Gulfport Mayoral Race: Hugh Keating elected mayor as absentee ballots are counted

GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV) — Republican Hugh Keating has been elected as the Gulfport’s next mayor, defeating Democratic candidate Sonya Williams Barnes in what shaped up to be a hotly-contested campaign.

According to unofficial election night returns, Keating received 53 percent of the vote to Barnes’ 46 percent. These numbers include absentee ballots, which were added to the vote totals just after midnight.

Officials say there are still 491 affidavit votes to  be counted and 109 absentee ballots that could still possibly be turned in within the allotted window of time following the election. Even if all of these 600 votes are for Barnes, it won’t be enough to catch Keating — as he has 6,902 individual votes to her 6,073.

Stay tuned to WXXV as we will bring you the final vote tallies as they are counted and made official.