A judge has cleared the way for a special do-over election for an East Tallahatchie school board seat.
In a Sept. 25 order issued in the First Judicial District of Tallahatchie County Circuit Court, special Judge Jeff Weill Sr. of Hinds County directed Gov. Tate Reeves to set the special election for Education District 7 on Jan. 9, 2024.
“The court finds that the parties, through counsel, have advised the court that there is no objection to setting the special election” for Jan. 9, noted Weill’s order.
James “Honey” Johnson and Santrail Hunt-Kuykendall, both of Charleston, will be competing in the election, as they did in a Nov. 8, 2022, election whose results were thrown out by Weill over multiple irregularities.
Johnson, who finished last among a three-person field that also included Tawanda S. Shannon, filed an election challenge Nov. 28, a day before the scheduled Nov. 29 runoff pitting top vote-getter Shannon against Hunt-Kuykendall. In the runoff, Hunt-Kuykendall enjoyed a narrow victory and was sworn in Jan. 6 as the ED7 trustee.
Shannon has since withdrawn as a candidate in ED7.
In a Feb. 27 order concerning Johnson's election challenge, Weill ruled that numerous issues made “the will of the voters in the [Nov. 8] election ... impossible to discern.” While his February order invalidated the outcome of the Nov. 8 election, rendering the runoff results moot, Weill ruled that Hunt-Kuykendall would continue to serve on the school board representing ED7 until after the special election.
The upcoming special election will be held under a new redistricting plan that the East Tallahatchie school board adopted in recent months.
In his recent order, Weill stipulated that “the circuit clerk of Tallahatchie County ... and the East Tallahatchie School Board shall cooperate to ensure that the special election goes forth as herein ordered.”
