Mississippi runoff election for state Supreme Court justice is too close to call

A runoff election for the state Supreme Court in Mississippi is too close to call between state Sen. Jenifer Branning and incumbent Justice Jim Kitchens as of Wednesday morning. 

Although Mississippi judicial candidates run without party labels, Branning had the endorsement of the Republican Party, while Kitchens had several Democratic Party donors but did not receive an endorsement from the party. 

Branning, who has been a state senator since 2016, led Kitchens by 2,678 votes out of 120,610 votes counted as of Wednesday morning. Kitchens is seeking a third term and is the more senior of the court’s two presiding justices, putting him next in line to serve as chief justice. Her lead had been 518 just after midnight Wednesday.

Mississippi state Sen. Jenifer Branning and Justice Jim Kitchens. (Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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Around midnight Wednesday, The Associated Press estimated there were more than 11,000 votes still to be counted. In the Nov. 5 election, 7% of votes were counted after election night.

Branning had a substantial lead in the first round of voting with 42% compared to Kitchens' 36%. Three other candidates split the rest.

The victor will likely be decided by absentee ballots that are allowed to be counted for five days following an election in Mississippi, as well as the affidavit ballots, according to the Clarion Ledger.

Voter turnout typically decreases between general elections and runoffs, and campaigns said turnout was especially challenging two days before Thanksgiving. The Magnolia State voted emphatically for President-elect Donald Trump, who garnered 61.6% of the vote compared to Vice President Harris’ 37.3%.

Branning and Kitchens faced off in District 1, also known as the Central District, which stretches from the Delta region through the Jackson metro area and over to the Alabama border.

Mississippi Supreme Court justices including Justice Jim Kitchens, seated at right, fourth from top, listen to arguments on July 6, 2023 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Branning calls herself a "constitutional conservative" and says she opposes "liberal, activists judges" and "the radical left." The Mississippi GOP said she was the "proven conservative," and that was why they endorsed her. 

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She has not previously held a judicial office but served as a special prosecutor in Neshoba County and as a staff attorney in the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Division of Business Services and Regulations, per the Clarion Ledger.

Branning voted against changing the state flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem and supported mandatory and increased minimum sentences for crime, according to Mississippi Today.

Kitchens has been practicing law for 41 years and has been on the Mississippi Supreme Court since 2008, and prior to that, he also served as a district attorney, according to the outlet.

The Magnolia State voted emphatically for President-elect Donald Trump, who garnered 61.6% of the vote compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 37.3%. (Getty Images)

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He is endorsed by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Action Fund, which calls itself "a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond." Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., also backed Kitchens.

In September, Kitchens sided with a man on death row for a murder conviction in which a key witness recanted her testimony. In 2018, Kitchens dissented in a pair of death row cases dealing with the use of the drug midazolam in state executions.

Elsewhere, in the state’s other runoff election, Amy St. Pe' won an open seat on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. She will succeed Judge Joel Smith, who did not seek re-election to the 10-member Court of Appeals. The district is in the southeastern corner of the state, including the Gulf Coast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.