The special election to determine who will be the next mayor of Ackerman will be decided in a runoff on Jan. 9.
Tim Cutts came away on top in the four-candidate race on Tuesday with the highest number of votes (161), while Dale Reid finished second with 102 votes. The two candidates will appear on the Jan. 9 ballot as independents.
Levon Murphy finished third among the candidates with 89 votes, while Carl “Barney” Phelps pulled in 44 votes.
Three affidavit ballots are left to be processed on Wednesday, but Ackerman City Clerk Debbie Boley told the Starkville Daily News it would not impact the outcome of the race.
Boley said there were 22 absentee ballots cast and turnout was around 42 percent, with 396 of the town’s 930 registered voters making it to the polls on Tuesday.
The winner of the special election will replace Dick Cain, who passed away in November at the age of 71 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Cain served three terms as the city's mayor.