After two not-so-closely-contested special and runoff elections, Kent McCarty will serve as the next representative for District 101 of the Mississippi House of Representatives. While not the youngest candidate ever elected, he will be the youngest serving in the House.
In final but unofficial results from Tuesday’s runoff election, McCarty defeated challenger Steven Utroksa, 1,729 votes to 813. As of late Tuesday night, 40 absentee ballots remained to be counted.
With the victory, McCarty will finish the term of former representative Brad Touchstone, who was elected in November as the new Lamar County Court Judge.
“I’m very excited,” McCarty said after the election. “We’re really, really pleased with the turnout and the support we received during the runoff.”
McCarty is the owner of Java Moe’s Coffee Company and a graduate of Oak Grove High School and the University of Southern Mississippi. He was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon during his time at Southern Miss.
“Because this (year’s) Legislative session is already over, I’m planning to spend the next couple of months talking to people here in the district and hearing their ideas about what they’d like to see us do in Jackson, and the best way to do that,” McCarty said.
Voter turnout for Tuesday’s election was 15.68 percent, with 2,545 of 16,226 registered voters in the district casting a ballot.
The runoff election was necessitated because none of the five candidates - McCarty, Utrosksa, Gary Crist, Daniel Waide and Andrew Waites - received the necessary 50 percent of the votes plus one vote in the March 26 special election for the seat. As the two candidates who garnered the most votes in that election, McCarty and Utroska were sent to the runoff.
The five candidates will face off again in the Aug. 6 primary for the upcoming term that begins next year.
