Her right to run for Gulfport council was disputed. Full house applauds decision
Carrissa Corbett broke into a smile and pumped her arms in the air when a municipal election board qualified her Tuesday as a candidate for Ward 6 City Council in Gulfport.
Incumbent Republican R.Lee Flowers challenged Corbett's candidacy, saying she has not lived in Gulfport for the required two years before the June 3 election. Corbett says she's lived in Ward 6 since 2019.
Through her attorneys, Warren Conway and Maxine Lawson-Conway, Corbett presented 130 pages of documents to establish her Ward 6 residency.
The Gulfport Municipal Election Commission met Tuesday morning before a full house to determine whether Corbett is a qualified candidate, based on residency. The crowd applauded when the commission qualified her.
But their elation was short-lived.
Carrissa Corbett, right, a Democratic candidate for Ward 6 City Council in Gulfort, sits with her attorney, Warren Conway, as incument Republican R.Lee Flowers challenges her residency.
Election commission hears challenge
After the declaration, the commission heard Flowers' challenge of her residency.
Flowers maintains that Corbett has been living in Long Beach, where she claimed a home for the 2024-25 school year and where her son was attending school. She gave the school district two Long Beach leases and a utility bill with a Long Beach home address as proof that she and her son were residents, according to documents presented to the commission by Malcolm Jones, the attorney representing Flowers.
One of Flowers' biggest arguments was that Corbett put a post office box, rather than a home address, on her qualifying statement for the Gulfport City Council race.
'She created a situation where she has to prove her qualifications by absolute proof with no contingencies,' Jones told the commission.
Corbett attorney Warren Conway told the commission that Corbett's son got kicked out of Long Beach schools the day after municipal party primaries in Gulfport because he didn't live in that city. Corbett's documentation for her Ward 6 residency in Gulfport included bank statements, leases, bills and sworn statements from her mother, with whom she lives, and neighbors.
During a break, Lawson-Conway told the Sun Herald: 'I think it's fair to say that Mr. Flowers is afraid of his opponent and afraid to have her on the ballot because if she's on the ballot, she's going to be elected.'
After the hearing, the commission voted unanimously a second time that Corbett is a qualified candidate for the Ward 6 City Council seat.
'All we want is for her to be placed on the ballot and let the people decide,' election commission member Brenda Matthews said at the hearing's conclusion. 'Mr. Flowers has been on the council for years. So we need a change. We need Ms. Carrissa to be on the ballot again so the people can decide.'
Both Corbett and Flowers won primary races to compete in the general election.
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