Jackson Free Press

Four of Jackson's seven sitting City Council members have, for all intents and purposes, been re-elected, but two seats have yet to be decided headed into the May 21 primary runoff elections.

In Ward 5, incumbent Charles Tillman got 40 percent of the vote and faces a runoff with his predecessor Bettye Dagner-Cook, who received 19 percent of the vote in the primary.

The Ward 4 race for the seat vacated by former mayoral hopeful Frank Bluntson is down to schoolteacher Derrick Trimble and former military police officer De'Keither Stamps.

Ward 1 Councilman Quinton Whitwell ran unopposed, Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes won with 53 percent of the vote, City Council President Tony Yarber, representing Ward 6, won 82 percent of the vote, and Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon earned 75 percent in her ward.

Stokes faces a Republican challenger, Ponto Ronnie Downing, June 4. Barrett-Simon will face Republican Marcus Coleman.

Attorney Melvin Priester Jr. swept the Ward 2 race away from four other candidates, claiming 65 percent of the vote to win easily. He will not face a Republican in the general election.