Filing Update – 7:20 p.m.

This is just an amendment to my earlier post: I’ve also got information that our Democratic U.S. Rep., Bob Etheridge of Lillington, also filed on Monday to seek a seventh term in Congress.

Congressman Bob, in addition to being the tallest elected official I’ve ever met (maybe Bob Heuts, Lee County’s economic development director who is like 6 feet 10 inches tall, should challenge him), also seems to have several clones. It seems he’s everywhere at once, a feat that seems impossible for a regular human to achieve.

Bob doesn’t have a challenger yet, although one seems to come from outside of Lee County (his district also covers all or parts of 10 counties in the state) each year. We’ll see what happens. Check back for updates about other races.

Filing Update – 5:30 p.m.

My earlier post contains all the names of people who filed today.

Any time in the next three weeks (the filing period ends on Feb. 29) that I hear about someone filing, I’ll post it here first. So check back often for updates.

Thanks everyone for reading.

Election Filings

As of 2:30 p.m. Monday, just two-and-a-half hours into the filing period for this year’s election, I have word of several candidates filing to run for local office.

There’ll be more information in tomorrow’s Herald, but here’s a quick summary of what’s out there so far:

*Jerry Lemmond, a Democratic mainstay on the county board of commissioners, has filed for re-election to his at-large seat.
Lemmond lives on Spring Lane in west Sanford and has served at least two terms (maybe more) on the board. He has a background in fire and emergency services.

*Larry “Doc” Oldham, a Republican from the Northwest Pocket area of Lee County, has filed for election to one of three at-large seats on the Lee County Board of Commissioners.
Oldham is a retired executive from the Lee Paving Company and the S.T. Wooten Corporation.

*Richard Hayes, a Democrat from the Westlake Valley area of Sanford, has filed for election to one of the at-large seats as well.
Hayes, a retired educator, served a term on the Lee County Board of Education from 2000 to 2004.

I think the at-large races are especially interesting. During the primary, which will be held in May, each party has to choose up to three candidates for the at large seats. Then in November’s general election, those candidates battle for the most votes. The top three are seated, meaning you see an election in which everyone battles everyone. I’m sure you’ll see Democrats try to package themselves with fellow Democrats and Republicans do the same, but people don’t necessarily always vote for packages of candidates. It’s an interesting dynamic for a local election.

*Harry Undy has filed for election to the District 2 seat on the Lee County Board of Commissioners.
You might remember Undy, a Repulican from the Carolina Trace community, as the guy who kind of got hosed out of an appointment to the board back in January. After Lee County Republicans got themselves re-organized after a period of non-recognition by the state party, they recommended Undy for appointment to the commission (Republican Kirk Smith had recently stepped down). The board went another way and appointed Republican John Quiggle. Quiggle hasn’t yet said whether he plans to run for re-election.
Undy is a retired Marine and served in the Korean War, where he received three Purple Hearts.

*Three members of the Lee County Board of Education (Chairman Bill Tatum, Dr. Lynn Smith and Shawn Williams) have also filed for re-election. Sources tell me that board member John Bonardi isn’t going to seek a second term. Because the school board is non partisan and completely at large, the race is decided in May’s primary by popular vote.

*On the state level, Rep. Jimmy Love (D-Sanford) and Sen. Bob Atwater (D-Chatham/Lee) have both filed for re-election. Neither has an opponent yet.

Back From The Void

I return.

Had a fun trip, spent too much money, did terrible at golf (until the 18th hole anyway, that’s usually when I find my swing), and feel nice and relaxed.

I’m hoping there’ll be a bunch of stories this week about election filings — there are a whole bunch of local seats up for election this cycle, and the filing period began today at noon. I’ve already got announcements from three candidates, and I hope there are more.

When I have a few free minutes, I’ll post what I’ve got here. Check back often!