Election results in a runoff for state Supreme Court remain too close to call as votes continue to be counted.

 

Meridian and Lauderdale County voters were joined by others across District 1 — made up of 22 counties — in voting in Tuesday’s runoff election after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 5 general election.

 

On the ballot, incumbent Justice Jim Kitchens is running for a third term on the bench against state Sen. Jenifer Branning, an attorney from Philadelphia. The winner will serve an eight-year term.

 

Kitchens, a native of Copiah County, has been practicing law for more than 40 years. He previously served as district attorney representing Copiah, Lincoln, Park and Walthall counties for nine years beginning in 1971 before entering private practice. He was first elected to the state Supreme Court in 2008.

 

Branning has served in the state Senate since 2016 representing District 18, which includes parts of Neshoba, Leake and Winston counties. She serves in the Senate as chair of the Highways and Transportation committee and vice chair of the Government Structure committee.

 

Lauderdale County voters overwhelmingly chose Branning for the seat with 6,229, or 75.3% of the votes cast in Tuesday’s runoff, according to unofficial results from the Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk’s office. Kitchens received 2,025 votes or 24.5%.

 

Across the district, however, results show a much closer race. According to the Associated Press, Branning maintains a lead of just 1,216 votes, or roughly 1%, of approximately 128,000 votes cast, as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. Approximately 98% of votes have been counted.

 

Mississippi allows for several days following an election for mail in absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to reach circuit clerks’ offices to be counted. Similarly, voters who vote via affidavit ballot due to not having proper identification have an opportunity to provide the appropriate documents to their local circuit clerk’s office to have their vote count. The deadline for both absentee and voter ID affidavit ballots is 5 p.m. Dec. 5.

 

The difference between the two candidates is small enough that the race could be decided by affidavit and absentee ballots, representatives from the Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections in the state, told Mississippi Today on Wednesday. If so, it could be next week before a decision is reached.

 

In the Nov. 5 election, Branning won Lauderdale County with 59.09% of the vote compared to Kitchens’ 20.12%. She also led in district-wide results about 6.2 percentage points above Kitchens.

 

Throughout the campaign season, Branning billed herself as a conservative alternative to Kitchens, who is considered to be one of the courts more centrist justices. Although judicial races are nonpartisan in Mississippi, meaning candidates do not run on a political party platform, Branning’s campaign drew the support of many Republicans while many Democrats supported Kitchens.