Howard County
The filing period for independent candidates for municipal offices ended at noon Wednesday, Aug. 5, but not without some controversy.
Two independent candidates for mayor of Nashville will challenge incumbent Larry Dunaway who won the Republican nomination without opposition in the March Preferential Primary Election.
The independent candidates are Kelley Windham and Denise Woodruff.
They were apparently given the wrong forms to use in gathering the 30 signatures needed to make the ballot. The mistake was noted and they were able to retrace their steps to get the needed signatures on the correct forms before the filing period closed.
Howard County Clerk Keri Teague explained that the wording on the previous forms had changed, and the two candidates erroneously were given forms for alderman.
Woodruff is a business owner.
Windham is administrative secretary to the county judge. She served as recorder-treasurer for the City of Nashville, and was asked by the City Council to serve as interim mayor when then-Mayor Mike Reese was medically incapacitated for several months. She served both offices for approximately nine months, and was later an unsuccessful candidate for mayor at the end of Mayor Reese’s term.
Some races
Other candidates also filed as independents for Howard County municipal positions in the Nov. 3 General Election, in several instances creating races.
In addition to Windham and Woodruff, independent candidates included:
Nashville City Council — Joe Hoen, incumbent alderman Ward 1 Position 2; Carol Mitchell, and Gynder Benson, alderman Ward 5 Position 2. Mitchell is a former member of the City Council.
Tollette — for alderman, Henry Jackson, Position 1, Lois Hendrix, Pos. 2, Pamela Miller, Pos. 3, Martha Forte, Pos. 4, and James Porter, Pos. 5. All are incumbents.
Also at Tollette, incumbent Brenda Porter for mayor, and incumbent Dorothy Walker, Recorder-Treasurer.
City of Dierks — incumbent Ronald Cogburn and Jesse Edge for mayor; incumbent Sherri Edge and Kristi Janes, for City Treasurer. All filed as independents.
A complete list of candidates in Howard County will be printed later.
Early voting will begin Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Pike County
Following the closure of the filing period for municipal elections last week in Pike County, several positions will be contested in the the November elections.
Jack Bonds and Mary Jean Barbre filed for the position of Murfreesboro mayor.
Also in Murfreesboro, three people — Patrick May, Doris Scoggins and Angie Strawn — filed for the West Ward position one on the city council.
In addition in Murfreesboro, Mark Barnes filed for North Ward position one, Joan Hooper for North Ward position two, Lewis Gills for South Ward position one, Jane Fugitt for South Ward position two and Cody Bachmann for West Ward position 2.
The Town of Delight will see no contested races with filings from Lee Gatliff for mayor, Dana Hightower for recorder/treasurer, Rhonda Abbott for council position one, Ty Sherrod for council position two, Brandi Rowton for council position three, Ronnie Cox for council position 4 and Chris Goodson for council position 5.
Incumbent Glenwood Mayor Billy Plyler registered for election along with Johnny Cox for councilman of North Ward position two in Glenwood. South Ward position two on the council went without a filed candidate.
In the Towns of Daisy, Lisa Cogburn filed for mayor, Rebecca Frazier for recorder/treasurer, Amanda Huggins for council position two, Scotty Frazier for council position three and Nicholas Stant for council position four. Council positions one and five saw no candidates file.
No one registered for election in the Town of Antoine in any of the positions, including mayor, recorder/treasurer, and positions one through five on the council.
The elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
