Candidates testing their limits outside at early voting

The sun’s unforgiving light and heat descended on the competitors relentlessly.

They were all covered in sweat, exhausted, taking breaks for quick meals or water or energy drinks.

Then after some time sitting and possibly even retreating inside to air conditioning, they were back to the competition.

Working as hard as possible to get to a possible victory later this year.

While the scenario usually describes athletes doing offseason training in the summer, this also applied to candidates for elected positions in Jackson sitting in the parking lot at early voting on North Parkway shaking hands and giving people entering the parking lot one more reminder of who to vote for.

Even though the Madison County Election Commission offices moved about a mile away as the crow flies onto Hollywood Drive, early voting still happens at the 4H arena on North Parkway across the road from the Jackson-Madison County School Board Central Office.

Signs for nearly every candidate in the county fill every possible space next to the parking lot in front of some of the Madison County offices for the county commission, veterans services and other officers.

Near the road are some of the candidates for school board – incumbents Janice Hampton and Ken Newman could be seen sitting in lawn chairs along with some of Hampton’s challengers.

Hampton left to grab a bite to eat. A breeze blew threw, relieving those briefly who’ve sat in the July heat all day, but also knocking over one of Hampton’s signs after she drove away.

“I’ll go ahead and set it back up for her,” said Winnette Bobo, one of Hampton’s challengers, who was asked why she’d replace Hampton’s sign. “That’s the nice thing to do, and there’s no reason to not be nice.

“There’s nothing going on out here that’s worth being a nasty human being to each other.”

Other candidates were near the road too. District 73 Republican State House challenger Jimmy Harris along with District 80 Democrat State House challengers Jonathan Joy and Sheila Godwin were out there. Dwight Jones and Andrea Michelle Givens-Moore – both Democrat candidates for different school board seats – were also out there.

In the back of the parking lot were a number of tents set up adjacent to each other.

They were all Republican. They were all backed by the Madison County Constitutional Republicans. Candidates endorsed by the group include District 73 incumbent Chris Todd, school board incumbents Marcia Moss and Debbie Gaugh and other school board candidates Brandilynn Taylor and Glen Gaugh.

All the candidates, some of their loved ones, MCCR leaders Ray and Kim Condray and representatives from Senator Marcha Blackburn’s campaign were all regularly seen in that area.

Here are a few more facts about this month’s elections:

• Family relatives on the same legislative body: Debbie Gaugh has won the primary and is unopposed in the general for her school board seat, while her son, Glen, is challenging Ken Newman for another school board seat. County Technical Assistance Services (CTAS) is the state organization that regulates how local governments and municipalities operate, and there’s nothing different in place for relatives on the same legislative body that’s not in place for everyone else. Both members of the Gaugh family have said they typically talk politics and current events at holiday meals, neither committed to not talking about JMCSS during their family get-togethers, but they said they both try to follow whatever rules they’re expected to as elected officials.
• What if Rebecca Creasy wins her school board election?: Rebecca Creasy is one of five candidates on the ballot for District 6 in the JMCSS Board. Creasy declined an interview related to the campaign because she said she’d decided not to run and focus on being an active mother for her child that’s starting school this upcoming year and helping JMCSS that way. If she were to win, Creasy would have the choice to serve or not. If she chose not to serve, the Madison County Commission would appoint someone to sit in that seat until the next election in 2026 similar to the situation Marcia Moss is in now in her seat after having been appointed last year. When asked this week, Creasy said she’ll keep her options open and make that decision if it’s necessary.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news