More than two dozen candidates have fled for election or reelection, through Friday, the first week of the 2025 municipal filing season, according to the Alamance County Board of Elections.
A lot of focus is in Graham, where Randy Phillips, a retired emergency services worker, filed within the first few hours for one of the two available seats on Graham’s city council.
But the office was also busy later in the day and week as other candidates filed for election or reelection.
In other Graham races, city councilman Bobby Chin filed for a second, four-year term on the city council, which also drew a second non-incumbent candidate, Jim Young, a member of the city’s planning board and a former mayoral candidate in 2017. The second incumbent Graham councilman, Joey Parsons, has indicated he will not seek reelection inasmuch as he is anticipating a move outside the city.
And Graham mayor Jennifer Talley also filed for reelection.
Another area which will apparently have some lively competition is in Mebane. Incumbent Mebane council members Tim Bradley, who’s currently serving as the mayor pro tem, and Montrena Hadley filed for reelection on Wednesday. The third incumbent, Jonathan White, filed Friday.
Meanwhile, at least two challengers are running. Blair Helms filed on Tuesday; meanwhile, former planning board member Kurt Pearson announced Thursday his candidacy for a seat on the Mebane city council, although he had not yet filed. [See separate story in this edition.]
In Swepsonville, three incumbent council members filed for reelection on Monday: Henry Carrouth, who currently serves as mayor, as well as incumbent councilmen John Andrews and Wilbur Suggs.
They will be joined on the ballot by non-incumbent Lee Walls, who filed Thursday.
In Elon, non-incumbent Steve Exum filed for a seat on the town council. Two council seats are on the ballot this year, those of Randy Orwig and Stephanie Bourland, although Bourland has indicated she doesn’t intend to seek reelection. Orwig filed on Thursday, as did another newcomer for the Elon town council, Michael Ratigan.
Elon’s incumbent mayor Emily Sharpe also filed on Thursday.
And in Burlington, former mayor Ian Baltutis filed for a city council seat. Mayor Jim Butler, who ousted Baltutis four years ago, is not seeking reelection. Councilman and former mayor Ronnie Wall told The Alamance News this week that he is not planning to run for reelection or for mayor; councilman Harold Owen has not yet indicated his intentions on reelection.
Donna M. Vanhook, who ran for Burlington mayor in 2021 and as a Democrat for state senate in 2024, has filed for a seat on the Burlington city council.
In Gibsonville, Darian Smith has filed for the partial, remaining two year-term caused by the January resignation of long-time mayor Lenny Williams.
Incumbent alderman Paul Dean has filed for reelection; newcomer Byron Bellman has also filed for one of two available seats on the board of aldermen. No word yet on the intentions of Bryant Crisp, the other incumbent Gibsonville alderman first elected in 2021.
Patricia Jones and Jose McBroom filed for reelection to two available seats on the Green Level town council. Meanwhile, a third candidate, Lesley Sanders-Carter, has also filed for the Green Level town council.
Incumbent councilmen Richard A. Overman and Jim McAdams have filed for the two seats on the Ossipee town council.
In Haw River, town councilman Shawn Riggan has filed for reelection to the city council; also filing for one of two open seats on the town council is Debbie A. Brown. One Haw River council seat is vacant by virtue of the elevation of then-councilman Lee Lovette to be mayor after then-mayor Kelly Allen was appointed by the Alamance County Republican Party to serve on the county’s board of commissioners.
Incumbent alderman Philip Cheap filed for one of three alderman seats on the Village of Alamance board of aldermen, as did newcomer Ken Cass; filing for reelection Friday was the village’s mayor, Don Tichy.
