Written by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today 

State Sen. Jenifer Branning and incumbent Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens will compete in a runoff election on Nov. 26 after no candidate received a majority of votes in Tuesday’s election for a seat on the state’s highest court.

The election will almost certainly inject partisan politics into what is supposed to be a nonpartisan judicial race over the next three weeks.

Kitchens is one of two centrist members of the high court and is widely viewed as the preferred candidate of Democrats, though the Democratic Party has not endorsed his candidacy. Not only are GOP forces working to oust one of the dwindling number of centrist jurists on the high court, but they appreciate Kitchens is next in line to lead the court as chief justice should current Chief Justice Mike Randolph step down.

In incomplete and unofficial results, Branning received the largest share of the vote total at 41.8%, while Kitchens received 35.6% in the five-person race Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

The runoff will take place just two days before Thanksgiving, ensuring both campaigns will be focused on the difficult task of turning out voters for a holiday-season election, with judicial elections typically receiving less public attention than other positions.

Kitchens, first elected to the court in 2008, is a former district attorney and private-practice lawyer. On the campaign trail, he has pointed to his experience as an attorney and judge, particularly his years prosecuting criminals and his rulings on criminal cases.

“During the next three weeks, I’ll be working harder than ever to inform the voters why Jim Kitchens is ready, willing and able to serve them better than any other candidate,” Kitchens said.

Kitchens has raised over $288,000 and spent around $189,000 of that money, leaving him with roughly $98,000 in cash on hand. Most of his campaign donations have come from trial attorneys around the state.

Branning, a private-practice attorney, was first elected to the Legislature in 2015. She has led the Senate Elections and Transportation committees. During her time at the Capitol, she has been one of the more conservative members of the Senate leadership, voting against changing the state flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem, voting against expanding Medicaid to the working poor and supporting mandatory and increased minimum sentences for crime.

While campaigning for the judicial seat, she has pledged to ensure that “conservative values” are always represented in the judiciary, but she has stopped short of endorsing policy positions — which Mississippi judicial candidates are prohibited from doing.

Branning has raised over $666,000 and spent roughly $312,000, leaving her with around $354,000 in cash on hand. Several special interest groups and trade associations have donated to her campaign, but the donations have been supercharged by a $250,000 personal loan she gave her campaign. Third-party groups have also spent money on the race.

“There’s a clear choice in this runoff because I’m the only candidate who will bring new energy and constitutional conservative leadership to the Mississippi Supreme Court,” Branning wrote on social media on Wednesday morning.

Incumbent Justice Dawn Beam, who was up for reelection on the Court’s Southern District, also appeared to concede defeat to her challenger, David Sullivan.

“I believe in democracy,” Beam wrote on Tuesday night. “Moreover, I know that God’s plans are perfect. It has been my joy to serve our State for 9 years on the Supreme Court, but the people have spoken.”

With 93% of the votes counted, Sullivan led with 54.8% of the vote, while Beam trailed with 45.2%.

Beam joined the state Supreme Court in 2016 after former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to the bench to fill the seat left vacant by former Justice Randy Pierce. Sullivan is a public defender in Harrison, Stone and Pearl River counties and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. A Gulfport resident, Sullivan comes from a family of attorneys and judges. His father, Michael D. Sullivan, also served as a Supreme Court justice.

The three candidates competing for the open seat on the Court of Appeals were still locked in a close race that remained too close to call, with a runoff likely, with 92% of the vote total counted.  Amy St. Pé led the candidates by receiving 35.1% of the vote. The other two candidates, Jennifer Schloegel and Ian Baker, were so close in votes that the lead for second place continued switching through Wednesday as results trickled in.

Mail-in absentee ballots and affidavit ballots could impact which two candidates in the Court of Appeals race head to a runoff election. State law allows for local election workers to process mail-in absentee ballots until November 13, though the ballots must be postmarked by the date of the election. Counties must certify election results by November 15.

The earliest day voters can cast absentee ballots for a runoff election is November 18, according to an election guide from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

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