CLARKSDALE – Incumbent Mayor Bill Luckett and challenger Chuck Espy will meet again in a runoff election in two weeks.
In unofficial results announced Tuesday evening at City Hall, Luckett led with 1,418 votes and Espy followed with 1,327 in the Democratic primary. Official results in the mayor’s race will be announced on Wednesday morning by the city clerk.
Mayoral candidates who didn’t qualify for the runoff include Buster Moton, Doris Haynes-Miller and Ray T. Sykes.
Earlier Tuesday, campaigners made the cases for their candidates.
Jemeka Hall, a Clarksdale native, said she is pro-Espy. “He’s the greatest person that I could ever think of to be the mayor of Clarksdale, Miss.,” said Hall. “All I can say is he’s the best.”
Lorenzo Edwards, another city resident, also supported of Espy. He said Espy will provide better job opportunities for youth.
Jon Levingston said Luckett has worked hard to improve Clarksdale over the past four years.
“In the race for mayor of Clarksdale, it seems to me that of all the candidates in the field, Bill Luckett is the most well-educated and has vast experience in the fields of law, business and entertainment well beyond any of the other candidates,” Levingston said.
Espy lost to Luckett in the 2013 Democratic primary in a race to succeed his father, Henry Espy, who was the city’s first black mayor and served 28 years.
In the races for city commisioners, winners were Bo Plunk, Ward 1; Ken Murphey, Ward 2; run-off between Willie Turner, Jr. and Orlando Bell, Ward 3; and Edward Seals, Ward 4.