Panola gives Trump slim margin of victory

By John Howell
Panola County voters gave Republican Donald Trump a 71-vote lead in Tuesday’s election that brought almost 63 percent of the county’s registered voters to the polls.
Unofficial totals released by the office of Panola County Circuit Clerk Melissa Meek-Phelps include absentee ballots but not affidavit ballots.
Trump polled 7,371 votes over Democrat Hillory Clinton’s 7,300 votes in Tuesday’s balloting. Libertarian Gary Johnson polled 95 votes. The remaining four candidates split 134 votes among them.
Leigh Taylor Patton Unruh won the contested seat for South Panola School Trustee, outpolling Mattie B. Spears 1,084 to 769 in the unofficial tally.
Democrat Congressman Bennie Thompson bested three challengers in Panola with 7,830 votes. Republican John Bouie II received 5,910. Reform Party candidate Johnny McLeod received 357; independent Troy Ray 316.
In the race for Supreme Court Justice from the Northern District, Position 1, Panola voters favored Bobby Chamberlin with 6,003 votes, followed by John Brady with 3,238; Jim Kitchens with 1,655 and Steve Crampton with 1,508.
In the contested race for Court of Appeals, District 2, Position 2, Latrice Westbrooks received 2,874 votes from Panola voters; Ceola James 1,598.
Jimmy Maxwell ran unopposed for Supreme Court Justice, District 3, Position 2 as did Jim Greenlee for District 1, Position 1.
Also unopposed were candidates for the Panola County Election Commission: Dorothy Kerney-Wilbourn in District 1; Julius Harris in District 2, Wayne Belk in District 3, Wanda Lawrence Carmichael in District 4 and Kaye Smythe in District 5.