The winner of Tuesday’s runoff election between Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jim Kitchens and Jenifer Branning likely won’t be declared until next week, according to an official with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office.

Elizabeth Jonson, a spokesperson for the agency tasked with administering Mississippi’s elections, told Mississippi Today on Wednesday that there are currently more outstanding ballots than the current vote spread between Kitchens and Branning, who are vying for a seat on the state’s highest court.

“So voters probably won’t know the result until next week,” Jonson said. 

With 97% of the vote reported on Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reported Branning narrowly led the race with 50.5%, and Kitchens trailed with 49.5%. About 1,200 votes currently separate the two candidates in the unofficial tabulations.

The tight race could come down to absentee and affidavit ballots, some of which are still flowing into local election offices. State law currently allows for election workers to process mail-in absentee ballots for up to five days after Election Day, as long as the ballot was postmarked by the date of the election.

READ MORE: Supreme Court race remains too close to call, final result could hinge on absentee and affidavit ballots

Gov. Tate Reeves declared Thursday and Friday state holidays because of Thanksgiving, so state and most county employees, which includes local election workers, are not required to work on those days.

Both Branning and Kitchens in separate social media posts seemed to acknowledge that the close vote margin will likely lead to several additional days of vote counting. 

“Thank you to everyone who helped our campaign in yesterday’s runoff election,” Branning wrote. “While we are still waiting on the remaining votes to be counted, I’m grateful and appreciative of your support.” 

Kitchens similarly said the race was too close to call and that his supporters may not have an answer until next week. 

“There are thousands of votes left to count, but we remain hopeful and prayerful,” Kitchens wrote. 

This year’s delayed result is similar to a 2020 election for another central district seat on the Supreme Court. After 16 days of vote-counting in a close race, then-appointed Supreme Court Justice Kenny Griffis was declared the winner over state Court of Appeals Judge Latrice Westbrooks.

Kitchens, a Crystal Springs native, was first elected to the court in 2008. He is a former district attorney and private practice lawyer. He is largely considered one of two centrist members of the court. 

Branning, a Philadelphia resident, is a private practice attorney who was first elected to the Legislature in 2015. She is challenging Kitchens and pledging to ensure that “conservative values” are always represented in the judiciary, but she stopped short of endorsing policy positions, which Mississippi judicial candidates are prohibited from doing.

Counties have until Dec. 6 to certify election results and transmit them to the Secretary of State’s office.

Live election results: Mississippi Supreme Court, Court of Appeals runoffs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Ole Miss is a whopping 26-point favorite. A State victory likely would be the biggest upset in Egg Bowl history. As the Clevelands discuss, despite the old saying that you can throw the records out in a rivalry game, the better team almost always wins. The most memorable Egg Bowls are discussed at length.

Stream all episodes here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Nov. 27, 1942

Legendary Jimi Hendrix, whom Rolling Stone ranks as the greatest guitarist of all time, was born in Seattle. He left his hometown because of racism and grew up in poverty. 

Hemdrix began playing guitar at age 15, drenched in the blues before backing R&B artists Little Richard and The Isley Brothers on tour, becoming one of the most talented musicians on the Chitlin’ Circuit. 

But he experienced firsthand the South’s segregation, unable to go to the bathroom at a gas station because of the color of his skin. Even after becoming a rock star, he experienced racism, cab drivers in New York City refusing to pick him up. 

When Hendrix made his foray into rock music, he took “the blues out of the Mississippi Delta and sent it to Mars,” one music critic said. He coaxed sounds out of the electric guitar that no one else thought possible. When he played “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, he turned the standard into a sonic masterpiece, complete with soaring rockets and bursting bombs. 

His version came at the height of the Vietnam War, where Black soldiers were dying on the battlefield in record numbers. Some saw his interpretation as “unpatriotic,” but he disputed such talk on “The Dick Cavett Show,” saying, “I’m an American, too.” 

The last words he wrote before he died accidentally after taking sleeping pills: “The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye, until we meet again.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.