Union County MS 2018 midterm election results

Fifty-four percent of Union County’s 15,542 registered voters turned out for yesterday’s general election, an unusually high number for a “mid-term” election.

A hotly contested race for an open U.S. Senate seat, and a challenge to an incumbent District Three circuit judge appeared to be the races that drew the strongest interest from Union County voters. To see full (but unofficial) results of county-wide races, see link at end of article.

U.S. Senate Special Election

The non-partisan race to fill the last two years of Senator Thad Cochran’s six-year term drew 7,769 votes in Union County. When Cochran resigned in April due to poor health, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant appointed Cindy Hyde-Smith, formerly the Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, as Cochran’s temporary replacement. Unofficial Union County returns showed Hyde-Smith with 4,358 votes, (57%). State Senator Chris McDaniel of Jones County got 1,950 Union County votes (24.5%), and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy received 1,393 (17.6%) of Union County’s vote for the open Senate seat.

Statewide, with 94 percent of the votes unofficially counted, Hyde-Smith led the field with 358,679 votes (41.5%). Espy got 350,799 (40.6%) and McDaniel ran third with 141,567 (16.4%). Remaining statewide votes may change the vote percentages slightly, but are not considered likely to change the first and second place positions in that Senate race.

Hyde-Smith will face Espy in a special run-off election on Nov. 27. That race drew a considerably amount of out-of-state campaign money, and the run-off is likely to receive significant national interest as well.

Other races of special interest

Incumbent Circuit Judge Kelly Luther was challenged by Marshall County attorney Shirley C. Byers. Luther was re-elected district wide and won 67 percent of the Union County vote.

Not surprisingly, two incumbent Republican congressmen were easily re-elected.

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, won re-election with 59% of the vote statewide and received 82% of the Union. County vote. Wicker defeated Democrat David Baria, who received 39 percent of the statewide vote and 16 percent in Union County
Trent Kelly, the incumbent U.S. Representative for Mississippi’s First Congressional District, was re-elected district wide to his second two-year term and received 84% of the Union County votes in that race. Kelly had a weak challenge from Democrat Randy Mack Wadkins, an Ole Miss chemistry professor. Wadkins got 15.5 percent of the Union County vote.

The race for Union County School Board, Position Three, was won by Mike Browning with 674 votes (65.78%). Running second in that school board race was M. Beasley Graham with 234 votes (22.23%), and Robert Sheppard got 122 votes (11.8%).

Union County’s oldest know voter: http://nanewsweb.com/103-year-old-voter-macie-cast-ballot/