Keating appears to have won contentious Gulfport mayor race

Absentee ballots remain to be counted.

Perhaps the most intriguing Municipal General Election mayor’s race this cycle is in Mississippi’s second largest city of Gulfport.

On Tuesday, voters appear to have chosen to send Republican nominee Hugh Keating to City Hall, electing him to succeed outgoing Mayor Billy Hewes (R) who did not seek re-election.

Unofficial results, according to campaign officials, show Keating up nearly 1,100 votes over Democrat nominee Sonya Williams Barnes.

However, there remains to be counted a reported 1,400 absentee ballots, which are slated to be tallied Wednesday.

The race has drawn interest from national party figures on both sides of the aisle, with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) coming in to support Williams Barnes and South Caro