The deadline to register to vote in the November municipal elections in Rockingham, Hamlet, Hoffman and Ellerbe is Oct. 9, Board of Elections Director Connie Kelly said.
“With Dobbins Heights voters going to the polls Tuesday of next week, the deadline to register for other municipal elections will be Friday,” Kelly said.
She pointed out the presidential and congressional races last year brought voters out in record numbers.
“We’re hoping to have record numbers turn out to vote in the municipal elections, too, with the mayoral and council races in Rockingham and Hamlet being contested,” she said.
She explained the council race in Ellerbe is no longer a contested race.
The fourth candidate for the three seats, challenger Molly Russell, has withdrawn her name from the running, citing personal reasons.
The citizens of Dobbins Heights will have the opportunity to cast their vote for two town council seats at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Hamlet beginning at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Ballots can be cast until 7:30 p.m. that evening.
Kelly said early voting for Dobbins Heights election hasn’t been a factor thus far.
“Turnout is very low for early voting with only nine voters having cast their ballots early,” she said.
There are three registered candidates for two seats on the Dobbins Heights Town Council, while one incumbent will run as a write-in candidate.
Councilwoman Angeline David will be on the ballot, while Councilman Curtis Ratliff is a write-in candidate, and challengers James Whitt and Romeo Jones will seek to unseat them.
Both incumbents made their cases for re-election in a September interview with the Daily Journal, citing quality of life issues.
They both said they wanted to see through projects they’ve already begun, like renovations to the Dobbins Heights Community Park.
David pointed to progress that’s been made during her term, like the reopening of the pool at the community park.
Ratliff has served two terms on the council, while David is a one-term incumbent.
He was careful to make “no promises,” but pledged “to try to give 110 percent of myself” if re-elected.
“We’ve weathered the storms, and there have been many,” he said.
Challengers Romeo Jones and James Whitt will seek to reshape the council’s current makeup.
Quality of life issues are also central to the campaign Jones, while business owner James Whitt is running on a platform of the expansion of the town’s tax base and opening an investigation into the cost of town services.
Whitt said in a previous interview the town’s water rate is inordinately higher than the rates of other municipalities.
He said he wants to change “the whole of Dobbins Heights,” saying he would take action that reflect “what the people want, not just what a couple of individuals want.”
Jones said his mindset is geared toward the children of Dobbins Heights, and he was influenced to run by his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“I have some ideas, and maybe I could get together with some of the other council members and bounce some of my ideas off of them, and we could come up with a plan for the town,” Jones said.
The races in Hoffman and Ellerbe in 2009 will see incumbent town council members running unopposed, while Hoffman Mayor Jo Ann Thomas is unchallenged and Ellerbe mayoral candidate Olivia Webb is also running unopposed.
In Rockingham, Mayor Gene McLaurin will be challenged by retired justice system worker and Richmond County Board of Education member Bruce Stanback.
Three seats on the Rockingham City Council are up for grabs, with incumbents Steve Morris, John Hutchinson and Shirley Fuller being pitted against challengers Teressa Beavers, Travis Billingsley and Jerry Austin Jr.
In Hamlet, Mayor Jeff Smart will be challenged by current Councilman Jesse McQueen for his office.
The council race pits one incumbent and two challengers vying for two seats. Incumbent Abbie Covington seeks to retain her seat, while challengers Dr. Diane Honeycutt and Jonathan Buie.
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