NATCHEZ — In a refrain that has been repeated several times since Election Day, those watching to find out who will represent Senate District 37 are being told they’ll find out next week.

Wednesday and late into Thursday night — 11:57 p.m. — a five-person committee of senators heard arguments in an election challenge brought forth by incumbent Sen. Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez.

Former Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, defeated Sojourner in November’s general election by a 64-vote margin.

The committee will ultimately make a recommendation to the full Senate on which candidate to seat in District 37.

Friday, the committee of four Republicans and one Democrat heard closing arguments and went into executive session to decide what it will recommend to the full Senate, which will have to ratify who will be seated.

Sojourner’s petition to the Senate challenging the race contends that alleged election improprieties — especially in the Bude precinct in Franklin County — demanded recount actions that would ultimately result in the election going to her.

Dearing has contended that the election was conducted properly and his certification as the winner is correct.

After the closing arguments, both candidates expressed confidence in how their cases had been presented.

Dearing, who held the seat for 32 years before Sojourner beat him in 2011, said he thinks the winner could be seated as early as Monday afternoon, though Dearing said he expected some floor debate from Sojourner’s supporters in the Senate if the resolution supports seating him.

“I have all the confidence in the world in my attorney, Brad Pigott,” Dearing said. “He was so well prepared, and in his closing argument he went down item by item in the things they said were fraud or illegal or didn’t follow the statue, and he disputed every one based on witnesses, their witnesses and ours.”

Dearing said if he is not the candidate recommended by the committee, “I will pack my stuff and head back to Natchez.”

Sojourner said the process has been “a couple of really long days, but we feel really good about the evidence in the case, we feel really good about the case law and how it stacks up with the evidence.”

Sojourner said the testimony of a voter who said he witnessed poll workers in Bude helping multiple voters cast ballots was key testimony.

“What we didn’t expect was to actually hear from the poll workers in Franklin County say, ‘Yes, we go behind the machine,” and one lady said, ‘I walk them through when they are voting.’

“The case law says that is a radical departure from a mandatory provision that cannot be overlooked, and three times the Supreme Court of Mississippi has ruled in favor of tossing out those precincts when that kind of voter assistance has occurred.”

Sojourner said she hasn’t yet had any discussions with others of what “tactical decisions” should be made, if any, if the resolution doesn’t support her appointment.

“We are hopeful that the facts will really be what the panel takes into consideration, not tactical delivery mechanisms by one attorney over the other, and make a ruling based on that, because what we heard this week goes right to the heart of why so many voters don’t have (confidence in the) integrity in the voting process,” Sojourner said.

“We have got to get the system cleaned up, and we can’t do that if we are overlooking evidence at any time, no matter what the court, the case or the setting.”

The committee’s ultimate recommendation, which will follow the filing of a report with the Secretary of State, could authorize seating Dearing, authorize seating Sojourner, declare the district seat vacant, order a new election for the whole district or for certain precincts or “any other remedy including those that are available to the courts in cases involving an election contest.”