Municipal primary election ballot set
Feb. 1, 2025-A review of the candidate list for the April 1 municipal primary elections in DeSoto County shows a number of contested races will be brought before the electorate on Election Day. Friday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. was the deadline to qualify for the ballot.
In Horn Lake, for instance, three Republicans are running for the party nomination for mayor. Two of them, Danny Klein and Dave Young, are current aldermen and former mayor Nat Baker Friday added his name to the list. Awaiting the winner of that race will be Democrat Jimmy Stokes, running in the primary unopposed.
Klein’s run for mayor leaves open the Alderman at-Large seat and three Republicans are running for the post. They are Heather DuPree, former alderman Donnie (Chigger) White, and Joseph Piercy. The primary winner will face Democrat Larry McKinney.
There is also a contest for Young’s Ward 4 seat on the Board of Aldermen, where Republicans Dylan Smith, Lisa Hall-Hayes, and Kirby Carter have qualified. The primary winner will be challenged by Democrat Kelly Lee Smith.
In Horn Lake Ward 1, three Republicans are running for that seat: William “Bill” Adelman, Joseph “Joe” Zachery, and Julie Brown White. Again, one Democrat awaits the primary winner, as Joshua Langston has qualified.
Current Ward 2 Alderman Tommy Bledsoe is challenged by Grant Harlow on the Republican side and the winner faces Democrat Yolanda Kay Hassell-Rook.
Robby DuPree, current Ward 6 alderman, is challenged by Scott Harvey in the Republican primary, and the winner faces Democrat Charlotte Armstrong.
Republican Jackie Bostick and Democrat Marrell Brand have survived primary challenges and will advance to the June 3 general election. Democrat Alderwoman LaShonda Johnson and Republican Jacob Hisaw have also advanced to the June general election without primary challengers.
Primary votes in the other three DeSoto County cities will be relatively “tame,” although some challenges have developed.
In Hernando, a three-person race has developed for Alderman at-Large with former alderman Jeff Hobbs facing Lauren McLendon and Jarrett Mashaw for the seat state Rep. “Doc” Harris is leaving, and in Ward 5, current Alderwoman Beth Rone Ross is facing Kristoffer “Kit” Kitchens. The other aldermen in Hernando and Mayor Chip Johnson are running for reelection unopposed and the primary winners will be elected with Democrat challengers on the ballot.
Olive Branch Republican voters in Ward 3 will have three candidates to choose from, as former police chief Don Gammage joins Dion M. Jones and Mike Hutchins for that party’s nomination to the June general election. There are also two-person Republican primaries in Olive Branch Ward 2, where current Alderwoman Pat Hamilton faces Cynthia Manzo, and in Ward 4, where current Alderman David Wallace is running against Christopher G. Gillespie.
Current aldermen George Collins, Gil Earhart, Jan Aldridge, Dale Dickerson, and Mayor Ken Adams are on the ballot unopposed and will be elected.
Southaven voters saw a race for mayor develop on the last day of qualifying Friday, as Tommy Henley qualified to again challenge incumbent mayor Darren Musselwhite as a Republican. It’s the third time Henley, a businessman, has run against the current mayor. In 2021, Henley ran for mayor as an independent.
An open seat in Southaven Ward 1 will have Judy Jenkins-Lewis against Timothy Putt, incumbent Ward 4 Alderman Joel Gallagher is running against Scottie Montgomery, and Ward 6 Alderman Raymond Flores meets primary challenger Kevin Tackett. All are Republicans and winners will be elected with no Democratic challengers.
All primary winners must attract 50 percent plus one vote, or else face a runoff election on April 22.
Absentee ballots will be available for the first time on Feb. 18 at the City Clerk’s offices in the respective cities, not at the County Courthouse.
The 2025 Election Calendar from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office is FOUND HERE.
Our compilation of the candidate list for DeSoto County municipal elections can be view at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRS6nfV47PsWez1BURLYzYQGTAlMs0DVTQxX638fnML_Wr6e0gZDxAN2E-bpv6qzJQUOvvfWVa2Qz1w/pubhtml
