Biloxi Ward 4 Special Election results decided following close runoff

The votes are officially in, and Rodney McGilvary has been elected to the Biloxi City Council as the Ward 4 Councilman following a dramatic runoff.

McGilvary received 452 total votes in the runoff election on July 9th. Runner-up Jamie Creel finished closely behind with 443 votes. Additionally, two write-in votes were cast.

This nine-vote lead did not secure McGilvary’s victory at the time, as 17 outstanding absentee ballots were left to be counted.

However, only three of those absentee ballots were submitted by Tuesday’s deadline. None of them were found to be valid, and the runoff vote totals remained the same.

The Municipal Election Committee certified these results in a meeting on Tuesday evening.

McGilvary previously served the Biloxi Police Department for 40 years and retired as the Assistant Chief of Police. He explained that he is excited to continue giving back to his community.

“I love serving the citizens of Biloxi,” McGilvary said. “I wanted to get back into those circles to serve the citizens of Biloxi, and now I’m in that circle again and I’m going to do the best that I can. Just like I’ve talked the last three-plus months and the 70-plus miles I walked in our ward, I’m going to live up to those expectations and promises that I made.”

McGilvary will be sworn in next Tuesday to begin his tenure.