Unofficial election results from DeSoto County indicate no surprises in Tuesday’s Nov. 5 general election with Republicans winning in every contested race. 

Roger Wicker and Trent Kelly retained their seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, respectively, and Peggy Dobbins, the sole Democratic challenger to the county election board suffered a blistering defeat. 

County and statewide, incumbents were successful in each contested race, including Shelia Riley’s bid to stay on the DeSoto County School Board. 

The following results are with all 47 DeSoto County precincts reporting.

U.S. Senate

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker will stay in the Senate after beating Democratic challenger and U.S. Army veteran Ty Pinkins in Tuesday’s general election. 

The AP called the race in Wicker’s favor early Tuesday night, and the Wicker campaign claimed victory on social media a short time later.

Pinkins made frequent calls throughout the campaign for a debate with Wicker, who declined each request. The Wicker campaign, however, didn’t appear to suffer from that decision.

According to the county’s unofficial election results released Tuesday evening, Wicker carried 59.57% of the vote in DeSoto County.

Wicker overwhelmingly carried the Republican primary in March, too, defeating retired Marine Corps Col. Ghannon Burton and Mississippi state Rep. Dan Eubanks with more than 61% of the votes. 

DeSoto County tops Mississippi in absentee voting

First elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1987, Wicker followed that with a successful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2007. 

1st Congressional District

Trent Kelly, Republican, defeated Dianne Black, Democrat, for a second time in the race for Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District.

Both candidates ran for the same seat in 2022 when Kelly earned 73% of the votes.

District-wide, Kelly carried about 57% of the votes, and the race was called in his favor before 9 p.m. In DeSoto County, Kelly took 59.34%, or 35,261 votes. 

Despite running without an opponent in March, Kelly received an endorsement from former U.S. President Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to that election. 

“An original member of my Mississippi leadership team, Congressman Trent Kelly has my complete and total endorsement!” the former President wrote at the time on Truth Social. 

Mississippi Supreme Court

Both Robert P. Chamberlin and Jimmy Maxwell ran unopposed to keep their seats on the Mississippi Supreme Court. 

Chamberlin represents District 3-Position 1, and Maxwell serves District 3-Position 2. 

DeSoto County Election Commission

Incumbent David Ross, a Republican, defeated Democratic challenger Peggy Dobbins and kept his seat on the DeSoto County Election Commission, District 5. 

According to the county’s unofficial election results, Ross won with 75.11%, or 10,591 total votes. 

Dobbins was the only Democrat who ran in Tuesday’s election to serve on the commission’s all-Republican board.

Additionally, Laura Edler ran unopposed for District 1, and Chad Engelke ran unopposed for District 3.

DeSoto County School Board

Incumbent Shelia Riley overwhelmingly defeated Todd Mayo and will continue to serve on the DeSoto County School Board, representing District 4. 

Unofficial results put Riley at 71.15% ahead with 6,068 votes. 

Riley has served on the county school board since 2018 and has been a part of DeSoto County Schools for 24 years, including time as a Title 1 instructional assistant in reading and math at Hernando Middle.

Also, Jerald Wheeler, a former school resource officer, ran unopposed for his seat.

Wheeler was first appointed to the board in 2022 when Ann Jolley stepped down weeks before the general election that year. 

Wheeler spent 24 years in law enforcement before his retirement and subsequent time on the board.