The ongoing filing period for candidates in this year’s municipal elections has already seen a whole host of office holders sign up to defend their positions.
But as these campaign-ready incumbents continue to throw their proverbial hats into the ring, a few long-serving officials have also taken the opportunity to hang up their metaphorical headgear for good.
The latest of these expectant retirees is Elon’s mayor pro tem Mark Greene, who announced his intention to forgo re-election during a regularly-scheduled town council meeting on Tuesday.
“I’ve been on the council for 16 years,” Greene told his colleagues that evening. “We don’t have any term limits. So, I just term limited myself.”
In addition to Greene’s current seat on the council, voters in Elon are also slated to consider two other positions, which presently belong to incumbent town councilmen Monti Allision and Quinn Ray.
Allision was among the first to register his candidacy when the local elections office kicked off the filing period on Friday.
Ray hadn’t attended to this formality as of Tuesday, although he has assured The Alamance News that he, too, will run for re-election this fall.
Meanwhile, more incumbent council members filed for re-election on Monday and Tuesday, and the Graham council race has drawn a newcomer, running for one of two open seats.
Mebane mayor Ed Hooks, who was first elected mayor in 2021 after a long city council tenure, filed for his second term.
Katie Burkholder, who was appointed to the Mebane city council in 2022 after long-time council member Patty Philipps moved out of town has filed to keep her seat on the council.
Also in Mebane, councilman Sean Ewing, first elected in 2021, filed for re-election to a council seat.
Likewise, in Graham, Bonnie Whitaker, who was appointed to the Graham city council in 2022 to fill the remaining term of then-council member Jennifer Talley, who was elected mayor in 2021, filed on Tuesday for a full, four-year term on the council.
A challenger has also come forth in Graham. Ryan Kluk has filed for a council seat.
In Ossipee, incumbent councilman Ernest “Smokey” Bare and Edward Gallaher have filed for re-election to the town council.
In Gibsonville, long-time alderman Mark Shepherd, who serves as the mayor pro tem, has filed for re-election.
The filing period continues through noon on Friday, July 21.
