Commentary: Two suspicious Mayoral Elections being challenged

By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,

Hearing dates are set to challenge the June 3, 2025, mayoral election results in Kosciusko and Mount Olive, Mississippi.
In the City of Kosciusko, Marvin K. Myles, Jr., was declared the winner, beating out incumbent mayor Tim Kyle, by 31 votes. The next day the city clerk announced that not all ballots had been tabulated properly – calling it human error – and the race was handed to Tim Kyle, the white incumbent. Votes, including absentee and affidavit ballots, were reviewed again June 11, 2025, by the Municipal Election Resolution Board, and results were sent to the Office of the Secretary of State – 691 for the incumbent, 665 for the African American challenger – 26 votes separating the two. The trial at the Attala County Circuit Court will be presided over by Special Judge Jeff Weill, Sr., November 12-14, 2025. Attorney Lisa Ross will represent Myles and attorney Mark C. Baker will represent Kyle.

Ninety-five miles south of Kosciusko, in Mount Olive, Mississippi, the white incumbent, James Kelley, III beat out former Alderman Marcia Hull, an African American woman, veteran, and business owner, 169 to 126 – just 43 votes separating the two, per the Mississippi Secretary of State website www.sos.ms.gov. Hull is challenging the results, and the trial has been scheduled for November 25, 2025, at the Covington County Circuit Court, with Special Judge Lamar Pickard presiding. Some of the issues contained in the complaint include absentee ballots being cast after the deadline for absentee ballots, double-voting by some people (absentee and in-person), systemic concerns, election security and ballot box protocols not being followed. Per the complaint, petitioner Hull is represented by Scherrie L. Prince, Esq. The compliant was published and can be found at https://www.wdam.com/2025/06/19/marcia-hull-contests-mt-olive-mayoral-general-election-sues-city-leaders/. Kelly is represented by J. Larry Buffington.

Census reports tell us that Kosciusko has a 60 percent African American population among its 6,684 residents, yet somehow someway, the white incumbent mayor gets reelected by 26 votes. Mount Olive has a 70 percent plus African American population among its 895 residents, yet somehow someway, the white incumbent mayor gets reelected to a third term by 43 votes. Both towns, at least at the time of these elections, had majority white election commissioners. Can we think of any majority-white populated towns that have African American mayors?
Mississippi has a painful track record with equality and fair representation. Painful beyond words. Even today, with the state’s minority population hovering near 40 percent, you can only find one of the nine justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court that is a person of color – 11.11 percent representation. There are 130 state agencies in our state of three million people. At last count just six of those agencies were headed by African Americans. In fiscal year 2024, our state awarded $4 billion in contracts to support those agencies and 99.37 percent of the taxpayer expenditures went to white people. The pain continues. Would anyone be shocked if it’s discovered that there were irregularities or illegalities in the Kosciusko and Mount Olive mayoral elections in 2025?

Spending time in Mount Olive last week, attending the Board of Alderman meeting October 7th, then again two days later, October 9th, for a Concerned Citizens gathering at the Town Hall, focusing on sky-high water bills, was mystifying – right up until the time it became crystal clear. Small towns can be like closed societies, and not just in the Deep South. Easily half the people encountered were warm and welcoming, the rest not so much. When asking the question – can you help me understand how a majority African American town keeps reelecting a white mayor – elicited concerning responses. One black female resident said, “I don’t have any problem with it. He had the most votes so that’s the end of it.” She went on to indicate all this is being stirred up because the challenger, also an African American woman, didn’t get her way. She even suggested that maybe there weren’t any African Americans qualified to be mayor. Several other residents claimed a system of favors – quid pro quo. “The mayor does favors for Black people, that’s why they vote for him. If you go against how they want things, there will find some way to get retribution on you, and everyone knows it,” said a white male resident.
When asked about the so-called favors, responses included using city resources to keep the grass cut on certain properties, free ditch work, meter problems fixed, and water bills being zeroed out for some residents. Another issue, brought up several times, was making legal charges go away – town ordinances, traffic, child support, even certain drug charges. Mississippi Circuit Court District 13 covers Covington, Jasper, Simpson, and Smith counties. Their website explains the different levels – Chancery, Circuit, Justice, and Youth Courts – the names of the judges, clerks, contact info, etc. While still trying to process the convoluted void of leadership in the town of Mount Olive, another discovery was made. On the official Mississippi government website – a court website no less – there is a listing of upcoming holidays where the courts will be closed. In 2026, on April 27th they will be closed for “CONFEDEERATE MEMORIAL DAY,” yes that’s the way it’s spelled. And for January 19th – the Federal Holiday honoring Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they instead list “BLK DAY,” http://www.mscircuit13.com/judges/holiday.
Minorities endlessly marginalized, their voices extinguished – sanctioned by the state government and manifested in communities – in lives of human beings that don’t have white skin – the very people who built the state.