After Jackson’s Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote unofficially won reelection by 10 votes in a too-close-to-call race last Tuesday, election commissioners had to wait five days to see if any additional mail-in absentee ballots postmarked by election day would arrive.
On Wednesday, they met at a former downtown fire station, where they counted one such vote. It went to Foote.
“I think this was a huge change election and I’m excited to be part of the leadership that will move the city in hopefully a much more constructive direction to improve quality of life and improve the city’s prospects going forward,” Foote said.
After last week’s tally, Foote also received one additional affidavit vote, which cancelled out one of his absentee votes that was thrown out due a redistricting error that led the resident to vote in the wrong ward. Foote’s two opponents also picked up three affidavit votes each.
Winning 1,739 out of 5,186 ballots, or just 34% of the vote, Foote shared a nearly equal percentage of support with his two opponents, independent candidate Grace Greene, 1,731 and Democratic nominee Jasmine Barnes, 1,716. The final, official tally still needs to be certified with the state.
Greene, who came in second, received just eight fewer votes than Foote.
“It’s a good lesson for everyone that voting matters and your vote matters and sometimes democracy can be messy,” Greene said. “So thank you for all the support I got as a first time candidate.”
The competitive race signified the changing demographics of the ward, historically considered a “white, Republican bastion” but which is now home to more Black residents than white.
“I think that I had support across all demographics and so honestly that just means a lot that people were willing to just believe in me and the vision that I have for Ward 1 and Jackson,” Barnes said after votes were counted Wednesday. “I’m very humbled.”
Next, Hinds County Election Commission will certify the vote, which opens up a 12-day window for candidates to request to examine the ballots themselves.
Candidates have time still to challenge the election results in court, but even if that happened, Foote would still be sworn into office on July 1.
Foote acknowledged on election night that he did not win the vote of a majority of Ward 1 residents. But in local races in Mississippi, general elections do not feature runoffs, meaning candidates may win by only a plurality of votes.
Addressing the two-thirds of Ward 1 residents who did not vote for him, Foote said, “I need to work with them and please them and I look forward to the opportunity to do that, to serve their needs, and serve the broader needs of Ward 1, whether its infrastructure, roads, safer cities, gating, you name it.”
Foote, founder of a financial services company, was first elected in a 2014 special election and has often represented the voice of opposition to the mayor on the council. He was previously elected as a Republican but ran as an independent in this race to encourage Jacksonians to vote in the Democratic primary, which typically determines the next mayor.
Reporter Allen Siegler and JXN Editor Anna Wolfe contributed to this report.
