Patrick, Younger to Meet in Rematch

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — Two candidates will meet again less than nine months after their last election.

Retired State Farm insurance agent Bobby Patrick qualified today to challenge incumbent Chuck Younger in the Republican primary for the District 17 state Senate seat.

Patrick lost to Younger, a Lowndes County businessman and farmer, in a special election and runoff  last November to fill the remaining year on the seat held by the late Terry Brown.

They now are running for a full four-year term. But the district has changed. It now covers the eastern half of Lowndes and southeastern part of Monroe. The special election ran in the old district.

In November, the special election was non-partisan, meaning the four candidates in the initial election ran without party affiliation, although all four said they were Republicans.

But some observers say Younger benefited from Democratic cross over votes and say Patrick could stand a better chance in a straight-up Republican primary, especially with a large block of Republican voters in the New Hope and Caledonia precincts in Lowndes County.

But Younger also ran well in those areas and has farmed in Monroe County for years and is better known there.

Patrick outspent Younger almost 2-1 in the November races.

Patrick retired in 2011 after 38½ years of representing State Farm Insurance in Columbus. He and his wife Patsy three daughters and seven grandchildren. He and Younger are both members of the  First Baptist Church of Columbus.

The two will meet in the Aug. 4 Republican primary. No Democrats have qualified. The qualifying deadline is Friday.