Grenada County ballot results were certified last Thursday afternoon, making the tallies from the Nov. 7 General Election official.
Nearly 60 percent of the county’s 13,520 registered voters flocked to the polls with 8,059 ballots cast for an overall turnout of 59.61 percent.
Grenada County Circuit Clerk Michele Redditt-Garcia was pleased with how Election Day went.
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“I think everything went smoothly,” she said. “We had minimal amounts of complaints at the precincts; I encourage all voters to update their addresses before heading to the polls. We also had a lot of people come out to the polls, so that was good.”
Two incumbents lost their respective county seats as a result of the election. Grenada County Democratic Sheriff Rolando “Ro” Fair was defeated by Republican challenger and veteran law enforcement officer Garrett Hartley, while Democrat Robbie Wilson lost in the Prosecuting Attorney race to Republican challenger and local attorney Adam Kirk.
Hartley received 4,298 votes or 53.51 percent to claim the Sheriff’s position. Fair received 3,731 or 46.45 percent of the votes, while there were three Write-In ballots for .04 percent. Kirk defeated Wilson 4,179 or 52.82 percent to 3,722 or 47.04 percent to take over as County Prosecutor. There were 11 Write-In ballots for .14 percent.
Independent candidate Candace L. Williamson, who is the appointee for Justice Court Judge Dist. 1, was defeated by Democratic challenger Greg Conley 1,358 or 36.29 percent to 1,088 or 29.08 percent. Republican Bart Haltom received 406 votes for 10.85 percent and Independent James P. “Jimmy” Vance claimed 889 votes or 23.76 percent.
Incumbent Circuit Clerk Michele Redditt-Garcia, who ran on the Democratic ticket, kept her seat by defeating Republican challenger Tange James 4,464 or 55.88 percent to 3,524 or 44.12 percent. Democrat Douglas “Little Bobby” Yates will remain Coroner after garnering 4,087 total votes for 51.24 percent over Republican challenger Heather Rozier, who received 3,887 votes or 48.73 percent.
Longtime Tax Assessor/Collector, Democrat David Melton, defeated Independent challenger Jan Gray Walton by more than 2,000 votes – 4,942 to 2,915. He received 62.76 percent of the votes compared to Walton’s 37.02 percent. There were 18 Write-In ballots cast for .23 percent.
Independent challenger Garrett Pollan lost to Republican Steve Howell by only 211 votes – 2,088 to 1,877 – as the incumbent reclaimed the Constable Dist. 2 seat. Howell received 52.33 percent of the votes compared to Pollan’s 47.04 percent. There were 25 Write-In ballots cast for .63 percent.
A Runoff Election will be held from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Nov. 28, to decide the winner in District 4 of the Grenada School District Board of Trustees race. Incumbent Marjorie O. Hughes will face challenger Phil Turner, who received 803 votes (48.08 percent) compared to her 529 (31.63 percent). Challenger Thelma Louise Hubbard split the race after receiving 336 votes or 20.12 percent. Two Write-In ballots for .12 percent were cast. Residents that cast their votes at the Taylor Hall and Geeslin Corner (Friendship Baptist Church) precincts are the only ones eligible to vote in the Runoff. Absentee ballots voting is currently under way.
Besides all five of the Board of Supervisors seats, the only other unopposed county races were Chancery Clerk where democratic incumbent Johnny Hayward received 7,086 votes or 98.88 percent with 80 Write-Ins for 1.12 percent; Justice Court Judge Dist. 2 where Republican incumbent Vincent Marascalco II received 3,582 votes or 97.68 percent with 85 Write-Ins for 2.32 percent and Constable Dist. 1 where Democrat incumbent Alex Farmer received 3,284 total votes for 99.18 percent with 27 Write-Ins for .82 percent.
Board of Supervisors incumbents Michael Lott (Dist. 1), Chad Bridges (Dist. 2), Darrell Keith Robinson (Dist. 4) and Chad P. Gray (Dist. 5) all ran unopposed in the August Primary Election and November General Election. They received 1,722 votes (96.42 percent), 1,168 votes (98.07 percent), 1,585 votes (99.75 percent) and 1,274 (98.76), respectively. There were 64 Write-In ballots cast in Dist. 1, Dist. 2 had 23, there were four in Dist. 4 and 16 in Dist. 5.
Supervisor Jeff Johnson received 1,225 votes or 98.55 percent to take over Dist. 3 after defeating incumbent Columbus Hankins in the Primary Election. There were 18 Write-In ballots cast for 1.45 percent.
Grenada County voters favored Democratic challenger Brandon Presley for Governor over Republican incumbent Tate Reeves, who won the statewide race. Presley received 4,241 or 52.94 percent to Reeves’ 3,649 or 45.55 percent.
Other statewide results, along with the Grenada County results, can be viewed in the attached document.
