Tuesday’s runoff election between Kent McCarty and Steven Utroska will decide which of those two candidates will assume the Mississippi House of Representatives District 101 seat that was vacated when former representative Brad Touchstone was elected in November as Lamar County Court Judge.
The runoff was necessitated because none of the five candidates in the March 12 special election received the required 50 percent of the vote plus one vote. McCarty led that election with 1,149 votes, followed by Utroska with 733, Andrew Waites with 687, Daniel Waide with 231 and Gary L. Crist with 217.
As the two candidates who garnered the most votes, McCarty and Utroska were sent to the runoff election.
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.
“I’m really excited about the runoff, and I was really pleased with the support that we got,” McCarty said after March 12 election. “I’m so thankful to everybody that showed up during the week of Spring Break, because a lot of people are out of town, so I appreciate everybody coming out and voting, and everybody who helped out at the polls.
“It was a really fun day for my first big election like this, and we had a great time. Honestly, the support is just humbling, and I’m excited for the runoff for sure.”
Utroska is professional engineer, a small business owner and the chairman of the Piney Woods Conservation Group. He serves as president of the Rotary Club of Hattiesburg, is a member of the Pine Belt Young Professionals, and is an affiliate member of the Hattiesburg Area Association of Realtors.
“I’m certainly looking forward to (the runoff),” Utroska said. “Before the (first) race I got out and knocked on over 2,000 doors personally, and I got to meet a lot of great people.
“I look forward to doing the same thing over the next three weeks - getting out and talking to as many people as I can, and knocking on as many doors as I can. I want to meet the people of Lamar County and hear their concerns, and I’m just looking forward to going to the runoff.”
Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on election day. Because this is a special election, all candidates run as non-partisan.
