Ellington

The Ledger reports:

With the general election just days away, municipal candidates across the state are making their final push to lure voters.

Despite being low on campaign funds, Jackson mayoral candidate Rick Whitlow said he's been mailing massive amounts of fliers and shaking hands on city streets.

"We're running the best $16,000 campaign in Mississippi political history. I'm not ashamed of that," said the 51-year-old broadcast journalist.

On Tuesday, Whitlow, a Republican, will face Democrat Frank Melton.

Having toppled eight-year Jackson incumbent Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. in the closely watched May Democratic primary, Melton, 54, said one of his priorities was continuing his volunteer duties at the Farish Street YMCA.

"I'm not going to let anything interfere with that," said the former television executive. But Melton found time in the evenings to campaign through neighborhoods like Washington Addition and Virden Addition.

Thanks to a $617,000 campaign chest, Melton has got television ads on the three network stations in Jackson and spots playing on several local radio stations.

Jackson, with a population of 179,000, has not elected a Republican mayor in modern times. The new mayor takes office July 4. The four-year post pays $120,000 annually.

Jackson also has three ward races. Democrat Frank Bluntson, who beat incumbent Bo Brown in the May 17 runoff, will face Republican Robert Thompson for the Ward 4 seat. Democrat Charles Tillman, who won the runoff election over incumbent Bettye Dagner-Cook, will face Joe Louis Sanders, an independent for the Ward 5 seat. In Ward 7, incumbent Democrat Margaret Barrett-Simon faces independent Luther Latham.

Full article here.