Three local races go to runoffs
In every election, there are winners and losers, but perhaps the biggest losers from the 2023 primaries were the voters of Jones County.
Only 14,320 registered voters bothered to show up on election day. That’s less than one-third of those registered.
“It was a sad, sad turnout,” said Concetta Brooks, Jones County’s circuit clerk. “It’s sad that these candidates worked as hard as they did … This is probably the lowest turnout in a county-wide election that I have seen.”
There were some winners, however, one of whom entered the courtroom early and sat in the jury box alone, taking it all in. After trailing early, Larry Dykes pulled off a come-from-behind victory to win re-election as the Beat 2 Supervisor. Dykes is unopposed in the general election this November.
“It was a good, clean race and I am honored to be able to continue to serve all of the people,” Dykes said. “I will spend every penny like it was coming out of my own pocket.”
Larry Dykes and Johnny Burnett discuss results.
One hotly contested race that is still up for grabs is the District 88 House seat. At press time, Charles Blackwell led Chris Hodge by just 85 votes out of 6,221 ballots cast. That slim margin could change once 52 absentee votes and 60 affidavit ballots are counted before next Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Three races now head to a runoff on Aug. 29: Beat 1 supervisor, Beat 4 supervisor and the circuit clerk’s office. None of the candidates in those contests received more than 50 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Johnny Burnett will face George Walters in the runoff. They were the top vote getters for Beat 1 supervisor and finished fewer than 100 votes apart.
Political newcomer Joey Bradshaw came close to winning the Beat 4 race over incumbent David Scruggs. Bradshaw outgained Scruggs by almost 400 votes, but came up 3 percentage points of the necessary 50 percent plus one to win outright.
“It has been a learning experience, but I am well pleased tonight,” Bradshaw said. “I am thankful for all of the voters that came out to support me tonight, and if elected, it will be an honor to serve them.”
In the race for circuit clerk, Greg “Red” Dickerson and Kim Knight will face off on Aug. 29. The two finished within 1 percentage point of each other, but neither garnered 50 percent of the vote.
“I was pleased with tonight, but we still have more work to do,” Knight said.
Dickerson, running for office for the first time, said, “I am happy that I didn’t get embarrassed tonight.”
Macon Davis ran away with a win over Michael Reaves in the Republican primary for sheriff and will face independents Joe Berlin, Alex Hodge and Kenny Rogers in the general election.
Republican Robin Robinson will become the next state senator in District 42, as she defeated Don Hartness by less than 10 percent of the vote. Robinson will replace Ellisville native Chris McDaniel.
Wayne McLemore secured the Republican nomination for District 1 Constable and will now face independent James Stiglet in the general election. Danny Gibson secured the GOP nomination for District 2 Constable and will now face independent Larry Strickland on Nov. 7.
Republican David Livingston kept the District 3 Constable position by winning the Republican nomination with over 70 percent of the vote over challenger Joey Davis.
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