Mills Makes It A Conservative Threesome

As much of Jefferson County is already on Holiday Schedule until 2014, the potential candidate pool for the upcoming May 2014 election is growing. Though several incumbents that are currently not contested have turned in their petitions and paperwork well in advance of the noon deadline on February 20, 2014, most candidates in the more hotly contested races still have petitions and paperwork out. Four early spotlight races for the May election appear to be the Office of General Sessions Judge, Jefferson County Clerk, Office of Sheriff of Jefferson County and Jefferson County Mayor. Two of the four have no incumbent candidate, as the current longstanding County Court Clerk and General Sessions Judge have both declined to run for another term. None of the three candidates for Court Clerk (Adderhold, Estes and Henry) have turned in their petitions, though Adderhold and Estes have turned in their Treasurer Form. Of the four potential candidates for General Sessions Judge (Roach, Randolph, Scroggins and Repass), only two, Randolph and Scroggins, have turned in their petitions though all four candidates have filed their Treasurer Form.

Currently, there are three potential Republican candidates for Mayor of Jefferson County. Incumbent Palmieri, Satterfield and County Commission Chairman Mills, who added his name to the mix in the days following the initial pick up day. One Democrat candidate, Dockery, will run during the democrat primary and is currently uncontested. As of Friday around noon, no candidates for Mayor had turned in petitions though three (Satterfield, Mills and Dockery) had filed Treasurer Forms.

Since the initial pick up of petitions for Jefferson County Sheriff, one more name has been added to the potential pool. Incumbent McCoig and Kearney are listed as Republicans and, upon completion of necessary paperwork, will run in that primary. Sam Cameron has also picked up a petition and is listed as an Independent. Of the three potential candidates, only McCoig has turned in his qualifying paperwork, though Kearney has also turned in his Treasurer Form.

Jefferson County Administrator of Elections Charles Gibson cautioned that it is not uncommon for potential candidates to pick up a petition though not return the qualifying paperwork. Even those that turn in the necessary paperwork have a period of time, until February 27, 2014, that they can withdraw their name without still appearing on the ballot. Though some candidates elect to return paperwork early, as long as it is in and they qualify by noon of February 20, 2014, the candidate will appear on the appropriate Primary Ballot.