Circuit judgeship tops local ballot

Neshoba countians will go to the polls next week to elected a circuit judge along with a President of the United States and a U.S. Senator, among others.

Judge Brian K. Burns, who was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bryant in December 2019 to fill the unexpired term of Judge Christopher Collins, faces attorney and County Prosecutor Caleb E. May for the Place 1 post.

The general election is set for Tuesday with polls opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m. The final day of in-person, absentee voting will be Saturday. The Circuit Clerk’s Office will be opened all day, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. 

See a sample ballot here.

The 8th Circuit is made up of Neshoba, Newton, Leake and Scott counties.

Judge Burns is a Neshoba County native. He attended East Central Community College and graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He received his law degree from the Mississippi College School of Law. Judge Burns began his legal career serving the Eighth Circuit as the Court’s Staff Attorney working for Judge Marcus D. Gordon and Judge Vernon R. Cotten. He served as an assistant district attorney in the 8th Circuit Court. He and his wife, Robyn, live in Union.

May has law offices in Philadelphia and Decatur and has been an attorney for two decades. At the start of his career, he also worked as an attorney under Judge Gordon and Judge Cotton. May has served as prosecuting attorney for Neshoba County since his election in 2015. He helped create and implement a Youth Drug Court in Neshoba County. 

May and his wife, Natalie, live in Philadelphia and have three daughters.

All of the Election Commissioner posts are on the ballot but are uncontested. Sherry Nance is running unopposed in District 1; Deaneen Whittle Savell, District 2; Harold Richardson, District 3; Heather Kennedy, District 4; and, Charlene Kirksey, District 5.

Jill Martin Byars is running unopposed for School Board District 5. She is currently the school board president.

National

President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Michael Pence are seeking re-election. They face the challenge of Democrats former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Sen. Kamala D. Harris.

There are seven other candidates for president listed on the ballot.

Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith faces the challenge of Democrat Michael Espy. Libertarian candidate Jimmy L. Edwards is also on the ballot.

Republican Michael Guest is seeking re-election as U.S. representative in Mississippi’s Third Congressional District. He is being challenged by Democrat Dorothy Dot Benford.

State

Judge Kenny Griffis of Ridgeland is seeking his first full-term as state Supreme Court Justice.

Judge Griffis was appointed as an associate justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court Place 1 on February 1, 2019. He previously served as chief judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and as a presiding judge.

 He is being challenged by Latrice Westbrooks of Lexington. Westbrooks was elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 2016. If elected, she would become the first black woman elected to the state Supreme Court.

Judge Leslie King is running unopposed for re-election as state Supreme Court justice in the Central District, Place 2. Judge King has served on the court since being appointed in 2011. He is the only member of the court who is black.

There are three proposed amendments to the Mississippi Constitution on the ballot. (See Sample Ballot, Page 6A.)

Initiatives 65 and 65A pertain to the legalization of Medical Marijuana.  The first would make the change by writing it into the Mississippi Constitution. The latter would change the Legislature write it into law.

Voters can vote in favor of one of the initiatives or vote against both.

Voters will decide how statewide elected officials are decided.

There is also a Flag Referendum on the ballot where Mississippians vote yes or no on the new design of the Mississippi flag.