Todd, Shaw win nominations in runaways; 2 more JMCSS Board members lose re-election bids

Chris Todd faced his most serious challenge to his seat as State House District 73 Representative when former Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris challenged him in the Republican primary election.

“He definitely was my most serious challenge because in this district, as Republican-heavy as it is, another conservative Republican with a name everyone knows is a serious challenge,” Todd said.

That challenge didn’t show in the numbers on Election Day (Aug. 1) as Todd won re-election for his fourth term as the representative for about two-thirds of Madison County in Nashville by a vote tally of 5,130-2,461.

On Thursday night after the polls closed, when Madison County Election Administrator Lori Lott began her evening announcing the totals from early voting, absentee and nursing homes, Todd already had enough then to win the election as he had 2,878 to Harris’ 1,353.

“Honestly in that first hour after polls closed I wasn’t able to sit and watch for the totals because I’d been out all day and went back home to clean up and get to our watch party,” Todd said. “But people were keeping me informed.

“When I heard that first number, I was certainly surprised because I felt good about our campaign, but I knew Jimmy had a lot of support too. I actually wondered what unusual circumstance could put one candidate that far ahead and what other circumstance could help the other candidate close the gap on Election Day.”

Todd said he and Harris texted Thursday night when Harris conceded the race and they talked again Friday morning.

“He’s a Republican, and I am too, and I hope we can work together for the good of District 73,” Todd said. “But I really feel like this election showed the confidence the people of the district have in me to represent them and their desires in Nashville.

“It’s my job as their representative to make sure their rights as citizens of this country and this state are protected while they’re also heard in Nashville.”

Todd said he’ll continue to do that for the district.

“For any matter that comes up, I look at the Constitution and see if that matter is addressed there, and if it’s not, then I see what the will of the people is,” Todd said. “That’s how I’ve always operated for the last six years, and it’s how I plan to continue to operate until I’m no longer the representative.”

In District 80, incumbent Johnny Shaw won in Madison County in the Democratic primary with 876 votes, compared to Madison County Commissioner Shelia Godwin’s 409 and former Bolivar City Councilman Jonathan Joy’s 156.

Parts of Hardeman and Haywood counties are also in the district, and Shaw ran away with the votes in both of those counties as his overall win totals were 2,494 to Godwin’s 537 and Joy’s 388.

Shaw will now move on to the general election on Nov. 5 against Hardeman County Commissioner Brad Grantham.

There were five seats on the Jackson-Madison County School board up for election. Republicans Debbie Gaugh and Shane Barnes won their respective primaries in March and were unopposed in the general on Thursday.

District 6’s seat that’s been held by Janice Hampton for the past 12 years had the largest candidate field with five.

Hampton will hold that seat no longer as Andrea Michelle Givens-Moore – who challenged Hampton four years ago – unseated the incumbent.

Givens-Moore, who was the Democratic nominee, finished with 577 votes. Republican Brandilynn Taylor was runner-up with 516. Hampton was third with 247 ahead of fellow independents Winnette Bobo with 204 and Rebecca Creasy with 49.

As precincts were reporting, Givens-Moore and Taylor were close enough that Taylor actually led in totals after a few precincts came in before Givens-Moore took the lead back and held it for the remainder of the night.

Another incumbent lost their seat as Glen Gaugh defeated Ken Newman in District 2 911-574. Gaugh, who is the son of Debbie Gaugh, is the only candidate who had to win a primary and the general election as all contested party nominees last week were unopposed in their respective primaries.

“I’m grateful to the voters who voted for me,” Gaugh said. “I think winning two elections means that I, my family and a number of volunteers and supporters that we had put in a lot of work to get our message out to the people of the district and they liked the message we brought.

“We think JMCSS has the potential to be a great choice for parents to choose, and we want to make that happen.”

Marcia Moss, who won appointment by the County Commission to District 5, Position 2 about a year ago, was officially elected to the seat by the voters of the district over Dwight Jones, who was her main challenger for the seat a year ago. This time around, Moss won by a vote tally of 2,395-903.

The three new Board members – Barnes, Glen Gaugh and Givens-Moore – will all be sworn in at the September JMCSS Board meeting.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news