A number of candidates have already filed to run for local office
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
A number of potential candidates are filing to run for local elected office in 2024.
Constitutional officers, three county commission seats, and two school board seats are on the ballot this year.
Candidate qualifying begins on June 10, so it’s still early.
Here’s how some of the races are shaping up so far:
Incumbent Sheriff Jared Miller has filed to run for re-election and has drawn a challenger in Armand “Army” Reyes.
Supervisor of Elections Joe Morgan has filed to run for re-election, and has not drawn an opponent.
Other constitutional officers have yet to file. Incumbents are Clerk of Courts Greg James, Property Appraiser Ed Brimner, and Tax Collector Lisa Craze.
With the announced retirement of Superintendent of Schools Bobby Pearce, that race is shaping up between Rick Myhre and Matt Payne.
Ricky Strickland briefly filed and then withdrew his candidacy, reportedly due to conflicts with his state Department of Education job.
No one has filed yet for the county commission district 1 seat currently held by Ralph Thomas.
County commission district 3 has two candidates so far: incumbent Mike Kemp and challenger Valerie Russell. Kemp edged past Russell in the 2020 vote that was a three-way race at one point with then-incumbent Mike Stewart.
In the county dommission district 5 race, Josh Lawhon has filed to run for the seat currently held by Chuck Hess. Hess has not formally announced whether he will seek re-election.
For school board district 2, Angie Nichols and June Davis have filed to run. Incumbent Melisa Taylor has not formally announced whether she will run again, but it is expected she will not.
For school board district 4, incumbent Josh Brown is being challenged by Camden Smit.
