More candidates file for municipal elections as filing period nears end

ROCKINGHAM — Five new candidates have filed for the 2021 municipal elections since Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Mary Magee filed for reelection to Dobbins Heights Town Council, Kyonna Jones filed to challenge for a new seat on the Hoffman Town Council, Jean Fletcher and Elsie Freeman filed for reelection to the Ellerbe Town Council. On Thursday, John Hutchinson filed to challenge Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris.

The race is nonpartisan. The other candidates who have filed so far are as follows: Morris, Hamlet Mayor Bill Bayless, Ellerbe Mayor Fred Cloninger, Hoffman Mayor Tommy Hart, Hamlet Mayor Pro Tem Jesse McQueen, Hamlet Councilman Eddie Martin; Rockingham council members Denise Sullivan, Gene Willard, and Anne Edwards; Hoffman Town Council members Daniel Kelly, Rory Jones, Ricardo Anderson, and Cynthia Northcutt; Dobbins Heights Town Councilwoman Angeline David and Mayor Pro Tem Tyre Holloway; and two challengers for Ellerbe Town Council in Bennett Hawks, 34, and Thomas R. Grooms, 33.

Important dates

The filing period for candidates for the 2021 municipal elections runs until noon Friday, July 16. For information about how to file, call the Richmond County Board of Elections at 910-997-8253 or visit the Board of Elections at 221 S. Hancock St. in Rockingham.

The voter registration deadline for the Ellerbe, Hamlet, Hoffman and Rockingham elections is Oct. 8, 2021, and Election Day will be held on Nov. 2, 2021. The voter registration deadline for the Dobbins Heights election is Sept. 10, 2021 and Election Day will be Oct. 5, 2021 with a possible runoff election on Nov. 2, 2021.

The mayors of each municipality except for the Town of Dobbins Heights are up for reelection. For city or town council, there are two seats up for reelection in Dobbins Heights, three seats and one expired term in Ellerbe, two seats in Hamlet, five seats in Hoffman and three seats in Rockingham. Norman’s representatives are not up for reelection until 2023.

The candidates up for reelection in each municipality are as follows:

Dobbins Heights

• Angeline David

• Tyre’ Holloway

Ellerbe

• Mayor — Fred Cloninger

• Jean Fletcher

• Elsie Freeman

• Archie Robinson

• John Sears, Jr. *term expiring

Hamlet

• Mayor — Bill Bayless

• Eddie Martin

• Jesse McQueen

Hoffman

• Mayor — Tommy Hart

• Riccardo Anderson

• Rory Jones

• Daniel Kelly

• Cynthia Northcutt

• John Taylor

Rockingham

• Mayor — Steve Morris

• Anne M. Edwards

• Denise A. Sullivan

• Gene Willard

The filing period for the 2022 county, state and federal elections begins at noon on Dec. 6, 2021 and ends at noon on Dec. 27, 2021. The voter registration deadline for this the 2022 primary election is Feb. 11, 2022 and the primary election will be held on March 8, 2022.