Just Get Out and Vote

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — In case you missed it, it’s local election time. It’s your opportunity to get out there and be involved in how our city operates.

On Tuesday morning, the polls will open at 7 a.m. Up for consideration are the positions of Mayor and Ward II Alderman. Ward I Alderman Thomas Mayfield’s seat is also up for reelection, but there are no challengers for the position.

In the Alderman’s race, you have the incumbent, Alex Monsour, who Vickie Bailey is challenging. The lines for the Ward were redrawn after the 2020 census and the 2021 election. That creative redistricting added a group of predominantly white voters to Ward II. In 2021, Monsour won the Ward with 154 votes over Bailey. In 2017, Monsour won the Ward with an eight-vote margin.

The Mayor’s race has three candidates: the incumbent George Flaggs, challenger Willis Thompson, and Kasman Massey. Thompson and Flaggs have traditional campaigns, while Massey has focused on a primarily internet-based campaign.

The issues facing Vicksburg are many, with crime, blight, and a declining population at the forefront of most people’s concerns. The incumbents are focusing on other issues like economic growth, business investment, and rising property values. If you feel as though you and our community have benefited from the economic growth, business investment, and increasing property values, then vote for the incumbents.

If you feel crime, blight, and a declining population are more concerning than whatever gains have been made from economic growth, business investment, and rising property values, then vote for new people to fill the Alderman and Mayor’s seats.

Either way, the future of our city depends on you getting involved and casting your vote.

In 2017 and 2021, around 4000 people voted. The voters who took the time to come out reelected Flaggs, Monsour, and an unopposed Mayfield.

The time is upon us. If you are happy with the way things are going in Vicksburg or if you think Vicksburg can do better, the time is now to cast your vote.