The qualifying window opens Jan. 2 for candidates seeking the offices of mayor or alderman in Charleston, Glendora, Sumner, Tutwiler, Webb or in most of the nearly 300 other municipalities around the state.
Political hopefuls may file petitions and/or qualifying statements of intent and pay qualifying fees for municipal offices beginning Thursday, Jan. 2.
The qualifying deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31.
Anyone interested in seeking the municipal positions has roughly one month to file qualifying papers and pay any required fees at their respective municipal clerk’s office.
Primary election day for municipal offices is Tuesday, April 1. A primary runoff, if needed, would be April 22. The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3.
Winners of the general election will be sworn in to serve a four-year term that begins on July 1.
To seek municipal office as a party candidate — Democrat or Republican — a person must submit a “Qualifying Statement of Intent for a Candidate for Party Nomination” and pay a filing fee of $10 at the municipal clerk’s office.
Independent candidates — those who run without party affiliation — do not pay a filing fee, but they must file a “Qualifying Statement of Intent for an Independent Candidate” and submit a petition form bearing the signatures of a prescribed number of registered voters. That number varies based on the office sought and population of the municipality.
In Charleston, Tutwiler and any other municipalities in Mississippi having a population of 1,000 residents or more, independent candidates for the office of mayor must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 50 qualified electors of the city or town.
Independent candidates for mayor of Glendora, Sumner and Webb, or any other municipality with a population of less than 1,000, must present a petition with the signatures of at least 15 registered voters of the town.
Independent candidates for alderman of any municipal board in Tallahatchie County must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 15 registered voters living within their respective ward. In the case of Glendora and Sumner, those 15 registered voters may live anywhere in the village or town, since both municipalities elect aldermen on an at-large basis.
Qualifying statements and properly formatted candidate petition forms are available at municipal clerk offices.
In addition, the documents are available to download from the website of the Mississippi secretary of state.
To reference, download or print any of the documents, as well as publications such as the “2025 Elections Calendar,” visit the website at https://www.sos.ms.gov/Elections-Voting.
Qualifying statements of intent and petition forms are available at https://www.sos.ms.gov/index.php/elections-voting/candidate-qualifying-forms. Scroll down to “Municipal Offices.”
For more information about qualifying for municipal posts, contact the clerk offices at:
• Charleston City Hall, 662-647-5841
• Glendora Town Hall, 662-757-0032
• Sumner Town Hall, 662-375-8773
• Tutwiler City Hall, 662-345-8321
• Webb Town Hall, 662-375-8164
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Candidates for municipal office must meet the following criteria, according to the secretary of state’s office:
• Must be a qualified elector of the state of Mississippi and of the municipality/ward of the office for which the candidate seeks election
• Must be a resident of the municipality that he/she seeks to represent for two years immediately preceding the day of the election (in Charleston and Tutwiler); however, this requirement does not apply to municipalities with less than 1,000 residents (as in Glendora, Sumner and Webb)
• Must never have been convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, being defined as a crime punishable by a minimum of one year confinement in the state penitentiary, unless pardoned for the offense
• Must never have been convicted of a felony in a court of this state or, of a felony in a federal court, or of a crime in the court of another state which is a felony under the laws of this state, on or after Dec. 8, 1992; excluding, however, a conviction of manslaughter or a violation of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code or any violation of the tax laws of this state, unless the offense also involved the misuse or abuse of an office or money coming into a candidate’s hands by virtue of an office
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In addition to the 2025 municipal elections, some voters in Tallahatchie County will be choosing officeholders for the following two school board positions in the fall:
» Education District 5, a seat on the West Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees presently held by Cora Hooper, who serves as secretary of the board
» Education District 10, a slot on the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees occupied by Bryant Watson, who is president of the board
The qualifying period for these school board seats begins on Aug. 6, and the qualifying deadline is Sept. 5.
School board races will not appear on ballots until the Nov. 4 general election.
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To learn more about the 2025 elections, visit the secretary of state’s website at https://www.sos.ms.gov/Elections-Voting, call the secretary of state’s toll-free statewide hotline at 800-829-6786 or drop an email to electionsanswers@sos.ms.gov.
