at the Democratic table, said of the turnout. “We’ve only had 75 (voters).
“It’s always slow in the primaries. The next one will be much better.”
That was at 12:30 p.m. in a precinct with 2,242 registered voters. On the Republican side, turnout was worse.
“We’ve had 40 here today that decided to come out,” said certified poll worker Vernon Bailey. “It’s been really, really slow.”
As Bailey spoke, Jimmie Brady Jr. of Crystal Springs was the only person casting a ballot.
“I vote every time; trying to make things right,” Brady said. “I’ve been voting ever since I was able to vote. If you don’t vote, you don’t get what you want.”
Brady said there wasn’t a particular race in the primary that concerned him, but that didn’t matter.
“I come in and vote anyway,” Brady said.
— Brian Broom
Sparse turnout in Pearl
Though the parking lot in front of the Pearl Library and Pearl City Hall was rather full, the District 3 precinct's voting room in City Hall was quiet.
Only 41 voters had passed through in the first two and a half hours of voting.
“Very slow for us,” Poll Manager Bonnie Morris said of the number.
The vibes inside Pearson Baptist Church Gym, the District 4 precinct, in Pearl were cheerful, despite the fact that very few voters had passed through, and one poll worker's Sonic order was messed up.
"I love this precinct," Poll Manager Patricia Wynn, who has worked the precinct the past 12 years, said.
The precinct only had 51 votes in at 10:15 a.m.
"We're lucky at times when we hit 100 here," Wynn said.
— Lauren Witte
'Extremely slow:' Precinct with nearly 3400 registered voters
The Word of Life Church in Flowood houses Precinct 215 consisting of 3,399 registered voters.
Polling Manager Claudine Blakey said about 110 voters have showed up to the polls as of 11:30 a.m. This is not a normal pace, Blakey said.
"Last year during the Governor's election, we had 110 by 7:30 a.m. So, it has been extremely slow," Blakey said.
Blakey said a majority of the voters who have stopped at this precinct were 35 and older. She has seen very few young voters Tuesday morning.
— Pam Dankins
'If you don't vote, don't quack:' Slow turnout in downtown precinct
A total of 30 ballots had been cast at the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station about four hours into Primary Election Day. So far, 23 Democrat ballots and seven Republican ballots had been cast at the precinct in downtown Jackson.
Poll Manager Ronald Lattimore and others said they were gearing up for the lunch and after work rushes that usually bring a slew of voters.
In a cry to bring more young voters to the polls, poll worker Gloria McCray-Watson said she thought of former Mississippi Democratic Governor William Winter.
“I think it was him who said this, but politics effects everything that we do and when people say they don’t want to get involved in politics then you’re allowing somebody else to tell you when to get up, when to go to bed, where you work, when you can work, all kinds of things that you have control over because you’re a citizen and you can vote for people,” McCray-Watson said. “So, if you don’t want daylight savings time, you need to get up and vote for somebody who will get rid of that.”
Another poll worker chimed in:
“If you don’t vote, don’t quack.”
— Charlie Drape
Lack of opposition on ballots cited for low turnout
By 10 a.m. only 88 people had cast ballots at the Pilgrim Rest MB Church polling place in Madison for Tuesday’s party primaries.
Poll workers characterized the turnout as slow.
“The way the ballots are set up, there is not really any opposition,” said Scott Vanlandingham, a poll worker.
Virginia Anglin of Madison said she went to the polls to do her civic duty, despite the lack of opposition on the ballots.
“I still want to do my part of being a good citizen,” Anglin said.
— Scott Hawkins
Jackson Precinct has low turnout, separate sides for Republican and Democratic voters
Tuesday morning voter turnout at Peggy Hobson Calhoun Community Center, also known as Willowood Community Center, located at 4331 Willowood Blvd. in South Jackson, was low.
Separate sides and seating inside were also available for both Republican and Democratic voters.
"This was my first time ever seeing the separate seating thing, but I just went to my side." said Erin Willis, who voted on the Democratic side.
Brandon precinct sees low, slow turnout
Only 100 of the 3,611 registered voters at Brandon's St. Mark's Methodist Church precinct turned up as of early Tuesday morning, which is not a lot, a poll worker told reporter Pam Dankins.
"This is slow. Very, very slow," the voting administrator said.
8:25 a.m.: A veteran casts a vote
Light streamed through the glass doors in the back of Willie Morris Library at Precinct 34, where tables are set up for voters to cast their ballots in the Republican and Democratic primaries.
Few people have come in to vote by 8:20 a.m., 25 total, but the few who have are passionate.
"After serving for my country it's something that is very important to me," James Durham, who voted in the Republican primary, said.
"It should be extremely important for everyone."
Polls open at 7 a.m.
Polls are now open across the state and will remain open until 7 p.m.
When are the Mississippi primary elections?
Primary elections are held in each state from March through June to determine the Democrat and Republican candidates for November's general election.
The primaries for both the Democrat and Republican parties are March 12. It comes exactly one week after Super Tuesday, during which 15 states and one U.S. territory held elections.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
Where can I vote in Mississippi?
To find your polling place, visit the "my election day" tab. Some precincts in Hinds County have recently changed, and you can find those precinct changes here.
When do polls open and close in Mississippi?
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 12.
What should I bring to vote in Mississippi?
The Mississippi Secretary of State office lists 10 forms of acceptable IDs. They are available here.
Who is on the ballot in Mississippi?
Mississippi voters face a mix of contested and uncontested races. (You can find a sample ballot here.) For background information on the Mississippi candidates, you can find their responses here.
See who is running in the four House and one races:
Many of the key issues at play surround the economy.
In all of the following categories, you will vote for only one candidate. All categories also include a write-in option.
Who's running?: Five Congressional races contested in MS. See who is running
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
The candidates on the Republican ballot for president are:
Ron DeSantis
Nikki R. Haley
Vivek Ramaswamy
Donald J. Trump
While Haley, DeSantis and Ramaswamy have dropped out, they previously met the filing requirements and will still appear on the ballot.
President Joseph R. Biden is the sole nominee on the Democratic primary ballot.
U.S. SENATE PRIMARIES
The Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are:
Ghannon Burton
Dan Eubanks
Roger F. Wicker (the incumbent)
The lone Democratic candidate for Senate is Ty Pinkins.
To see a complete list of candidates, please check out our sample ballot.
How do I check if I'm registered to vote in Mississippi?
Voters can visit this website to make sure they're still registered to vote.
What elections are coming in Mississippi after the primaries?
If the primaries go into a runoff vote, that will be held April 2.
The final Mississippi election for 2024 is the Nov. 5 general election. The voter registration deadline for that election is Oct. 5.
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Memphis Commercial Appeal reporter Jacob Wilt contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Mississippi primary election day live coverage, results
