As city clerk candidates gear up for the May 16 runoff, they also need to look toward the general election, say local political pundits.

Local veterinarian Dr. Alton Hall, a longtime political follower, said both Donnie Holloway and Fredericka Cain Todd should pay attention to the current campaign and to a possible run against independent JoeAnne Hicks.

&uot;The dynamics of that race is in the general election,&uot; Hall said. &uot;(Hicks is) extremely well respected. &uot;They’ve got to keep her in mind also.&uot;

Holloway and Todd will face each other in the runoff. Holloway got 43 percent of the vote, or 2,482 votes, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Todd got 36.63 percent of the vote, or 2,114 votes. Billy Geoghegan got 17 percent of the vote, and Peter Rinaldi, who dropped out before the primary, got 2 percent of the vote.

The winner of the runoff faces Hicks in the June 6 general election.

Holloway is business manager at Natchez Ford Lincoln Mercury. Todd is executive director of Natchez Rural Health Clinic. Hicks is a deputy city clerk in the city clerk’s office.

Former Mayor Tony Byrne said he was not surprised by the results of the city clerk primary election, but he didn’t offer any predictions on the outcome.

Former Adams County Circuit Clerk also said the race was hard to predict.

&uot;They’re all very qualified,&uot; he said. &uot;(The primary) was hard for me to call. It felt like Fredericka would have been in the runoff.&uot;

Neither Todd nor Holloway said they were surprised by the results of the race. Holloway said he was surprised – and disappointed – by the turnout. Less than half of the city’s registered voters came to the polls.

Holloway said he will continue to campaign as he did before the primary, greeting people door-to-door and shaking hands. He has campaigned on his qualifications.

Holloway has 13 years of banking experience and also serves as president of the Natchez-Adams County Port Commission.

Todd said she will also continue a door-to-door campaign, but she has added two new promises. She said if elected she will donate $12,000 of the $48,000 city clerk’s salary to recreation projects in Ward 1. She said she chose Ward 1 because that’s where her husband and his family were born.

Todd also said she would look into a &uot;financially acceptable concept of ‘earmarking’ funds where all funds will not go into the general fund.&uot; She said she did not know if that process is done now in the city clerk’s office.

Both Holloway and Todd said that if elected they would be a full-time city clerk.

Todd said several voters have asked her about the issue. She said that although she owns a business, she would devote her time to the office and would hire someone to run the health clinic for her.

Holloway said he also believes it is a full-time job.

&uot;It’s a demanding job,&uot; he said. &uot;I have no other businesses to deter me from giving it my full time and effort.&uot;

In addition to the city clerk’s runoff, Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown and F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith will face each other in a mayoral runoff May 16.

Hall said the dynamics of the city clerk’s race are slightly different than the mayoral runoff because both mayoral candidates are white. But Todd is black and Holloway is white, and some analysts said the vote appeared to fall somewhat along racial lines. For example, Todd won Ward 2, which is predominantly black.

She said she agreed that there seemed to be a racial division in the voting.

&uot;I am disappointed,&uot; Todd said. &uot;The community talks about problems in the school system and problems here and there but they don’t really want to deal with the real issue – qualifications.&uot;

Holloway did not wish to comment on the racial divisions.