Voters in three Jones County precincts will return to the polls for a runoff in a couple of weeks.
Jones County residents who vote in the Bruce, Centerville, or Hebron precincts live in the Third Congressional District. Seven Republicans, including Jones County native David Landrum, were battling for the right to face the Democratic choice in the general election in November. However, none of those seven received a majority of the vote, so two will be on a runoff ballot April 1.
Former state Sen. Charlie Ross, also a recent candidate for lieutenant governor, will face Pearl attorney Gregg Harper in the runoff election. The winner will earn the right to challenge Democratic winner Joel L. Gill of Pickens.
In Bruce, 137 people turned out of the election. On the Republican side, Ross got the largest number of votes with 20, or 41.67 percent. David Landrum got 11 votes, or 22.92 percent. On the Democratic side, Randall Eads got 45 votes, or 56.25 percent and Gill got 35 votes, or 43.75 percent.
Centerville’s Republicans voted heavily for Landrum, who received 20 votes, or 71.43 percent. Ross got five votes, or 17.86 percent. Eads got 27 of the Democratic votes, or 61.36 percent. Gill received 17 votes, or 38.64 percent. Eighty people voted in both parties at Centerville.
Hebron had 353 people turn out, and most of those were on the Democratic side. Gill got 136 votes, or 51.71 percent, and Eads received 127 votes, or 48.29 percent. Ross got 28 of the Republican votes, or 48.28 percent, while Landrum received 21 votes, or 36.21 percent.
Harper, the man who faces a runoff election against Ross, only received a total of 10 votes in Jones County. Harper and Ross each hope to replace Chip Pickering for the position.
“I am very humbled, very proud to be leading the pack right now,” Ross told a crowd of his supporters. “Mississippi needs a congressman who has a proven track record of getting things done.”
Ross said he’s received several endorsements from business groups because he has demonstrated he’s pro-business by writing legislation that limited the amount of money people could sue for in civil lawsuits.
“I believe strongly in jobs and in government’s role to make sure we have adequate roads and infrastructure in Mississippi,” Ross said.
Harper campaigned on conservative Republican issues, as well promising to be an advocate for families with special needs children. Harper’s son, 18-year-old Livingston, has Fragile X syndrome, which causes developmental delays.
District-wide results gave Ross 22,254 votes, or 33 percent, while Harper got 18,892 votes, or 28 percent. Landrum finished in third place with 17,082 votes, or 26 percent, while John Rounsaville got 6,949 votes, or 10 percent. Gregory Hatcher got 748 votes, or one percent, and James Broadwater got 424 votes. Bill Marcy received 344 votes district-wide.
For U. S. Senate, Erik Fleming received the nod to face Republican incumbent Thad Cochran in November. Fleming got 228,115 votes, or 66 percent, statewide, compared to Shawn O’Hara’s 119,506 votes, or 34 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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