Filing begins Monday, July 7, through July 18 at noon
The Independence Day fireworks may be over by Monday morning. But the county’s election office will nevertheless resume business with a bang as it kicks off the two week registration period for candidates in this year’s municipal elections.
This year’s filing period will begin bright and early when the elections office opens its doors at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. At that point, the county’s elections staff will begin to process the paperwork for the 27 elected offices that will appear on the ballot this fall in the 10 incorporated municipalities that are situated within Alamance County.
Although any would-be office seekers will have until July 18 to attend to the formalities, many prospective candidates have already decided whether they will, in fact, hit the campaign trail later this year.
Already, there’s the makings of a potential political comeback for Burlington’s former mayor Ian Baltutis as the city’s current mayor Jim Butler prepares to step down from the dais later this year [See separate story in this edition].
In the meantime, political newcomers are adding their names to the informal roster of candidates in both Mebane and Graham, while there’s the potential for even more contenders to come out of the woodwork once the registration period formally opens on Monday.
Burlington
The forthcoming retirement of mayor Jim Butler is likely to be a game changer in Burlington, where the position of mayor will appear on the ballot this fall alongside two of the four regular seats on the city council.
If nothing else, Butler’s departure could provide a timely opening for the city’s former mayor Ian Baltutis, who was already mulling a return to electoral politics before his successor’s announcement in this week’s edition of The Alamance News.
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A native Minnesotan who settled in Bur-lington after he graduated from Elon University in 2008, Baltutis has taken a four-year breather from politics ever since he lost his position to Butler in 2021. Among other things, the city’s former mayor has used this time to obtain a graduate degree in city planning from UNC-Chapel Hill. Then, about six weeks ago, Baltutis sent the local election office the paperwork to set up a new campaign committee in preparation for a return to electoral politics later this year.
When he spoke with The Alamance News on Monday, Baltutis informed the newspaper that he had yet to decide whether he’ll make a bid for the mayor’s seat this fall or go after one of the two regular council seats that will also appear on the ballot. Either way, he insisted that he’ll focus on the same set of issues once he hits the campaign trail.
“We want to ensure that as Burlington grows, it continues to be a great place to live,” he explained, “and that Burlington is also in control of its growth.”
In addition to the mayor’s post, this year’s election will feature two regular city council positions that currently belong to councilman Ronnie Wall and Harold Owen, who serves as Burlington’s mayor pro tem. Owen and Wall had both campaigned alongside Butler when he wrung the mayor’s seat from Baltutis four years ago. The pair are now keeping their plans for the election pretty close to the vest.
Wall, who had himself served as mayor until 2015, told The Alamance News that he had yet to decide whether he’ll seek reelection when the question was put to him in the third week of June. Owen, who had served as Burlington’s city manager prior to his elevation to the council, made similar attestations at the time – a stance that he reiterated when the newspaper contacted him earlier this week.
“Honestly, I haven’t made up my mind yet,” he said in a brief phone conversation on Monday. “There’s lots of stuff going on. Family life. Work is pretty hectic. But I’m still considering it.”
In any event, should the number of candidates for either Burlington’s mayor or the city council end up being more than double the available seats, the city will hold a primary in early October to narrow the field of contenders ahead of November’s general election. Of all the municipalities in Alamance County, Burlington is the only one that requires this first round of voting in especially competitive races.
Mebane
Meanwhile, the race for Mebane’s city council is already shaking out to be a competitive one as a political newcomer joins the three incumbent councilmembers who are openly declaring their plans to run in November.
This would-be addition to Mebane’s elected leadership is Richard Blair Helms, a 28-year-old software engineer who plans to make his first bid for elected office in this year’s race for the city council.
A 15-year resident of Mebane, Helms says that his first goal as a candidate will be to foster more public engagement by finding out precisely what other Mebane residents want from their municipal government.
“My other core issue is city planning stuff,” he added. “I’m a bit of a policy nerd. I want housing to be more affordable, and the way to make it more affordable is to make it less costly to build…I want zoning practices that allow categories instead of highly restricted uses…This will make housing easier to build, and by increasing the housing supply, it will become cheaper for everyone.”
Helms may have his work cut out for himself as he faces the three incumbent councilmembers whose seats will appear on the ballot this fall.
The trio of Tim Bradley, Montrena Hadley, and Jonathan White have acknowledged they will, indeed, seek another four years on the council.
Hadley, who served as Mebane’s planning director before she joined the council, offered a laconic confirmation of her plans to run for another term on the council when contacted on Monday. Her two fellow incumbents added that they hope that the city’s voters will keep them in office in recognition of the deft way that they believe they’ve negotiated the challenges confronting the city.
“I think Mebane is in a sound financial position,” Bradley told The Alamance News in a phone conversation. “We’ve managed our growth well, and we’ve kept our infrastructure consistent with our growth.”
“I plan to continue along the same lines of what has been done in the past four years,” White added for his part. “I’m proud of Mebane, I’m proud of the council, and I’m excited to have the chance to continue to serve.”
Graham
Mayor Jennifer Talley has informed The Alamance News that she plans to seek another two-year term at the helm of Graham’s city council.
Bobby Chin, the city’s mayor pro tem, has likewise confirmed his intention to pursue an additional four years in office.
“I still believe in what I ran on when I first sought office,” Chin told the newspaper in a phone conversation on Monday: “freedom of speech, Second Amendment, and low taxes. And there’s still things to be done. So, I’m leaning toward running for reelection.”
This year will nevertheless mark an end to the tenure of Joey Parsons, the other incumbent councilmember whose seat will appear on the ballot this fall.
“We’re actually going to be moving out of the city of Graham in the near future,” Parsons said in a phone call. “So, I won’t be eligible to run for reelection.”
The opening created by Parsons’ relocation may prove a boon to Randy Philips, a retired employee of Alamance County EMS, whose campaign announcement appears elsewhere in this week’s edition of The Alamance News.
Elon
Elon’s mayor Emily Sharpe is quick to acknowledge that she’ll make every effort to hold onto the gavel despite her pride in never having had to employ it since she was first elected to preside over town council meetings in 2021.
“Yes, I plan to run,” Sharpe told The Alamance News. “For me, it’s all about maintaining all the great things about Elon and continuing to improve on that.”
Councilmember Stephanie Bourland, whose tenure also dates back to 2021, informed the newspaper that she will not seek reelection this year.
The Alamance News has not heard back from councilman Randy Orwig, whose seat will likewise appear on the ballot this year.
Gibsonville
Meanwhile, on Elon’s west flank, aspirating politicos will have an opportunity to seek Gibsonville’s top ranking post in light of the retirement of the town’s long-time mayor Lenny Williams.
Among the offices that the town’s residents will see on the ballot this fall will be an abbreviated two-year term to fill out the unexpired remainder of Williams’ four years on the dais. In the interim, the mayor’s duties have passed to Gibsonville alderman Mark Shepherd, who serves as the municipal’s mayor pro tem.
Shepherd is nevertheless adamant that he has no intention of presiding over the board of aldermen beyond this fall’s election.
“No, that’s not my plan,” he acknowledged on Wednesday. “I still have two years in my own term [on the board].”
