An officer who is known for filling out paperwork alongside Laurel roadways has now filed papers in the Jones County courthouse. Kenny Rogers tossed his trooper-style hat — and ticket-writing tendencies — into the sheriff’s race on Friday.
The longtime Laurel Police Department officer has joined LPD colleagues Macon Davis and Michael Reaves in the race to challenge incumbent Sheriff Joe Berlin and his three-term predecessor Alex Hodge. Rogers is running as an Independent, as are Hodge and Berlin — a veteran of the LPD who took office in 2020. Davis and Reaves are running as Republicans.
The LPD isn’t the only local law enforcement agency that has an intrasquad political battle going on. Deputy James Stiglet of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department filed as an Independent to run for District 1 Constable against Republican Jake Driskell of the JCSD’s Narcotics Division. The incumbent is Mike Sumrall, but he has not filed qualifying papers to run again.
Reserve Deputy Joey Davis is challenging incumbent David Livingston for District 3 Constable, and reserve Deputy Danny Gibson is being challenged for District 2 Constable by Larry Strickland — the man he beat for the job in 2019. Davis, Livingston and Gibson filed as Republicans and Strickland is running as an Independent.
Joey Toler made it a four-man race for Beat 1 Supervisor when he filed as an Independent last week, challenging longtime incumbent Johnny Burnett and his fellow Republican qualifiers Barry Dunagin and Scott Gable.
Beat 2 Supervisor Larry Dykes is being challenged by David Miller, and Beat 4 Supervisor David Scruggs is being challenged by Joey Bradshaw. All four have filed as Republicans. Supervisors Phil Dickerson (Beat 3, Republican) and Travares Comegys (Beat 5, Democrat) are running unopposed so far.
Democrat Pamela Huddleston jumped in the race for coroner against incumbent Burl Hall and his Republican challenger Zachary Rowell.
There are three Republican candidates for circuit clerk so far — Greg “Red” Dickerson, Kim Knight and Scott Paxson — vying for the seat that is being vacated by Concetta Brooks as she runs for chancery clerk. Bart Gavin is not seeking reelection. Brooks is running as a Republican.
All three Republican justice court judges — Grant Hedgepeth (District 1), Sonny Saul (District 2) and David Lyons (District 3) — have qualified and are unopposed.
Tax Assessor Tina Gatlin Byrd, County Attorney Risher Caves and County Surveyor Harvey Saul are all running as Republicans and also unopposed.
Another longtime LPD officer, Mark Brewer, has filed to run for justice court judge in Wayne County, and JCSD investigators Abraham McKenzie and Wesley Waites are running for sheriff of Clarke County and Wayne County, respectively.
Qualifying will conclude at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Party primaries are set for Aug. 8 and the general election is Nov. 7.
The filing fee for all county offices is $100. Those who run as an Independent have to provide signatures of 15 to 50 registered voters — depending on whether it’s a district or county-wide office — to go along with the other qualifications of each office. Because of that extra requirement, those who plan to run Independent need to turn in their paperwork well ahead of the deadline, Brooks said.
All county elected offices — including Beat 2 and Beat 4 election commissioner — will be on ballots.
The Jones County District Attorney — which is a state office — along with local lawmakers’ seats in the state House and Senate will also be on ballots along with the top elected offices in state government — governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture/commerce, commissioner of insurance, public service commissioner and transportation commissioner.
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