Creel elected mayor of Poplarville
Published 7:00 am Thursday, May 18, 2017
- Poll workers, city staff and a representative of the Poplarville Republican Executive Committee poured over the votes to get the most accurate count during Tuesday's mayoral election. Photo by Julia Arenstam
Rossie Creel has been officially voted the next mayor of Poplarville in a close race that came down to 11 deciding affidavit votes.
According to official vote counts, Creel won the runoff election with 254 votes, followed by Byron Wells with 243 votes. While four affidavit votes remained to be verified by press time Wednesday, Creel held an 11 vote lead.
Wednesday night, poll workers counted and recounted the paper ballots for several hours due to the close results, ultimately ending the night with 249 votes for Creel and 242 votes for Wells. The 11 affidavit votes were taken to the Pearl River County Circuit Clerk’s office Wednesday morning for verification and counting.
Two ballots were rejected because write-ins are not allowed in Mississippi, one of them was cast for Jesus.
According to the final count from the primary election held last month, Creel received 180 votes and Wells received 170 votes, pushing them into the runoff while Glenn Bolin was eliminated due to having the least votes at 104, City Clerk Jane O’Neal said during the Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday night.
The election to fill the five aldermen seats will be held June 6 at City Hall.
Creel’s name will still appear on the ballot in June as a formality in accordance with state law, O’Neal said.
The new board and mayor will take office July 1, O’Neal said.
Candidates for Aldermen are: Rochelle Holliday (R), Heather Holliday (R), Anne Gendusa Smith (R), incumbent Margaret Ann Smith (D), Tony Smith (R), Kevin L. Tillman, Sr. (D) and incumbent Shirley Wiltshire (D).
