Jackson Free Press

The fields have narrowed—somewhat—and only a few contenders remain for two seats on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

That's assuming the courts don't intervene first. David Archie, the third-place finisher in last week's Democratic primary for Hinds County's District 2 seat, wants a new election and is suing his own party to get it. Archie, 49, alleges that "tampering" and voter confusion resulted in the district-wide apathy that suppressed votes in the District 2 primary Sept. 24.

Archie aimed his criticism at the voting system, which required voters to fill in an oval next to the name of their candidate of choice. He complained that officials rejected ballots marked with an "X" or a checkmark. The ballot form indicates that only ballots with filled-in bubbles would be counted.

"There's a problem with those outdated paper ballots in 2013," Archie said.

Jacqueline R. Amos-Norris, chairwoman of the Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee, had little to say about Archie's lawsuit this week. She said the party certified the results and was looking ahead to Thursday, Oct. 3, when the party hosts a forum for the runoff candidates.

"I have no response. David Archie lost. We're moving on," she said.

A somewhat bizarre set of events in the Democratic primary for District 4 will pit two former Hinds County employees against one another. Two days after a first-place finish in the Democratic primary, Jerry Hopkins bowed out of the District 4 race. On Sept. 24, Hopkins edged out James "Lap" Baker, 353 votes to Baker's 316, setting up an Oct. 8 runoff. Amos-Norris told the Jackson Free Press that Hopkins dropped out of the race because "he looked at the numbers" and didn't like his chances.

As a result, third-place finisher Mike Maldonado, who received 160 votes, will face Baker in the runoff. Until January 2012, Maldonado served as a captain with the Hinds County Sheriff's Office and counts combating crime and emergency operations as two of his top priorities. Maldonado, who now works as a homeland-security and training coordinator for the state, noted that Hinds is not only Mississippi's largest county but that the state fairgrounds serves as a staging ground for evacuees from the coast during hurricanes.

Former Vicksburg Mayor Robert Walker is temporarily in the District 4 seat that Republican Phil Fisher jettisoned to become mayor of Clinton. Like Fisher, Maldonado supports the long-in-the-works Byram-Clinton Parkway project.

"That's an untapped resource right there. We've spent so much money on it, we can't just leave it unfinished," Maldonado said.

He added that he would like to bolster tourism in the county, particularly through promoting the Jackson Zoo, which is in the middle of a battle over its accreditation.

"We don't have any elephants at the zoo. That's a big draw-in factor there," said Maldonado, who once worked at the zoo.

Baker, who retired from the public-works department earlier this year, is also in favor of developing the Byram-Clinton Parkway but does not support new construction for it. Instead, Baker said the parkway should link existing thoroughfares.

"When we did the study for Hinds County, we looked at six corridor alignments. The No. 1 alignment came from (Interstate) 55 on Siwell Road to Davis Road, cut across Davis Road, hooked into Springridge Road and came all the way up. This is an existing thoroughfare so that's less cost—and it went directly into Clinton," Baker explained during a JFP interview in August.

"It could be a viable transportation corridor if it goes back to the original alignment. When you go to open space like that, that takes a lot of space and a lot of money. ... I support the parkway, but I'm not a stern supporter of the current alignment."

The winner of Democratic runoff in District 4 will face Republican Tony Greer in the November general election. Greer has not responded to interview requests from the JFP.

After an intense nine-person race for District 2, the county's largest geographic district, Darrel McQuirter will square off against Willie Earl Robinson in the Democratic runoff.

Both men are department heads for Hinds County: McQuirter oversees planning and zoning, Robinson the county's central repair division.

McQuirter, 51, was Clinton's fire chief from 1998 to 2005. He echoed many of his fellow candidates, citing curbing crime and growing the county's tax rolls as keystones of a comeback strategy to make Hinds County more attractive to business investors and families.

"Hinds County is unique," McQuirter said in an interview before the primary.

"It's in the center of the state. It's at the crossroads between New Orleans and Memphis. It's between Dallas and Atlanta, and we're not taking advantage of (traffic). It comes through here, but it doesn't stop. We need to figure out a way to get things to stop here." 

Robinson has not agreed to interview requests.

The Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee will host a forum between the District 2 and District 4 runoff candidates Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at Metrocenter Mall, located at 1395 Metrocenter Drive in Jackson.