Think of it as the Mississippi Primaries: The Sequel. On Tuesday, voters in the Magnolia State will head back to the polls to resolve a handful of state legislative contests from the Aug. 8 primaries in which no candidate reached the vote majority needed to advance to the November general election.
Six runoff primaries, three apiece for Republicans and Democrats, will be held in House districts scattered throughout the state, stretching from the northern border with Tennessee to the southern tip of the Gulf Coast.
In District 66, located in heavily Democratic Hinds County and including parts of Southwest Jackson, two candidates are vying to replace outgoing Rep. De’Keither Stamps, who is running for the state Public Service Commission. Fabian Nelson, owner of a local real estate firm, faces Roshunda Harris-Allen, an alderwoman for the city of Byrum and a professor at Tougaloo College’s School of Education. Nelson, who would become the state’s first openly gay lawmaker if elected, led Harris-Allen in the Aug. 8 primary, 43% to 31%.
