Mumford & Howard Win Runoff Elections, Mumford Prepares To Take Senate Seat
By Randy Bell
Kamesha Mumford of Clinton will be sworn in as a State Senator in January.
A Clinton woman will begin the New Year by being sworn in to represent portions of Hinds and Madison counties in the Mississippi Senate after winning a special election runoff December 2. Kamesha Mumford will replace former senator John Horhn, who gave up the District 26 seat to become mayor of Jackson.
Jeremiah Howard is the newly-elected Hinds County Coroner.
Mumford led a field of seven candidates in a November 4 election to fill the vacancy but didn’t get a majority of the votes, pushing her into a runoff against Letitia Johnson. The senator-elect collected just under 56 per cent of the runoff vote to beat Johnson by almost 800 votes. Only about 13 per cent of the 51,000 registered voters in the district, which includes north Clinton, cast ballots in the Senate runoff.
The turnout for the other December 2 runoff in which local voters participated was also low.
Jeramiah Howard defeated Stephanie Meachum to win the race for Hinds County coroner. Howard, already serving as interim coroner following Sharon Grisham-Stewart’s retirement, received about 58 per cent of the vote. A little more than 11,000 votes were cast in the runoff, compared to 21,000 in the November election.
Mumford prepares to take Senate seat
By Randy Bell
Kamesha Mumford will be sworn in as District 26 Senator on January 6. Mumford and her family are Clinton residents.
Kamesha Mumford didn’t have to wait until January to figure out how things work in the Mississippi Legislature. The senator-elect from Clinton attended two days of orientation at the State Capitol December 4-5.
“We got a tour of the Capitol, basically helping us get acclimated, getting badges and IDs and really learning the lay of the land,” she says.
Mumford and other newly-elected senators met with Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate.
“That was really a soft introduction,” she says. “We’re going to meet again to discuss Senate rules and that sort of thing as we prepare for this next session.”
Mumford says she is ready to hit the ground running. “I am really excited to serve Senate District 26 as senator. I’m going to work hard.” The district covers portions of Hinds and Madison counties, including north Clinton.
She’ll have some big shoes to fill. Former senator John Horhn represented the district for more than thirty years and built up seniority, which Mumford won’t have as she takes office. Years of service impact a senator’s ability to get the committee assignments they want. Mumford will be a member of the Senate’s Constitution, Economic and Workforce Development, Finance, Labor, Tourism and Veterans and Military Affairs committees. She had been hoping to serve on the Judiciary and Housing committees, but, regarding her assignments, she says, “I can live with them.”
The special election was non-partisan, but Mumford will serve in the Republican-dominated Senate as a Democrat. She announced plans to seek the office after Horhn gave up the Senate seat to run for mayor of Jackson. “I was really concerned about that seat being filled by someone who had a great connection to the community, a commitment to public service.” “I said time and time again on the campaign trail that this campaign wasn’t about me,” Mumford continued. “It really was about serving this community and making sure that they had someone there that, number one, understood the needs of the community and then had a heart for service.”
As an attorney and municipal judge in Canton, Mumford is familiar with existing state laws, but now gets a chance to help pass new ones or change old ones. “I think that experience as an attorney and definitely as a judge has given me a different perspective. You know, I’m not coming in as green as some others, just because of my past legal experience.”
Mumford’s top priority for the 2026 legislative session is protecting Mississippi’s public education system. “We’ve heard a lot about school choice over these last several months. I don’t want any of our public school dollars to go to private schools. And so, I’ll be making sure that I keep an eye out on that.”
She also plans to focus on ways to improve the schools. “Paying our teachers a competitive pay rate, offering other incentives for them to live in the district where they work, especially since I have some rural areas in Senate District 26. I want to see more equitable funding in our public schools, especially in those rural areas, to make sure that every student is getting the education that they need and deserve.”
Mumford says she’ll be “thinking outside the box” in the area of public safety. That includes an effort to establish a mental health court system in Mississippi, a need that she’s witnessed first-hand as a judge. “I’ve seen on a weekly basis how mental health issues in our community affect our public safety, and I want to make sure I do something to improve that.”
Some of her other legislative priorities: “We have infrastructure needs in all parts of Senate District 26, from bridges being out, to roads that need paving, to drainage issues. I want to make sure we properly support our volunteer fire departments and also that we are looking at using some of our infrastructure needs as a gateway for some economic development for our community.”
She’ll have to step down from her position as a judge when she’s sworn in as a senator. “I can’t serve in two branches of government, so I will be resigning as City Court judge in the next few weeks. I want to give the City the opportunity to find a new judge. I will be sworn in officially as a senator on January 6, so my resignation will be around that same time.” But Mumford will continue to practice law with her husband. “Our law firm will still be running, as well as our title company. We close on residential and commercial real estate all over the state of Mississippi. And so, those two entities will continue to operate.” She’ll also keep her weekly community-based radio show on 90.1 FM, WMPR.
“I know during the session, I may not personally be there, but that show will run every Thursday (from 5-6 pm). We will also have a newsletter where we are providing information to our constituents throughout the session and even as we’re preparing for the next session. And I have always been an active community member. I will still be attending homeowner association (HOA) meetings, civic group meetings, just to give updates to the people where they are, so that everyone’s aware of what’s on the agenda and how I expect to address those issues.”
