First Posted: 7/2/2013
LUMBERTON — The filing period for candidates seeking a Robeson County municipal office in the Nov. 5 General Election begins Friday at noon and runs through noon on July 19. All of the races are non-partisan.
Council members will be elected in all of the county’s 15 municipalities. Mayors will be on the ballot in 11 municipalities.
According to Tina Bledsoe, the county’s interim Board of Elections director, to be eligible to run for a municipal office an individual must be a registered voter and have lived in the district in which heor she is running for at least 30 days. The filing fee for mayoral candidates is $25, and the filing fee for anyone seeking a council seat is $15.
Bledsoe expects there to be a large number of candidates to file in the early days of the filing period.
“It’ s kind of like one-stop voting,” she said. “It’s up and running quick at the beginning, lags in the middle, and then picks up again for the rush to the finish.”
The municipalities and seats being contested include the following:
— Fairmont: Mayor, incumbent Charles Kemp, four-year term; three council seats, incumbents Kim Ammons, Wayland B. Lennon III and Bobby Charles Townsend, four-year terms.
— Lumber Bridge: Mayor, incumbent William “Skip” Davis, four-year term; two council seats, incumbents Lena Canady and Kenneth Jordan, four-year terms.
— Lumberton: Four council seats: District 2, John “Big Wayne” Robinson; District 3, Jackie Taylor; District 5, John Cantey Jr.; and District 8, Erich Hackney. All four-year terms.
— Marietta: Mayor ,incumbent Justin Oliver, two-year term; two council seats, incumbents John F. Bare and Donna O. Stubbs, four-year terms.
— McDonald: Mayor, incumbent James R. Taylor, two-year term; three council seats, incumbents Dannie M. Bacot, Edgar Morton Jr. and Bobby L. Britt, all two-year terms.
— Maxton: Two council seats, incumbents Victor R. Womack Sr. and James McDougald, both four- year terms.
— Orrum: Mayor, incumbent Wilton Caulder, two-year term; four alderman seats, incumbents Dannie Anderson, Jessie Stephens, Gaston Vance Bass, and Cleo Smith, all two-year terms.
— Parkton: Mayor, incumbent Larry G. Hagin, two-year term; five council seats, incumbents Al McMillan, Robin Hill, Dennis Alfred Parnell, Fran Meinert and D. Benton Finley, all two-year terms.
— Pembroke: Two council seats, incumbents Larry Brooks and Allen G. Dial, four-year terms; one vacant council seat, unexpired term of the late Robert D. Williamson that ends in 2015.
— Proctorville: Mayor, incumbent Levie Allen Fowler, two-year term; three alderman seats, incumbents Deborah Connor, Jennifer Connor and James McKnight, all two-year terms.
— Raynham: Mayor, incumbent Debra Lindsay Arnette, two-year term; three council seats, incumbents Datry Hunt, Martha W. Parker and Kathleen Lindsay, all two-year terms.
— Red Springs: Mayor, incumbent John M. McNeill, two-year term; three council seats, incumbents Eula C. McNeill, Edward Henderson and Murray McKeithan, all four-year terms.
— Rennert: Mayor, incumbent Michael Locklear, four-year term; two council seats, incumbents Neal Locklear and Royce Locklear, four-year terms; one unexpired two-year term currently held by Vivian McRae. The seat was previously held by the late Junior Wilson.
— Rowland: Mayor, incumbent Doris “Betty” Hunt, two-year term; two council seats, incumbents Paul Hunt Jr. and Marvin Shooter, both four-year terms.
— St. Pauls: Four council seats: District 1, William David Ayers; District 2, Samuel McAllister; District 3, Gerald Joseph Weindel; District 4, McClure “Buck” Terry Jr. All four-year terms.
