Filings start for local races

Candidate filings for local mayoral and council races opened Monday morning at the Rockingham County Board of Elections.

The filing period for municipal races in Eden, Madison, Mayodan, Stoneville and Wentworth normally begins at noon on the first Friday in July.

Due to the July Fourth holiday Friday, this year’s start time was moved to 8 a.m. Monday. Candidate filing will be open through noon on July 17.
Tina Cardwell, deputy director for the board of elections, said early filings were relatively slow, with only one candidate from the three Western Rockingham communities on Monday – Mayodan Mayor Dwight Lake.

“I was the first in line to file,” Lake said.

Mayodan Town Council seats currently filled by Tim Simpson and Andrew Martin will also be on the Nov. 3 ballot, but no one has filed for those council races.

The mayoral posts in Madison and Stoneville will also be on this year’s local ballots, but incumbents Micky Silvers and Rex Tuggle are waiting to file.

Tuggle, currently serving his 16th year as Stoneville’s mayor, hesitated to file for an eighth term in 2007 and feels the same way this year.

“I really believe in limited terms for people holding public offices,” Tuggle said. “I’m not going to file until I see if someone else files that I can put my support behind. I’d really like to see some younger people with new ideas step forward to take on the job of moving Stoneville forward.”

With the exception of Councilwoman Jodi Lester, who won her first term on the board in 2007 at age 33, Tuggle is the youngest remaining board member at 65 years old.

“Right now is not a good time for our town and I can’t help but think there is a real need for folks with a new way of looking at things to help lead us through these tough financial times,” Tuggle said.

In Stoneville, the mayor’s post and all five council seats come up for election every two years. Tuggle said he believes the current board members – Lester, Eugene DeMoss, Jerry Odell, James Scales and Vera Smith – will file for reelection.

“I think all of our current board members feel strongly about their town and want to continue serving,” he said. “It’s been a good board, but I would still like to see some new people step forward.”

Madison Mayor Micky Silvers said he plans to run for another term, but is also waiting to file.

“The decreases we’ve suffered in industry have created a tough economic situation for our town,” Silvers said. “The budget we’ve put together for next year tries to hold the line, but the budget the next board will do for 2010-2011 will be an even greater challenge. We had to deal with reality this time and that’s not going to improve drastically over the next year.”

The board seats currently held by aldermen Art Gwaltney, Monte McIntosh and Janice Tate will be on this year’s ballot. None of the incumbents have filed yet, but a new challenger, Charles Mann, 41, of 105 W. Academy Street, filed Monday.