Lamar Dumas and Blake McMullan will meet in a runoff for mayor of Eupora after no candidate received a majority of votes in Tuesday’s special election.
The former mayors were the top two vote-getters in a three-man race. Dumas led with 246 votes, or 49%, according to final totals including absentee and affidavit ballots. McMullan came in second with 193 votes, or 39%, followed by Larry Atkins with 61 votes (12%).
Only about 36% of the city’s 1,377 registered voters turned out to vote Tuesday.
City Clerk Gail Newton said the runoff election will be Dec. 5. City Hall will be open from 8 a.m.-noon the two preceding Saturdays, Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, for absentee voting.
Dumas served one term as mayor before McMullan defeated him by five votes in Dumas’ 2021 reelection bid. The special election was necessitated by McMullan’s resignation two month ago.
He resigned following a recessed meeting of the mayor and Eupora Board of Aldermen on Sept. 18. After they had met in executive session to discuss personnel and possible litigation, a motion was made and seconded to terminate Police Chief Lawrence Carradine. Only two aldermen voted aye so the motion failed. The board then adjourned and that is when McMullan wrote out a letter of resignation. He stated later that he resigned because of personnel issues within the Police Department.
“My decision to resign was not driven by a desire to get my way, but rather by a genuine commitment to address existing liabilities and create awareness among the public about the need for change,” McMullan wrote in his Nov. 10 political announcement. “Transparency and open dialogue are essential for a thriving community, and I felt it was crucial for our citizens to be well-informed.”
Dumas did not run a political announcement before the special election.
