The Warren County Circuit Clerk’s Office will have its third occupant in seven months come early January, as Jan Hyland Daigre breezed to victory in Tuesday’s runoff election.

Daigre, 53, an insurance agent and former school board member, garnered more than 63 percent of the vote to interim clerk Greg Peltz’s 36 percent. Daigre won 19 of 22 precincts in a predictably low-turnout election, held just two days before Thanksgiving.

“I have a great group of supporters,” Daigre said after the issue was all but settled when results from the Culkin precinct were read. It was Peltz’s base, but Daigre carried it by 10 points in the Nov. 4 general election. Tuesday’s poll vote gave Daigre a win there by the same margin with which she won countywide.

“I knew the challenge was daunting going into it,” she said. “I think people in Vicksburg are ready to take their community back.”

Raw vote totals showed Daigre with 2,713 votes to Peltz’s 1,556. Daigre won 161 of 241 absentee ballots cast in advance of Tuesday. The office comes before voters again next year during the state/county election cycle.

Peltz, 67, appointed by the Warren County Board of Supervisors May 19 after Shelly Ashley-Palmertree was removed from office, helped staffers move carts of counted ballots to appropriate places in the office after the last precinct was read. He shook Daigre’s hand and, later, thanked county supervisors for the chance to serve and credited a staff made up of holdovers and new faces with returning a businesslike atmosphere to the office.

“We identified several different things that needed to be corrected and were corrected,” Peltz said. “Everything is running smoothly. Everybody here is happy. We put integrity and honesty back in this office.

“All I wanted to do is complete what I started, and hopefully Jan will finish it.”

Unofficial returns show 4,281 ballots were cast Tuesday, for a turnout of about 14 percent of 30,080 shown as registered on final tallies by Election Commission staff.

In Mississippi, circuit and chancery clerks are the highest-paying jobs in county government. Base salaries for each are capped at $90,000 by the Legislature. Circuit Clerk maintains all court records, filings, paper and accounts for all court costs, fees, fines, and assessments for Circuit Court, County Court and Youth Court. In addition, the office keeps marriage licenses, jury lists, civil and criminal trial dockets and licenses for doctors and other professionals. During elections, the office serves as the registrar of voters and assists with elections. Candidates for county-level offices turn qualifying papers in to the office.