Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi election commissioners on Friday certified that Kenny Griffis of Ridgeland won a Supreme Court race in the central part of the state.

Final results from the Nov. 3 election show that Griffis received 52% and challenger Latrice Westbrooks of Lexington received 48%.

Griffis won an eight-year term. He has served on the Supreme Court since February 2019, when then-Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him to fill a vacant seat. At the time, Griffis had served 16 years on the state Court of Appeals. Before becoming a judge, Griffis worked in private law practice and as a certified public accountant.

Westbrooks currently serves on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and she did not have to give up that seat to run for the Supreme Court. She was trying to become the first Black woman and the fifth woman ever on the Mississippi Supreme Court.