Six legislative races headed to runoffs later this month after Mississippi primaries

While most of Tuesday’s primary elections ended without a runoff, six races for seats in the Legislature, all in the House, saw no candidate receive a majority of votes.

The six runoffs will take place Aug. 29, with three coming from each political party.

District Two

In District Two, which is within Alcorn County, incumbent Republican Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth, fell about 2% short of the 50% needed to advance to the general election. Bain, who has served in the House since 2012, will face Bradford Mattox in the runoff. Mattox got about 35% of the vote Tuesday, compared to 48% for Bain. Bain chairs the Judiciary B Committee and was a prominent figure in passing the state’s new ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth. The winner of the runoff will go on to represent the district for the next four years, as they will face no Democratic opposition in the general election.

District 66

In District 66, which is in Hinds County and includes parts of Salem, Terry and a portion of Southwest Jackson, there will be a Democratic runoff to replace Rep. De’Keither Stamps, D-Jackson, who is running for the public service commission. Fabian Nelson, a real estate broker who is seeking to become the first openly LGBTQ state lawmaker, received about 42% of the vote Tuesday, while his runoff opponent Roshunda Harris-Aleen received about 32%. Harris-Allen is a professor at Tougaloo College and alderman at large in the city of Byram. The winner of the runoff will go on to represent the district for the next four years, as they will face no Republican opposition in the general election.

District 69

In District 69, which is in Hinds County and includes much of West Jackson, two candidates emerged to a runoff from the four-candidate race to replace longtime Rep. Alyce Clarke, D-Jackson, who announced her retirement earlier this year. Clarke was the first Black woman elected to the Legislature. Tamarra Butler Washington, who currently works for the Mississippi Department of Health, received more than 48% of the vote, falling short of the 50% needed. Butler-Washington’s runoff opponent will be Patty Patterson, an entrepreneur who received about 30% of the vote Tuesday. The winner of the runoff will go on to represent the district for the next four years, as they will face no Republican opposition in the general election.

District 72

In District 72, which includes parts of Hinds and Madison Counties, two candidates emerged from another four-candidate race, this one to fill a seat left vacant when former Rep. Debra Gibbs, D-Jackson, stepped down to become a judge. Her son, Justis Gibbs, an attorney and member of the Mississippi Democratic Party executive committee, received about 41% of the vote Tuesday. He will face off against community organizer Rukia Lumumba, who received about 31%, in the runoff later this month. The winner of the runoff will go on to represent the district for the next four years, as they will face no Republican opposition in the general election.

District 105

In District 105, which includes parts of Perry County, incumbent Republican Rep. Dale Goodin, R-Richton, who is seeking his second term in the House, came within just a few percentage points of defeat Tuesday, as challenger Elliot Burch received more than 46% of the vote, compared to about 30% for Goodin. Goodin is a retired vocational-technical director, and Burch is an attorney. The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Matthew Daves in the general election. Daves ran unopposed on Tuesday.

District 115

In District 115, which includes Biloxi and D’Iberville, where five-term Rep. Randall Patterson, R-Biloxi, is not seeking reelection, a three-candidate race was whittled down to two Tuesday. Zachary Grady, a former D’Iberville police officer who held various positions over his decade at the department, received about 47% of the vote Tuesday. Felix Gines, a member of the Biloxi City Council who became a Republican in December to fanfare from the state party, received about 38% of the vote. The winner of the runoff will go on to represent the district for the next four years, as they will face no Democratic opposition in the general election. If elected Gines would be the second Black Republican to be elected to the House this month. No Black Republicans have served in the Legislature since 1894.

The runoff election will be held on Aug. 29, with the general election coming Nov. 7.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi primaries aren’t over yet, runoffs for state House to come