There were no ballot box surprises in Panola County last Tuesday for the party primaries held for the 2nd Congressional District representative.

On the Democratic side, Panola citizens cast 1,341 votes, with all but 52 going to incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson. His opponent, Jerry Kerner was beaten statewide by a wide margin and there will be no runoff needed.

Panola County Republican voters cast 757 ballots. Brian Flowers (295) and Ronald Eller (261) received the bulk of the votes and will have a runoff on Tuesday, June 27.

Voter turnout was expected to be low across the county because there were no local, and the Congressional seat up for election is held by the politically entrenched and widely popular in the district incumbent.

The Longtown Fire Station precinct had the best participation percentage with 17.3 percent of the registered voters turning out. Next best was Crowder precinct with 15.8 percent followed by Crenshaw at 14.3 percent.

The least two active precincts for the primaries were at the Cliff Finch Building (6.8 percent) and Batesville Courthouse (7.2 percent).