After the first official week of qualifying, several county residents have thrown their names into the pot to be considered for the upcoming municipal elections to be held in Hodges, Phil Campbell, Red Bay, Russellville and Vina. Many of the names will be familiar as most of the incumbents will be seeking re-election, but there are several new names to consider, especially in the city of Russellville.
Qualifying for municipal election began at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
So far in the town of Hodges, only incumbent Jim Isom in Place 4 has qualified for re-election.
In Vina, current mayor D. W. Franklin and incumbent council members Mary Hammock in Place 1 and Robert Moomaw in Place 3 have qualified along with newcomer Denieta Cantrell, who qualified for Place 5.
Two new faces will be on the ballot for mayor in Phil Campbell – Steve Bell and Jimmy Paul Rice had qualified for the position as of Thursday afternoon. Also in Phil Campbell, incumbent Danny Brown qualified for Place 2; incumbent Roy Nagle will be facing Dale Moody in Place 1; current councilman Eddie Barton will be facing Melissa Moore in Place 3; and newcomers Kent Owens and Lynn Landers will face off in Place 4.
As of Thursday, Red Bay City Clerk Linda Holcomb said only incumbents have qualified for August’s city election, meaning Mayor Bobby Forsythe, Place 1 Councilman Mike Kennedy, Place 2 Councilman Mike Stockton, Place 3 Councilman David Tiffin, Place 1 Councilwoman Charlene Fancher and Place 1 Councilman Brad Bolton are running unopposed as of now.
In the county seat of Russellville, most everyone who has made candidate announcements or put out political signs has officially qualified.
For the mayor’s seat, current mayor Troy Oliver will face current District 5 Councilman David Reed Grissom. Qualifying in District 1 are incumbent Jeff Masterson and Terry Bolton; in District 2, current councilman William Nale and Charles Patrick “Pat” Seal have qualified; in District 3, incumbent Gary Cummings and Burns “Buckshot” Saint have qualified; current councilman Lanny Hubbard is the only one to qualify in District 4 so far; and Susie Malone has qualified to fill the vacancy left by David Grissom in District 5.
Those who have made candidate announcements or have put out political signs in Russellville but have not yet qualified include David Palmer in District 1, Roy Cornelison in District 3 and Jamie Harris in District 5.
Potential candidates will have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17 when qualifying for municipal elections will officially end.
To be eligible to run, candidates must have lived in their municipality for at least 90 days prior to the election.
Qualifying papers are available at each of the city halls within the county.
The municipal elections will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 28 and any run-offs will be held on Oct. 9.