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.
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
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