With the qualifying deadline for many of the 2019 political races less than a month away the field of candidates hoping to occupy seats for Sunflower County offices is steadily widening. January 2, 2019 marked the official start of the qualification period and candidates have until March 1 to qualify. As of Wednesday, the number of people who have already met the requirements were as listed below.
All of the candidates named so far 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.
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; Keith Spealman, 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; Don Brown, Annette Washington Fields
For Constable Northern District
Michael B. Myers, Ruleville; Edward Dwight Lucas
In addition to the above-mentioned positions, other seats up for grabs in Sunflower County include: Supervisor—District 4 and Constable—Southern District, but based on information received on Wednesday morning from the circuit clerk’s office, no one has qualified for either position.
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.
Additionally, 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 deadline for county positions is March 1.
