Election season isn’t quite over in Mississippi. Voters in some parts of the state are being asked to return to the ballot boxes on Tuesday, Nov. 26, to participate in judicial runoffs.
Here’s what to know about the upcoming judicial runoffs.
What races are heading to a runoff?
In the central part of the state, a five-candidate field for a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court saw none of the candidates surpass the 50% mark during the general election on Nov. 5. Justice Jim Kitchens secured 35.6% of the votes (112,935) as his challenger, GOP state Sen. Jenifer Branning, led the group with 41.8% (132,420).
Kitchens, 81, has run a campaign based on his track record through two terms on the Supreme Court. Other experience touted by the incumbent includes 40 years of private practice and nine years as a district attorney in Copiah, Lincoln, Pike, and Walthall counties.
“My platform is honesty, integrity, [and] dependability. I intend to continue doing just as I’ve been doing for almost 16 years on the Supreme Court,” Kitchens said before the general election. “I work hard. Nobody has ever said that I’m not doing a good job. Nobody has said that I’m not qualified. My experience, I know, is one of my greatest assets.”
Branning, 45, has used interviews, stump speeches, and commercials to attack Kitchens’ age while touting herself as a “constitutional conservative,” raising questions about the nonpartisan status candidates are supposed to carry. However, she promises to be an impartial justice if elected.
“People are getting on board with the concept of wanting a new generation of constitutional conservative leadership on the court,” Branning opined. “Certainly, we tell people we feel like Mississippians need justices that are fair and impartial and will simply call balls and strikes on the bench. And that’s what I’m running to do.”
In a Court of Appeals race powered by the Gulf Coast, razor-thin margins lifted Amy St. Pe’ and Jennifer Schloegel to a runoff. St. Pe led the three-candidate field, which also included Ian Baker, with 35.2% of votes (84,769) while Schloegel garnered 33.1%
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