Voters will head to the polls Tuesday for the primary election of Mississippi’s U.S. Senate and Congressional seats.
In Carroll and Montgomery counties, voters will decide who will run on the Republican and Democratic tickets for Senate and for the Second Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives.
According to Circuit Court Clerk Lanelle Martin, polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and voters must have a photo ID to cast a ballot. Voters will vote at their regular county polling places, Martin said.
You have to vote either Republican or Democrat, not both,” Martin said.
Martin said in the Republican race, since there are only two candidates vying for the seat, there will not be a runoff election. However, Martin said with six candidates running in the Democratic primary for Senate, there will very likely be a runoff election which will be held on June 26.
Martin said the deadline for absentee voting is noon on Saturday, June 2. The county circuit court offices will be open until that time.
On the Republican ticket, incumbent Roger Wicker will take on Richard Warren Boyanton, a Vietnam veteran and businessman from Bay St. Louis. Wicker was appointed to the Senate Seat in 2007, following the resignation of Senator Trent Lott. Wicker was serving in the House of Representatives when he was appointed to the seat. Wicker was re-elected to the seat in 2012.
On the Democratic ticket, six candidates are vying for the ticket -- David Baria, a lawyer from Bay St. Louis and currently a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives; Jensen Bohren of Benton, who calls himself a “Berniecrat” after former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders; Jerone Garland of Kosciusko, a former chemist in the petroleum and pharmaceutical fields who returned to Mississippi and now serves as a substitute teacher and bus driver; Victor Maurice, Jr., a Gulfport Marine veteran and construction worker; Omeria Scott, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives since 1993; and Howard Sherman, a venture capitalist from Meridian and husband to actress Sela Ward.
Incumbent Congressman Bennie Thompson is running unopposed.
