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Mississippi local trial court judicial elections, 2017
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Mississippi scheduled a special election for local judicial offices on November 7, 2017, to fill the vacancies created by a judicial retirement and the elevation of two judges to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 5, 2017, but candidates weren't officially certified for the ballot until after the close of the general qualifying period on September 8, 2017.[1]
The three incumbents previously appointed to the seats on a temporary basis all filed unopposed for their seats. Chancery Court Judge Rhea Hudson Sheldon filed for her 10th Chancery District seat, and Circuit Court Judges Chris Collins and Celeste Wilson filed in the Eighth Judicial District and the Seventeenth Judicial District, respectively.
The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors canceled the Seventeenth District race on October 2, 2017, and reappointed Wilson to the seat.[2] According to the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office, the other two races were also canceled due to lack of opposition and the incumbents will be reappointed to their seats by the governor before their current appointments expire.[3]
For more information about the 2017 appellate court elections in the state, click here.
Elections
General election
Chancery Court, District 10[4]
Circuit Court, District 8[4]
- Chris Collins (i)
Circuit Court, District 17[4]
- Celeste Wilson (i)
Additional elections on the ballot
The circuit court election in District 8 would have shared the ballot with a special election for District 8 district attorney.[4]
Election rules
Primary election
Mississippi does not hold primary elections for judicial candidates.[5]
General election
Qualified judicial candidates, including those running unopposed, appear on the general election ballot. There is no indication of party affiliation. When two or more candidates are competing for a seat, they are listed in alphabetical order.[5]
The winner of the general election is determined by majority vote. If no candidate receives a majority (over 50 percent) of the total vote, the top two candidates advance to a runoff election that takes place three weeks later.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mississippi judicial election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Local courts | Mississippi | Other local coverage |
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Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone conversation with the Mississippi secretary of state's office," August 24, 2017
- ↑ DeSoto Times-Tribune, "DeSoto Commissioners Cancel Special Election," October 2, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone conversation with the Mississippi secretary of state's office," November 7, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mississippi Secretary of State, "Mississippi Election Code," accessed May 1, 2014 (Page 617-618)
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Mississippi, Southern District of Mississippi
State courts:
Mississippi Supreme Court • Mississippi Court of Appeals • Mississippi circuit courts • Mississippi Chancery Court • Mississippi county courts • Mississippi justice courts • Mississippi youth courts • Mississippi Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Mississippi • Mississippi judicial elections • Judicial selection in Mississippi
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