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Wlaf1450As one election ends, another begins.
This Thursday, Aug. 16, is the last to day to qualify for elections in the City of LaFollette and the towns of Caryville and Jellico.
In LaFollette, there are two council seats on the fall ballot with five contenders coming forward at this point to pick up petitions.
Joe Bolinger and Ann Thompson are being challenged for their seats by former city mayor Cliff Jennings, local businessmen Arnie Meredith (Merry Death Antiques) and Michael Hammons (Logan’s Car Wash). While all of these people have picked up petitions, as of Friday they hadn’t returned them with the needed 25 signatures to qualify.
In Caryville, each ward has a seat coming open on the aldermen board.
To date, Vickie Heatherly, ward one, David Smith, ward two, and Beth Lawson, ward three, also the incumbent, have each picked up a petition to run. Heatherly is the one to have returned her petition as of Friday, according to election commission records.
The Town of Jellico has all of its seats on the ballot.
Current Mayor Forster Baird has qualified to run for his seat. He will be challenged by Dwight Osborn, James F. Morris, Sr., and John Clifton. Darrell Byrge has also picked up a petition to run for mayor, but has yet to return it.
Alderman incumbents Alvin Evans, Elsie Crawford, Louise Walden, and Sarah McQueen have picked their petitions for reelection. Only Walden has returned her petition and qualified for the fall election, election commission records indicate.
Others who have picked up petitions include Charles Vermillion, Dwight Osborne, Gerald J. Neal, Robert Hicks, Sandy Terry, Stan Marlow, Suzette Davenport and Tonia Brookman.
Vermillion, Terry and Marlow have all qualified to run as of Friday.
Also on the ballot is the fourth district school board seat left vacant after Mike Orick’s sudden death earlier this year. His wife, Jennifer was appointed by the Campbell County Commission to fill the seat until a special election could be held. She has picked and qualified to run for that seat in November. Cade Sexton and Noah Smith have also picked up petitions to run for the seat. They hadn’t returned them as of Friday.
All candidates have until Thursday, Aug. 16, at noon to qualify and Aug. 23 at noon to withdraw for the election.
The election is set for Nov. 6. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/13/2018-6AM)
I like Noah he’s a great guy. Don’t know cade at all. Dont see how either would feel right running against the widow of the prior office holder.
I have only read about Noah and seen him on TV. Seems like a very smart and well rounded young man. I love that he is young and so involved in his community and in currrent events. Sexton I dont know. That being said, I think its great that they are getting involved like this. Noah will be the one with the most current experience of knowing what it is like on the ground level in our schools. With that, no disrespect at all, but that School Board seat belongs to the people not to anyone individual. I think it was very respectful and admirable of those people to step away and let Mrs. Orick assume her late husbands seat until an election. Its now election time…may the best candidate win!