The 2019 political season is afoot, and the field of candidates hoping to occupy seats for Sunflower County offices is widening.
Jan. 2 marked the official start of the qualification period and as of Tuesday, four people had already qualified for the Sunflower County Sheriff's position, and several other incumbents are also now facing opponents, including those in the District 1 and District 2 Supervisor’s seat.
The deadline to qualify is a month away.
All of the listed candidates are running as Democrats except where noted. It is typically a formality, but the county Democratic Committee must verify the applications of those candidates before they are deemed qualified.
The slate of Sunflower County hopefuls who have already filed qualifying papers are:
For Sheriff
James Haywood, Sunflower; Rogers Simpson, Indianola; Tommy C. Boykin, Ruleville and Independent candidate Hollis Myrick, Indianola
For Chancery Clerk
Gloria Sample McIntosh, Indianola
For Circuit Clerk
Carolyn P. Hamilton, Indianola
For Tax Assessor-Collector
Cynthia Woods Chandler, Indianola
For Coroner
Heather Burton, Indianola
For County Attorney
J. Peirce Beach, Sunflower; Gwendolyn D. Jimison, Inverness
For Supervisor, Dist 1
Glenn Donald, Indianola; James T. Sample, Inverness,
For Supervisor, Dist. 2
Riley Rice, Indianola; Dana Myrick, Indianola
For Supervisor, District 3
Joseph Wilson Sr. Indianola; Ben Gaston, Indianola,
For Supervisor, District 5
Gloria Dickerson, Drew
For Justice Court, Southern District
Gwendolyn W. Pernell, Indianola
For Justice Court, Northern District
Joshua B. Austin; Lisa Bell
For Constable Northern District
Michael B. Myers, Ruleville
Persons desiring to throw their hat into the political arena must do so by the March 1 deadline. Guidelines and fee requirements for candidates have been set by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office and specific filing information is available on the Secretary of State’s website or at the Sunflower County Circuit Clerk’s office.
Two seats, one for District 3 and one for District 4 will be available on the SCCSD board of trustees. Debra Johnson is the incumbent for the District 3 seat and Torrey Bell of Sunflower, who was called upon to finish out the term of Ruleville resident Daisy Morgan after her passing, is currently in the District 4 seat.
The qualifying process for persons seeking a position on the county’s school board does not start until August 7 and the candidate will have until 5 p.m. on Friday, September 6 to file their qualifying statement of intent with the Circuit Clerk’s office along with a petition signed by at least fifty registered voters of the district in which they are contending.
Candidates planning to run as independents must also submit a petition with the designated amount of verifiable signatures and all candidates must complete and submit campaign finance forms.
In addition to the above-mentioned positions, other seats up for grabs in Sunflower County include: Supervisor—District 4 and Constable—Southern District.
