Mississippi Court of Appeals candidate Ed Patten appears to beheaded for a runoff in two weeks for the state court seat, but hestill has some work to do in chancery court.

Patten, who was unopposed Tuesday for re-election to the 15thDistrict Chancery Court judge seat for Lincoln and Copiah counties,also placed second in the race for the state appeals court seat. Hewill advance to face front-runner state Rep. Virginia Carlton for aspot on the state bench.

“We’re getting ready to gear up and start work again,” Pattensaid this morning.

With 400 or 411 precincts reporting this morning, Carlton leadthe ballot with 37,703 votes, or 33 percent.

Carlton, 42, is serving her first term in the Mississippi House.She is a former assistant district attorney and is also alieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, where she serves as ajudge advocate general.

It looked like Patten would advance to the runoff aftergarnering 32,249 votes, or 28 percent, with Chancery Court JudgeLarry Buffington capturing 30,578 votes, or 27 percent. AttorneyScott Phillips, of Columbia, was fourth with 8.600 votes andattorney Richard Grindstaff, of Byram, was last with 4,715votes.

Before preparing for the runoff, though, Patten said he hasabout 30 matters to address today in chancery court.

“I have to take care of that,” Patten said.

Patten touted the fact he has continued to handle a fullworkload in chancery court while still campaigning for the appealscourt seat. He said Tuesday’s vote indicated that voters recognizedthe value of qualifications and experience in the courtroom asvaluable components for serving on the appellate bench.

“I was extremely pleased with the campaign,” said Patten, whoexpressed his appreciation for the strong showing Lincoln andCopiah counties. “Everybody who helped worked extremely hard.”

In Lincoln County, Patten lead the ticket with 4,273 votes to1,570 for Carlton and 911 for Buffington. Copiah County race totalswere unavailable due to technical difficulties.

Patten said he expected Tuesday’s race to be close between thethree top finishers.

“I felt it was going to be a close race among the three,” Pattensaid. “None of the results surprised me tremendously.”

In his other race, Patten was unopposed for a third term asjudge of 15th Chancery Court District. Should be win the runoff, anappointment would be made for the chancery court position and thena special election would be held.

Current Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick did not seek re-electionto the seat he had held since the Court of Appeals was founded in1994. He has been nominated to become a U.S. district judge inJackson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.