NATCHEZ — Some candidates have been campaigning for months to remain or gain a seat with the Concordia Parish Police Jury, but for those in three races, it’s not over yet.

Three incumbents face a challenger, and some challengers said making it to a runoff means voters think it’s time for a change.

District 4B

Melvin Ferrington, who has been on the board representing District 4B for 18 years and has served as president of the jury for nearly eight of them, will face Jimmy Wilkinson again on April 21.

Ferrington, a Democrat, had 347 votes, or 34 percent, and Wilkinson, an independent, had 344 votes, or 34 percent.

Wilkinson said he believes the number of votes that went to him and to the other two candidates, Michael Lyles and David Turner — who, together, captured a total of 320 votes, or 31 percent — represent the voices of residents who want to see different leadership in their district.

“(Approximately) 650 out of 1,100 voters, spoke out and said they’re ready for a change,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said the district is ready to tackle old issues and move forward.

“We’ve been fighting the same issues for 16 years,” Wilkinson said.

The main issue is drainage, Wilkinson said, and it still needs fixing.

“Some people actually have a wood pallet from their car door to the front door of their house, so they won’t be in the water,” Wilkinson said.

But Ferrington said he’s asking voters to re-elect him to give him a chance to finish the plans he helped start by implementing a new drainage committee.

“We’ve got a lot of things going on in parish, and I’ll continue working on drainage — with FEMA and the drainage committee — to secure grants,” Ferrington said.

Ferrington said he has successfully faced an opponent in a runoff once before. He said he will work hard for the next month to reach his voters at their doors or by phone and discuss his platform of finishing the jobs he’s started.

“I’m just going to continue to run a good, clean campaign with no smear tactics,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always done.”

District 2

In a pool of five candidates, incumbent Willie Dunbar, a Democrat, and educator and former police juror Fred Marsalis, a Democrat, came out on top Saturday night.

Dunbar had 309 votes, or 47 percent, and Marsalis had 208 votes, or 32 percent.

The remaining 21 percent of the votes were spread among 87 ballots for Betty Albert Wilson, 32 ballots for Richard White and 32 ballots for Anthony “Bro Man” Lewis.

Marsalis said he was pleased he made the runoff from a pool of so many.

He said the response of some of the police jury leaders during last summer’s Mississippi River flood prompted him to throw his name in the hat for District 2.

“People were not adequately informed how to handle the flood,” Marsalis said.

He said though the City of Vidalia had good communication, he thought the residents at Concordia Park were left in the dark.

And on that note, Marsalis said he wanted to see more communication and cooperation between the parish police jury and the mayors and boards of aldermen in Vidalia and Ferriday to fix drainage once and work to move the parish forward.

“Teamwork (needs to be) going on, that’s the only way we’re going to alleviate the problems that we have,” Marsalis said.

Dunbar said with the number of candidates to pick from, it would have been difficult to win the race outright.

“I wasn’t really surprised,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar said he always has opponents, and he respected them all this time around. And now, his plan is to focus on the issues he wants to continue to work on for the next four years.

“My main goal is always been a playground for the kids,” Dunbar said.

He said children deserve to have somewhere to play in the parish, and there currently isn’t anywhere for them to go.

Dunbar said he will stick to his motto and ask voters to keep the working man working for the people in this community.

He also said he would remain committed to an open-door policy with residents of his district.

“If you call me I will return your call,” he said.

District 5A

In district 5A, incumbent Jimmy Jernigan will face Samuel “Tom” Lowry in a runoff.

Jernigan, a two-term incumbent and a Democrat, had 260 votes or 42 percent, and Lowry, a Democrat, had 161 votes, or 26 percent.

Other candidates in the race, Wilbur “Steel Bill” Washington, Jack Crane, Karl Davis, and Kari Tarver, took a combined total of 192 votes, or 32 percent.

Jernigan said with five opponents vying for his district, he expected Saturday’s election would result in a runoff. And he was pleased with the 42 percent of the votes he received.

“I fell good about the whole thing,” Jernigan said.

Jernigan said he’s didn’t know why he had so many opponents since he didn’t hear many complaints throughout his term from them, and he didn’t think any of the candidates attended police jury meetings regularly.

Jernigan said of the 187 jury meetings conducted since he’s been a juror, he’s only missed four. And as far as campaigning goes for the next month, Jernigan said he will keep doing what he’s been doing throughout his term.

“I visit people all through the term, not just (during) election season,” Jernigan said.

“I love the job,” he said.

Lowry said he was pleased with the way the election results panned out.

“I was very satisfied with (the campaigns) of all six candidates in my race,” Lowry said.

Lowry has also said the jury should have more cooperation with municipal boards and try to run the parish as one would a business.

Five other incumbents secured a spot on the jury for another four years Saturday night, including “Whest” Shirley, Joe Parker, Carey Cook, Jerry Beatty and Red Tiffee.