The voters have spoken...

I'm not going to finish Mo Udall's famous quote after he got voted out of office.  The fact of the matter is, yesterday's election was handled about as well as can be expected.  I think the candidates generally behaved admirably under difficult circumstances.  Judge Thomas polled about 28,000 votes, and the write-in candidates collectively polled 20,000 votes.  The biggest wins for Judge Thomas came in Pearl River County and Lamar County, where he beat all the rest of us by a 2-1 margin.  The write-ins only carried Forrest County.

I want to thank every one who voted yesterday, especially those who voted for me and those who supported me.  I will be running for judge again.  The governor will now be appointing a chancellor for the district, and we will have a special election during next year's general election.  We may in fact be looking at what will be the most expensive judicial election in Mississippi history next year.  Deborah Gambrell is already planning her run.  Tom Bates is retiring from Justice Court and will not be running next year.  Gay Polk-Payton will be throwing her hat in the ring for Justice Court.  I'll keep working hard for my clients and working hard with my constituents and fellow candidates.  Hopefully, we can hash out some issues behind the scenes before qualifying in May, 2011.

I'll continue to post here for the next few weeks.  Thanks so much for your support and interest.