Runoff Elections Tuesday in Mississippi

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff writer
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Lafayette County voters are being asked to head to the polls Tuesday for the Democratic runoff between two Mississippians vying for a U.S. Senate seat.

Mississippi State Rep. David Baria is running against Howard Sherman of Meridian for the Democratic nomination.
The winner will face the Reform Party’s Shawn O’Hara of Hattiesburg and the Libertarian candidate, Danny Bedwell of Columbus.
All 18 precincts in Lafayette County will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
People who didn’t vote in the primary can vote in Tuesday’s runoff; however, if a person voted in the Republican primary, he or she cannot vote in the Democratic runoff, and vice-versa. There is no Republican runoff in Lafayette County.
Voters will be required to show a photo ID. If the voter doesn’t have an acceptable form of photo ID, he or she will be allowed to vote by affidavit ballot. The voter will then have five business days to show an acceptable form of photo ID or apply for a Mississippi voter ID card at the Lafayette County Circuit Court.
According to Baria’s website, as a state representative, he has led the fight to fully fund Mississippi’s public schools; make corporations pay their fair share of taxes; develop a comprehensive infrastructure plan; and improve access to healthcare.
Sherman says his priorities are generating more jobs, improving Mississippi schools, supporting small towns and rural communities, advocating for the state’s fair share of funding and continuing to work with Mississippi children “so no child is abandoned by the systems designed to protect them,” according to his website.
Republican voters living in the U.S. House Third District—the central part of the state—will choose between prosecutor Michael Guest and fundraiser Whit Hughes Tuesday, while Democrats are nominating state Rep. Michael Ted Evans. Also running in November is Reform Party member Matthew Holland.
All would like to replace incumbent Republican Gregg Harper, who’s retiring after 10 years in Congress.
Voters in south Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District broadly supported incumbent U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo over challenger Brian Rose. A Marine Corps veteran and member of the National Guard, Palazzo touts his support for the military and for tax cuts. 
Palazzo will face Democratic State Rep. Jeramey Anderson of Moss Point and Reform Party member LaJena Sheets of Hattiesburg in November.
Read here for more information on the candidates.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.