Two school board members, the mayor of the City of Union, and two members of Union City Council will be opposed for reelection in November.
Union County Voter Registrar Darlene Pettit announced Wednesday that a total of 24 candidates had filed to run in the school board, fire board, and municipal elections on the November ballot. Filing closed at noon Wednesday and Pettit said that of the 19 races on the ballot, only five will be contested.
School Board
Four of the nine seats of the Union County Board of School Trustees are on the November ballot, and of those four two will be contested.
In District 1, Pettit said incumbent Trustee BJ McMorris will be opposed by Ann Stevens while in District 6 incumbent Trustee Kakie White will be opposed by Terry Ransom-Rena. District 2 Trustee Jantzen Childers and District 7 Trustee Manning Jeter are unopposed for reelection.
Municipal Elections
Two municipalities are also holding elections in November.
Union
The City of Union will hold elections for mayor and three of the six seats on the Union City Council.
Mayor Harold Thompson is being challenged in his bid for a second term by Union County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Torance Inman and former WBCU radio personality Mike Stevens.
In the council races, District 3 Councilman Keith Henderson is unopposed in his bid for a third term. District 4 Councilman Ricky Harris is opposed in his bid for a third term by Kevin Montgomery. The District 6 race will be a rematch between Councilman Jim Wilson who is seeking a term in his own right and Sonja Craig. Wilson defeated Craig in a special election earlier this year to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of the previous councilman.
Carlisle
The Town of Carlisle will hold municipal elections in November for mayor and two of the four seats on the Carlisle Town Council.
Pettit said that Mayor Mary Ferguson-Glenn is unopposed for reelection. Ferguson-Glenn is seeking her second term as mayor.
While there are two council seats on the ballot, Pettit said only one candidate, Ronnie “Motorcar” Lyles, had filed to run. Lyles is seeking his fourth term on council.
The other council seat is currently held by Council Member Maxine Spencer who declined to seek a third term. Petit said since no one filed to run for this seat, it will have to be decided by write-in votes.
Fire Boards
Three fire boards are also holding elections for a total of eight seats this year and there are a total of eight candidates running for them.
Jonesville
Two seats on the Jonesville Fire District Board of Trustees will be on the ballot and two candidates have filed to run for them.
Pettit said that James Harvey Jr. and John Vaughan have filed to run for the seats on the Jonesville board.
Monarch
Three seats on the Monarch Fire District Board of Trustees will be on the ballot and three candidates have filed to run for them.
Pettit said that Donald “Snake” Robinson, Larry Robinson, and Brad Jolly have filed to run for the seats on the Monarch board.
Santuc
Three seats on the Santuc Fire District Board of Trustees will be on the ballot and three candidates have filed to run for them.
Pettit said that Albert Gregory, Eddie Hines, and Nancy Richardson have filed to run for the seats on the Santuc board.
Addresses
Union County Election Commission Chairman Keith Vanderford again reminded the public that they must make sure the Voter Registrar’s Office has their correct address.
In May, 10 of the 17 candidates running as either Democrats or Republicans were removed from the ballot as a result of a State Supreme Court ruling that candidates must provide their parties with a paper copy of their statement of economic interest regardless of whether it had been filed electronically. After being removed by the parties in accordance with the court’s ruling, nine of the 10 candidates sought to gain a spot on the November ballot as petition candidates. This required them to collect the signatures of five percent of the registered voters in their respective districts and turn them in to the Voter Registrar’s Office for certification. The nine who chose to run as petition candidates have since turned in their petitions and have either had their candidacy certified and their name placed on the ballot or are still going through the certification process.
As they were reviewing the petitions, Vanderford said election officials discovered that a number of those who’d signed have changed their addresses and have not informed the Voter Registrar’s Office of the change. He said by not doing so this could cause these voters problems when they go to the polls in November. To avoid this, Vanderford urged those who have changed their addresses to report this to the Voter Registrar’s Office as soon as possible so they can be placed in the right precinct.
The Union County Voter Registrar’s Office is located at 320 E. Main St., Union, and can be reached at 429-1616.







