BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
LAKE BUTLER — Qualifying is over and the slate of candidates running for county offices is set. Some local races have only single candidates and will therefore not appear on the ballot, while others have two or more candidates. All of the local candidates qualified to run by the petition method, with no one using the alternate method of qualifying by paying a qualifying fee (a percentage of a year’s salary for the position they are seeking).
In the City of Lake Butler races all had been decided before the election so none was held, with incumbents Annette Redman (Seat 3) and Fred Sirmones (Seat 5) running unopposed. Only one candidate ran for the District 4 seat, vacant due to the retirement of City Commissioner Jimmy Beasley and took the seat automatically as there was no competition for it. Melissa Hendrix will take her place on the city commission on June 21, 2022. New City Commissioners are paid about $9,500 plus benefits starting salary.
Participation in the county races is more active, but light compared to many previous years. Union County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Osborne noted the general decline in citizens interested in running for office.
“In 1992 we had a total of 48 local candidates,” Osborne said. “The numbers seem to have been in a fairly steady decline since then. Less and less people are interested in running and people in general just seem not to be as interested in participating in local government as they used to or cannot afford the cost associated with running for office.”
Since 1992 the number of candidates for county office, including the constitutional officers in the appropriate years, has fluctuated greatly, according to Osborne.
As a rule, years where the primaries and general election include the Presidential race, the numbers are higher than in the midterm primaries and election. Despite the COVID-19 frenzy, 2020 saw a total of 18 local candidates in the county, as opposed to nine in 2018. Between the high count of 1992 and the low count of nine running in 2018, the number of local candidates ranged from 13 to 36.
For the three seats on the Union County School Board the situation is much the same as with Lake Butler. Incumbents Curtis Clyatt (Seat 3) and Terra Johnson (Seat 5) are running for reelection unopposed, while the seat being vacated by the retirement of Allen Parrish (Seat 1) will be filled by the only candidate running for it, Chris Hodgson. None of the school board races will appear on the primary ballot. All candidates are non-partisan. All board members are given a starting salary of $28,057.
Candidates for the Union County Board of Commissioners are a little more numerous. District 2 incumbent Channing Dobbs is challenged by fellow Republican Casey Clark, while District 4 incumbent Lacey Cannon is facing three challengers, fellow Republicans Mac Johns and James Rooney and Independent Eric Martin. The District 2 race will be decided in the primary, while the field running for the District 4 seat will be thinned to two candidates for the General Election on Nov. 8, 2022, where only one Republican candidate and Independent Martin will be on the ballot. A county commissioner earns a starting salary of $30,228.
Osborne wanted to make sure all citizens who desire to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming Primary and General elections note that they must insure that their registration is current before 5 p.m. on July 25 when the books close at 5 p.m. Early voting is set for the primary election from Sat., Aug. 13, 2022 through Sat., Aug 20, 2022 at the Office of the Supervisor of Elections at 175 W. Main St. in Lake Butler. Hours for early voting will be from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day except Sunday, when the hours will be 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Early voting dates and time, as well as polling locations will be published closer to the Tues., Nov. 8. 2022 General Election.
Although the ballot has not been set for the state candidates for the August Primary, a number of office are up for election or retention. These include U.S. Senator, Representative in Congress, Governor and Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture and Circuit Judge. The names and party affiliations of the candidates to be on the ballot for the primary will be provided to Times readers as soon as that information in finalized and released.
