If your elected officers are doing a good job and running your business like it should be run, you don’t need to read the rest of this article, for most of them will be asking to keep their job by re-election. If by chance you, the voters, are not satisfied, read on.

Just in case you haven’t heard, we’re going to have two primary elections on July 20 and a general election on November 2, and possibly a few in between.

You say, that’s a long time off, but--------

Two county commission seats and two board of education members’ spots are up for grabs.

In District Two, the county commission office now held by Barbie Womble and the board of education office held by Vicki Merritt will be open for qualifying.

In District Four, the county commission office held by Clyde Jinks and the board of education office held by Sheila Freeman will be open for qualifying. No candidates have indicated that they will run for re-election or for election to date. These four offices are all that will run locally.

The qualifying time will be short. A candidate has four and one-half days to qualify as a Democrat or a Republican candidate from Monday, April 19, until Thursday, April 22, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or on Friday, April 23, from 9 a.m.-noon.

It will be only those four offices to run for locally, but the General Primary/ Special elections will give voters quite a choice to elect or re-elect.

Offices to be vacant on January 2011 are as follows on a state and federal level:
•United States Senator:
Johnny Hardy Isakson
(R)
• Governor:
•Lt. Governor:
•Secretary of State:
• Attorney General:
•Commissioner of Agriculture:

• State School Superintendent

• Commissioner of Labor:
•Public Service Commissioners:

•United States Representatives
Second Congressional
District:
Sanford Dixon Bishop,
Jr. (D)
• State Senators
John Bulloch (R) District
11
•State Representatives

Gerald Greene (D) District
149
•Judges, Superior Courts
Pataula Judicial Circuit

Joe Cherry Bishop
(Nonpartisan)

The qualifying for these offices will be at various places on a state level. There have been no formal notices of who will run for these offices, or which primary they will run in. There have been a few potential candidates to talk about running. The office of governor has drawn the most fire to date, but no one has qualified at this time. The reason that we do not name incumbents in other offices is because many incumbents have not officially stated that they will run for re-election, and some are running for other offices.

Next week will be different. The candidates for the different offices, local to federal, will have chosen the primary that they will run in, except for the office of judge, which is nonpartisan.

If you are not registered to vote, you have until June 21, 2010, to go to the office of the registrar to register to vote in one of these primaries or special elections on July 20.