Some Charleston-area voters will be asked to go to the polls Tuesday, Jan. 9, for a special election for school board in Education District 7.
Ballots at the Charleston districts 1, 2 and 3 and Spring Hill precincts will bear the contest featuring James “Honey” Johnson, 70, and incumbent Santrail Hunt-Kuykendall, 38, both of Charleston. As usual, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
The court-ordered election is a do-over of a Nov. 8, 2022, election whose results were thrown out by a judge due to multiple irregularities.
The ED 7 race is for a position on the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees, and the election will be held under a redistricting plan that the school board adopted last fall.
Registered voters within the boundaries of ED 7 should have received a notification from the circuit clerk’s office, noted Tallahatchie County Circuit Clerk Daphane Neal. Anyone having a question about their eligibility to cast a ballot in the special election may call the circuit clerk’s office at 662-647-8758 for verification.
The circuit clerk’s office in Charleston will be open from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Jan. 6, to accommodate last-minute in-person absentee voting.
Tuesday's winner will serve out the remaining four years of the five-year ED 7 term that began in January 2023.
Johnson, who finished last among a three-person field that also included Tawanda S. Shannon, filed an election challenge Nov. 28, 2022, a day before a scheduled Nov. 29, 2022, runoff pitting top vote-getter Shannon against Hunt-Kuykendall. In the runoff, Hunt-Kuykendall enjoyed a narrow victory and was soon sworn in as the ED 7 trustee.
Johnson's challenge ultimately led to a court hearing and ruling that paved the way for the upcoming special election.
Shannon later withdrew as a candidate for the ED 7 seat.
