The next mayor of McComb will be a city official from the current administration working with an entirely new board.
Incumbent Mayor Quordiniah Lockley secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday, winning the runoff with 730 votes (55%) against former Mayor Zach Patterson, who received 588.
Lockley and Patterson tied with 474 votes in the May 3 primary.
Lockley also narrowly defeated Patterson four years ago in the 2018 Democratic primary runoff.
Lockley will face current Republican Ward 2 selectman Michael Cameron, who is running for mayor as an independent candidate, in the June 21 general election.
As his victory was announced Tuesday night at McComb City Hall, Lockley pulled out his phone and played the song “God Favored Me” by Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Choir.
“My character, my integrity was tested, but God has found favor in me to be the Democratic nominee,” he said.
He expressed appreciation toward the voters after his win Tuesday.
“I’m elated that the citizens of McComb saw fit to grant me the opportunity to be the representative for the Democratic Party in the June general election,” Lockley said.
Cameron said he was glad to know who he will face in the general election.
“I was just ready to get to this point to actually have an opponent, to know who it was,” he said. “I knew it was going to be one of the three, but to have an actual name and a face to be against, now I can move on.”
Lockley and Cameron are both prepared to work with a new board when the next term begins July 1.
“Understand, the citizens have spoken, so therefore I accept the decision that was made by the citizens,” Lockley said.
Cameron said McComb was lucky to have someone with experience like himself or Lockley to be mayor with a new board.
“I think it’s extremely important to have somebody there with past experience,” Cameron said. “He and I both have past experience. He was on the board. He’s been mayor. I’ve been on the board for 12 years. One thing that I will say is that there is one mayor and six board members and there’s going to be six new ones. I just think it’s going to be extremely important to have guidance.”
Former City Administrator David Myers, who was fired in a special called meeting last week and immediately threw his support behind Lockley, was on hand to support the mayor as he clinched the nomination.
“I’m just as excited as he is,” Myers said. “Obviously, he worked hard today to make sure he won the runoff. I got out there and worked with him as well, so I’m excited about him going to the general election.”
Myers was terminated with a 3-2 vote that Cameron and Ward 4 Selectman Shawn Williams opposed.
Williams finished third in the May 3 primary.
Myers said he still cares about McComb and hopes Lockley wins a second term.
“I want to see the city of McComb succeed,” Myers said. “I’m very excited that the mayor is going to get another shot in the general election in June.”
Tuesday’s ballot results represented a significant change from the May 3 contest, when Lockley finished in a tie for first place despite not winning a single precinct.
On Tuesday, he won the majority-white and Republican Ward 1 box, as well as Ward 2 and Ward 5. Patterson carried ballot boxes in east McComb’s Ward 3 and south McComb’s Ward 4.
Williams won wards 1, 2 and 4 in the May 3 primary, and Patterson carried wards 3 and 5.
Lockley led Ward 1 on Tuesday with 70% of the vote, Ward 2 with 54% and Ward 5 with 58%.
He believed many of his supporters in the runoff had voted for Williams on May 3.
“I made an appeal to the voters of Shawn Williams and I continue to push for voters who did not come out in the primary to come out and vote in the runoff,” Lockley said. “I just want to thank the voters for their support and going to the polls and voting for me in the runoff.”
Patterson, who didn’t return a call seeking comment and didn’t grant any interviews during his campaign, won wards 3 and 4 with 55% of the vote in each precinct.
“I just need to work harder, push harder and put my agenda or platform out there and hopefully they will support me,” Lockley said.
Both candidates for the general election discussed their platforms.
“All voters are concerned about crime. All voters are concerned about infrastructure, especially streets,” Lockley said. “Then there are those who are concerned about quality of life, all of those issues I have addressed and will continue to address in the general election.”
Cameron said he would be using his business experience to improve city finances as he owned G & M Design, a screen printing, embroidery and sign shop, and Cork & Cask, a liquor store.
“I think one of the things that I bring is my business experience. I mean, I’ve been in business in this town since I was 22 years old,” he said. “The city is a business. It’s got an income and it’s got bills to pay and I’ve run businesses all my life.
“I’ve had employees. I just think that brings a lot to the table.”
In the past, Cameron said there have been in-house audits for the city, but the people who did them have been terminated during the past four years.
“I plan on having somebody in-house and let them do their job without micromanaging them and harassing them, let them do their job and we should be fine,” he said.
“We should be able to get caught up and we should be able to do it on time and we should have a current like we had in the past.”
