Calhoun Countians will go to the polls next Tuesday, May 12 to elect their next United States Congressman in a special election.
A field of 13 candidates is seeking to succeed the late Republican U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee, who died of brain cancer in early February.
Absentee voting in the race will conclude this Saturday, May 9 when the circuit clerk’s office in Pittsboro will be open from 8 a.m. until noon. You may also cast an absentee ballot during regular business hours this week.
The winner of the special election will complete the remainder of the two year term which expires at the end of 2016.
There are no party designations in the special election, but all but one of the candidates, Walter Zinn of Pontotoc, are registered Republicans. Zinn is a Democrat.
The 13 candidates, in alphabetical order, are:
•Boyce Adams, of Columbus, president of a software business called TheBiz. He ran unsuccessfully for public service commissioner in 2011.
•Sam Adcock, of Columbus, who has worked for Airbus Helicopters and served seven years on the staff of former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott.
•Nancy Collins, of Tupelo, was elected state senator in 2011 and is founding president of Sanctuary Hospice House in Tupelo.
•Dr. Edward Holliday is a dentist in Tupelo and occassionally writes a column for the Tupelo Daily Journal.
•Dr. Starner Jones, of Pontotoc, is an emergency room physician in Memphis.
•Trent Kelly, of Tupelo, is district attorney for Lee, Pontotoc, Alcorn, Monroe, Itawamba, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties.
•Chip Mills, of Fulton, is Itawamba County prosecuting attorney. He is the son of Judge Mike Mills.
•Greg Pirkle is a native of New Albany who is currently the managing partner of the Tupelo office of the regional law firm, Phelps Dunbar LLP.
•Henry Ross, of Eupora, is an attorney, former mayor and former circuit judge who ran unsuccessfully for this 1st District seat in 2010 and 2012.
•Daniel Sparks, a native of Belmont, is an attorney in Oxford.
•Mike Tagert, of Starkville, currently serves as the northern district state transportation commissioner.
•Quentin Whitwell, of Oxford, is an attorney and businessman who previously served on the Jackson City Council. He is the son of Circuit Judge Bob Whitwell.
•Walter Howard Zinn, of Pontotoc, is an attorney who has worked as an adviser for former Jackson mayors Harvey Johnson Jr. and Chokwe Lumumba.