Former Vice President Joe Biden won Mississippi’s Democratic presidential primary last week, as did President Donald Trump on the Republican side. Both handily carried Webster County.
Mississippi’s primaries for president, House and Senate were held March 10.
In the Democratic presidential primary, Biden carried Webster County with 451 votes, or 79%, according to unofficial final results with regular affidavits. He was followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 73 votes, or 13%. Biden received the majority of votes in every precinct except Walthall, where Sanders received two more than him.
The Mississippi ballot was set before seven other Democratic candidates left the presidential race and their names still appeared. All received less than 1% of the vote except former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who had about 5% (26 votes). U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the only remaining Democratic candidate besides Biden and Sanders, received three votes locally.
Trump garnered 99% of the vote (1,576) in Webster County. Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente and Bill Weld were the other presidential candidates on the Republican ballot.
Mike Espy won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat and carried Webster County with 86% of the vote. The former congressman and U.S. agriculture secretary easily defeated two challengers.
He will face Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Libertarian candidate Jimmy Edwards in the Nov. 3 general election. Hyde-Smith was unopposed for the GOP nomination. She defeated Espy in a November 2018 special election and is now seeking a full six-year term.
Republican U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly will face Democratic challenger Antonia Eliason in November in the 1st Congressional District. Neither had opposition in the primary. Kelly has been in the House since he won a 2015 special election and Eliason is a law professor at the University of Mississippi.
The voter turnout in Webster County was about 30%. Of note, five of its 17 precincts had fewer than 10 people voting in the Democratic primary, including Fay with only one.
