Months of campaigning for the Circuit Court Fourth District, Position 3 will come to a close Tuesday as the two leading candidates meet in a runoff election.
Carol White-Richard and Takiyah Perkins have been busy mobilizing supporters for the run-off in their bid to replace retiring Circuit Court Judge Betty Sanders on the bench.
Both candidates said they’ve been reaching out to supporters and potential voters, urging them to turn up at the polls this Tuesday for the run-off election in which the circuit court judgeship will be the sole issue on the ballot.
The voting district for the judgeship spans portions of Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties, taking in most of southern Leflore County, including South Greenwood, Morgan City and Itta Bena as well as parts of Indianola, Moorhead and Inverness in Sunflower County and Hollandale in Washington County.
The two candidates will face off in Tuesday’s election after a hotly contested three-way race for the position during the Nov. 4 general election in which no candidate managed to claim the majority of votes cast.
White-Richard led the way during Nov. 4 with 43 percent of the vote and Perkins collected 34 percent.
The third candidate for the position, Leflore County Justice Court Judge James Littleton, came in third in the general election with 22 percent of the vote and will not be included on the ballot for the runoff.
Experience was a key theme for both candidates as they talked up their qualifications for the judgeship during interviews last week with the Commonwealth.
White-Richard, 43, a Greenville attorney and a public defender in Sunflower County, stressed her courtroom experience during the last 14 years as strong preparation to take on the responsibilities as a circuit court judge.
During that time, White-Richard said she’s worked as a law clerk, an assistant district attorney, a public defender and a civil litigator, giving her a wide-ranging view into the way the courts operate.
“I’ve seen everything in the circuit courtroom from different angles,” White-Richard said.
White-Richard also stressed her experiences outside of the courtroom, saying that her roles as a mother and as a wife have lent her additional perspective and life experience that will help her render judgements on the bench.
Though 11 years younger than White-Richard, Perkins, a Greenwood native who now works as an assistant district attorney in Greenville, said it’s the quality — and not the quantity — of her experience that makes her an ideal choice to serve as a judge.
“Even though my years may be younger, the substance of my years are more than the other candidate,” said Perkins, who served as a judicial clerk in Washington County before being hired as a prosecutor. “From the time that I graduated, I’ve been in the courtroom.”
Perkins also said her longstanding involvement and strong ties to the community demonstrate her commitment to serving the people of the Fourth Judicial District. Perkins is a Greenwood native and graduate of Greenwood High School.
Perkins’ ties to the community also include her close kinship with a pair of well-known Greenwood politicians. Her father is longtime state Rep. Willie Perkins and her mother, Sheriel Perkins, is a past mayor of Greenwood.
White-Richard said that campaigning in Leflore County as the relative outsider has at times been challenging, but said she’s received a warm reception from the voters in Greenwood she has been able to get out and meet in person.
Overall, about half the eligible voters for the judgeship live in Leflore County, with the other half split between Sunflower and Washington counties.
During the Nov. 4 election, White-Richard trailed both Perkins and Littleton, a Greenwood resident, in Leflore County. Perkins collected 49 percent of the Leflore County vote, with Littleton drawing 27 percent of the ballots and White-Richard trailing with 24 percent of votes cast.
Strong turnout and a decisive margin in favor of White-Richard in Sunflower and Washington counties, though, helped White-Richard collect 43 percent of the overall votes cast to lead her two opponents during the Nov. 4 election.
With no other issues or candidates on the ballot this time around, both candidates stressed that getting their supporters to the polls would be the key to deciding Tuesday’s runoff.
White-Richard, for her part, said she was excited to be closing in on the final day of a long campaign for the judgeship. She said she’d like to see voters would turn out in droves on Tuesday, despite some predictions to the contrary.
“I’m hopeful that the people will come back out on Tuesday and vote, and I’m hoping they’ll vote on qualifications and experience,” White-Richard said. “If they do, I have no doubt about the outcome.”
Perkins was also hopeful that predictions of a light turnout prove wrong.
Throughout the months on the campaign trail, Perkins said she’s enjoyed getting out and meeting with voters and supporters.
“The love I have seen across the district is overwhelming,” Perkins said. “The one thing I want to say to everybody is thank you, and I need you to come out again.”
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
