Voters in the City of Petal’s Ward 2 will soon head to the polls for a special election to determine who will take over that seat for former alderman Steve Stringer, who was elected to the Forrest County Board of Supervisors in last November’s general election.
During the January 2 meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, board members voted to set that election for February 6. Polls will be open to all registered voters of Ward 2 from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on that date at Calvary Baptist Church, 1123 Mississippi 42 in Petal.
Any registered voter of Ward 2 who is in line by 7 p.m. that night will be entitled to cast a ballot.
“It was really fun to see the energy that the board of supervisors took (on January 2, at Stringer’s first board meeting),” Petal Mayor Tony Ducker said. “There’s a lot of opportunity when you have change like this, but we’re about to have some change as well, so I’m looking forward to it.
“Whoever does get on board (to replace Stringer as alderman), the train has already left the station, so there’s some big decisions they’re going to have to make this year. So it’s very important that we get somebody who will come in there, put in the time and help us move forward.”
The qualifying deadline for the election is 5 p.m. January 17. Because it is a special election, all candidates must run as Independents; as such, each candidate will be required to obtain 50 signatures from registered voters of Ward 2 prior to the qualifying deadline.
All necessary paperwork can be picked up at Petal City Hall, 119 West 8th Avenue in Petal.
“If they do it early enough, Melissa (Martin, city clerk) can check it in time,” Ducker said. “The worst thing is, some people come in here on the last day and hand it in, and (our staff) hasn’t had time to check it.
“It may take them two or three days to check it, so the quicker (candidates) can get it in there, the quicker they can get pre-approved, so to speak.”
Stringer defeated incumbent Forrest County District 3 Supervisor Burkett Ross in a close race in the August 8 Republican primary election. Because there were no Democratic challengers for that seat, Stringer faced no opposition in the November 7 general election.
Stringer, who is the owner of Locke Extermination, was elected to the Petal Board of Aldermen in 2001. He ran against Ross in the 2019 county election, but was defeated by a slim margin.
Ross, who is the owner of Southern Bowling Lanes in Petal, represented District 3 on the board of Supervisors since 2012. He also served 33 years on the Forrest General Hospital Board of Trustees, as well as 22 years as a member of the AAA Ambulance board of directors.
The winner of Petal’s special election will fill out the remainder of Stringer’s term, which will expire in 2025. At that point, another regular election will be held to determine the next representative of Ward 2, along with the mayor and other members of the board of aldermen.
