Candidate registration for this year’s elections is slated to resume next week after its abrupt termination more than two months ago by the order of North Carolina’s Supreme Court.
The state’s highest court ultimately suspended candidate filing on December 8 after two days of conflicting lower court rulings in response to an ongoing dispute over the state’s legislative and congressional districts.
Although the state’s redistricting fracas remains unresolved, with the latest set of proposed district maps unveiled only on Wednesday, a superior court in Wake County has nevertheless given elections officials the green light to resume candidate registration. Under the court’s order, a new filing period is set to begin at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 24 and continue until 12:00 noon on Friday, March 4.
This abbreviated filing period applies to all candidates for partisan offices who plan to compete in North Carolina’s primary, whose original date has been postponed to May 17. It also extends to any nonpartisan candidates who intend to run in the general election on November 8. Office-seekers who already signed up before registration was cut off in December will retain their status as candidates.
In Alamance County, the list of previously registered contenders is dominated by Republicans who intend to stand in the GOP’s primary for various state and local positions. These hopefuls include incumbent state senator Amy Scott Galey; incumbent state representative Dennis Riddell, who represents the state’s 64th house district; and aspiring 63rd district representatives Ed Priola and Steve Ross, who previously represented the district prior to be ousted in the 2020 elections by Democrat Ricky Hurtado.
Also on the GOP’s primary ballot are Alamance County’s incumbent district attorney Sean Boone, the county’s incumbent sheriff Terry S. Johnson, and its incumbent clerk of superior court Meredith Tuck Edwards. Meanwhile, in the race for the county’s board of commissioners, incumbents Craig Turner and Steve Carter have signed up to run alongside challenger Robert Turner.
In the nonpartisan race for the Alamance-Burlington school board, challenger Chuck Marsh was the only candidate who filed before registration was called off in December.
ATTENTION POLITICIANS, TO GET YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE ALAMANCE NEWS, FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES:
The Alamance News welcomes news from citizens announcing their candidacy for public office in the 2022 elections.
The revised filing season begins Thursday, February 24 at noon and will last until Friday, March 4, also at noon.
A biographical sketch, picture, and brief story will be carried when a candidate complies with the following guidelines:
The announcement must be timed for release on Thursday, the day it is scheduled to appear in The Alamance News.
The announcement must not have been published in any other local newspaper prior to that Thursday of its release in The Alamance News.
The candidate must not have already filed for office, even if he or she has not publicly announced his or her candidacy.
Inasmuch as a resident’s declaration of candidacy is an entirely discretionary event, the timing of which is within the candidate’s control, The Alamance News is interested to carry such information as news when it is, in fact, both timely and newsworthy.
A political announcement not meeting these criteria will be deemed advertising and run at appropriate advertising rates, subject to payment in advance.
These guidelines apply equally to all candidates – both incumbents and challengers.
Any questions about complying with these guidelines should be addressed to the publisher, Tom Boney, Jr., prior to any announcement.
