Mike Tagert, who touted his economic development and administrative experience, was elected transportation commissioner Tuesday night in a runoff in north Mississippi.
Complete, but unofficial, returns show Tagert, president of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council, with about 53 percent of the vote over John Caldwell Sr. of Nesbit.
Any re-maining ab-sentee and affidavit ballots were to be counted today.
Tagert will fill the vacancy created when Transportation Commissioner Bill Minor of Holly Springs died in November. Tagert will serve nearly the final year of a four-year term.
Leflore County had a small turnout with only 352 ballots cast, even fewer than the 532 in the first election. Tagert won Leflore County with 216 votes to Caldwell’s 134. Two absentee ballots were to be counted this morning.
Election workers outnumbered voters at some precincts. Southwest Greenwood had only one voter; Central Greenwood had two.
“I am ready to go to work, honestly, and jump in head first. There is a learning curve,” Tagert told the Starkville Daily News. “I have to understand the budget process, especially since we’re in the middle of the legislative session. I want to make certain I can play an immediate role in advocating for the people of north Mississippi in the legislative process.”
The three-member elected Transportation Commission oversees one of the largest agencies in state government, with responsibility over highways, bridges, ports and airports.
Tagert, of Starkville, campaigned as a candidate who would blend economic development with the transportation administration.
Caldwell, the DeSoto County School District transportation director and a former county supervisor, had emphasized the need to get more input from local communities and county supervisors about roadways.
Minor had defeated Caldwell in the 2007 election.
In Harrison County, Biloxi businessmen Casey Eure defeated Jim Atchison in Tuesday’s runoff election in House District 116 in Harrison County.
Complete but unofficial returns showed Eure, a business owner, getting more than 54 percent of the vote against Atchison, owner of a Biloxi real estate company.
“It’s been a long three months, and there’s been a lot of hard work,” Eure told The Sun Herald. “I have really enjoyed meeting the voters of House District 116. I’m thankful to everyone who supported me.”
Eure, who said he is a Republican, will fill the vacancy created when then-Rep. Steven Palazzo of Biloxi was elected to the U.S. House in November.
He will serve nearly the final year of a four-year term.
