NATCHEZ — The lonely feeling of being the only Republican in a contested race on the Adams County ballot didn’t last long for Melanie Sojourner Tuesday.

Sojourner won her party’s nomination for the District 27 Mississippi Senate Seat and will now face longtime incumbent Bob Dearing in November.

“It’s been humbling,” Sojourner said. “But the first news that’s been real exciting has been the Republican turnout in Southwest Mississippi. It speaks volumes for good hardworking conservatives.”

Sojourner said much work preparing for Tuesday’s primary was focused on simply encouraging voters to vote on the Republican ticket, which contained no other local races.

Sojourner had 1,492 votes or 67 percent of the vote district-wide Tuesday night with 56 of 60 precincts reporting.

In Adams County she received 734 votes or 82.01 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting.

Her Republican opponent, Stephen Oglesby of Franklin County received 158 votes or 17.65 percent in the county.

“Running this race as a Republican was just about being honest,” Sojourner said.

Now, she said, the focus is on November.

“We’ll have a meeting in a week and get our arms around a really good strategy,” she said.

“We are so thankful and so blessed. So many people stepped up. We’ve had some people work so hard for us across the district.”

House District 94

Incumbent Robert L. Johnson III was leading the race for House of Representatives District 94 Tuesday night with 53 percent of the vote with 17 of 20 precincts reporting. Challenger James “Rickey” Gray had 47 percent of the vote.

In Adams County, Johnson received 2,334 votes or 52.04 percent of the vote. Gray received 2,149 votes or 47.92 percent of the vote.