Election Results

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Oxford Eagle, Wednesday, November 5, 1997
Lamar Wins Re-Election Slimmest Margin in County History
Loretta Winston STAFF WRITER
Charles "Chuck" Lamar was re-elected by a margin of 200 votes in yesterday's election for Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff -- the slimmest margin in the county's history, officials say.
The announcement of the results early this morning left incumbent Lamar surprised and jubilant, and challenger Harold Mazza demanding a re-count and re-vote.
The last time an election was so tight, officials say, was when Mayor Robert Rice won re-election over challenger Tommy Cutshall in 1948 by a margin of 347 votes.
Lamar, when reached for comment after midnight at his celebration party in the Oxford Holiday Inn Banquet Room on N. Lamar Avenue said that he was thankful for the voters who had supported him through what he called "the most trying period of my life."
Besides Lamar's recent troubles in the sheriff's race, where he faced stiff oppostion from upstart challenger Mazza, Lamar's daughter Macy has been missing since Sept. 20.
Once believed to be a kidnap victim of "box killer" Edward Pierce, no trace of Macy Lamar was found in the aftermath of Pierce's gun battle with Las Vegas Police last month which resulted in his death.
Pierce's companion, Victoria Symons, retained for questioning by Las Vegas authorities and still in their custody, steadfastly maintains that she knows nothing about Macy Lamar, alive or dead.
Mazza, who came out of nowhere to upset the usually quiet race, was reached for comment at his victory party at the Oxford Best Western hotel on S. Lamar Avenue, and was visibly upset as he screamed into this reporter's tape recorder.
"It's a fraud! He's a fraud! I am going to the courthouse first thing tomorrow morning and demanding a recount of this election! Justice must be served in this county -- that's all there is to it," Mazza barked, before leaving the party in a rush as more cameramen and reporters began to arrive from other newsgathering organizations.
Long-time Oxford resident and political observer Sam Bilbo believes that Lamar is deserving of the victory, if only to carry out his "unfinshed business" presumably the recovery of his daughter.
"I voted for him just so he'd have them resources," said Bilbo, who served on Oxford's city council from 1970 to 1978. "He might have to travel the country to find her. I want him to have that badge behind him."
But other citiizens, such as Chevron gas station operator Ray Milam, put no stock in Lamar's re-eleciton, confessing that "more problems are on the way."
"I'd like to move, is what I'd like to do," he said. " I don't want to be stuck here when he goes full-tilt over the edge."
We can only say that time will tell what the sheriff will accomplish next. County voting preceinct commissioners say that no irregularities will be found in their records of the voting. As an extra measure of safety, they say, they requested that the state capitol in Jackson send 10 officials from the state justice department to observe the voting in each ballot location, and to report any irregularities.
Sources say that all of Yoknapatawpha County's voting precincts were run with efficiency, speed, and identification checks.