The Field Widens – More Hats In The Race

The beginning of 2014 has seen the election machine slip into full gear, as candidates for both the May and August Elections delve into the political process. While several of the local offices that are up for election find unchallenged incumbents, four are heavy with candidates looking to toss their name in the ring. County Court Clerk, currently held by a retiring Rick Farrar, has three potential candidates (Adderhold and Estes (R) and Henry(I)) for Farrar’s position, however, as of January 10, 2014, none had returned their qualifying petition. Jefferson County Election Administrator Charles Gibson has repeatedly cautioned that a petition pick up does not necessarily convert to a name on the ballot. Some potential candidates pick up, but never return, their qualifying petitions and those that do still have a window of opportunity to withdraw their name without it appearing on the ballot.

The Office of General Sessions Judge also has the potential for having heavy competition. Four candidates have picked up petitions for the retiring Judge Ben Strand’s position (Roach, Randolph, Scroggins and Repass) though only two, Randolph and Scroggins, have returned their petitions and qualified as official candidates.

Incumbent Alan Palmieri could potentially face two candidates (Satterfield and Mills) in the Republican Primary for the Office of Jefferson County Mayor. In addition, one potential candidate has picked up a petition to run as a Democrat (Dockery). Of the four that picked up petitions for the Office of Mayor of Jefferson County, only Palmieri has returned his petition and qualified to be on the ballot in May.

The Office of Sheriff of Jefferson County continues to see action, as more potential candidates have picked up petitions. Incumbent McCoig, Kearney, Davenport and Blevins have all picked up petitions and indicated their plans to run in the Republican Primary, however only McCoig and Kearney have returned their qualifying petition. McCoig is the only potential candidate that has all qualifying paperwork turned in, at this time. One potential candidate, Sam Cameron, has indicated his intent to run as an independent and picked up a petition, however it has not, yet, been returned.

Candidates for the August election have begun the qualifying process. Incumbent Anne Marie Lovelace Potts has picked up a petition for District 1 School Board and, according to information provided by the Jefferson County Election Office, Potts is currently the only potential candidate for School Board.

Potential candidates for County Commission include District 1, Clark Maples-District 3, Rita Musick-District 5, Jim (Bill) Potts, Sammy Solomon-District 6, Robert Clark, Rob Blevins-District 7, Jack Akard-District 9, James E. Carmichael, David Seal-District 10, Marcus Reed, Barbara Sheets, and Robert Beeler. Incumbents for the County Commission are Maples, Musick, Solomon, Blevins, Akard, Carmichael, Sheets and Beeler. The qualifying process has just begun for both the School Board and County Commission and neither office is party affiliated.