by Rod Williams - Below is the list of those who have picked up qualifying petitions to run for the office of mayor, vice mayor, at-large and district council seats as of Friday, March 29th. Circled are the names of those I would vote for if these were the only choices and the elections were today and I could vote in that contest. We know that these will not be the only choices so my selections are very preliminary. I may be changing my mind, depending on who else gets in the race. Some choices I have not made because I do anticipate someone else to get in the race who know I would prefer. Some incumbents who have said they are running have not yet picked up a qualifying petition as of Friday. There are some other challengers I know about who have not yet picked up qualifying petitions. The list of those who have picked up qualifying petitions is updated every Friday by the election commission. You can access that list at this link.
The first day to pick up a qualifying petition was March 18th. One cannot just submit a qualifying petition unless one has signed to get a qualifying petition. One may pick up a qualifying petition up until the deadline for turning in qualifying petitions. The last date by which one may submit a qualifying petition is noon May 3rd. Once a qualifying petition is submitted and the petition is approved, then a candidate may withdraw his name up until noon May 23rd. In that case the name would not appear on the ballot. If a candidate decides not to seek the office after the May 23rd deadline, the candidate's name would still appear on the ballot.
Why would one get qualified and then withdraw? Sometimes a person my share the views of someone else who qualifies and decides he will withdraw and defer to the other candidate. Other times, a person who qualifies may then see who the opposition is and decide there is no way he can defeat the better known, better funded candidate and withdraw. Also, of course, there are all kinds of personal reasons that may cause one to reconsider.
Early voting will began July 12, election day is August 1, and if a runoff is necessary it will be September 12th.
Among those who have picked up qualifying petitions for at-large, I would like to see Steve Glover and John Cooper elected. Also, there is a young man named Matthew DelRossi, who I would like to see serve. More than likely however, I am going to vote for Steve Glover, only. One may vote for up to five candidates but to do so weakens the influence of your vote. I will explain this in more detail in a later post. I wish John Cooper would have ran for mayor. If he would have, I would have supported him and I would hate to see him not win reelection to an at-large seat. Depending on the strength of the candidates and who else is running, I may vote for both Cooper and Glover, but more than likely, I will be voting for only one candidate and that will be Steve Glover.
Please look over this list. It is not too late to run. Ideally one should have started campaigning months ago but it depends on who else is running in your district. Sometimes, on rare occasions, people waltz right in without opposition. If you are thinking about running, it does not hurt and it doesn't cost anything to pick up a qualifying petition. If you then find someone else who you could support is running, you could not turn in the petitions. If you turn in the petition and then some other good candidate also qualifies or you determine the opposition is just too formidable, you can always withdraw your petition.
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