BRISTOL, Va. – With only three weeks left before the filing deadline, not a single candidate has fully qualified to run in the city’s general election.
March 2 is the qualifying deadline for the May 4 election that includes a majority of three seats on both the City Council and School Board. All paperwork must be filed by 7 p.m. on that date.
“We have one [council] petition submitted, but it is missing some of the necessary paperwork,” General Registrar Penny Limburg said Friday afternoon. Names of non-incumbent candidates aren’t public information until their paperwork is certified.
Council seats currently held by Mayor Jim Rector, Vice Mayor Ernie Sprouse and Councilman Fred Bowman will appear on the ballot.
Six council petitions had been picked up as of Friday, but that doesn’t include any incumbents.
All three council members said they remain undecided about seeking re-election.
If none opts to run, that would make Councilmen Guy Odum and Jim Heaney the most experienced elected city leaders – and both began serving in mid-2008.
On the School Board, seats held by Chairwoman Virginia Goodson, Vice Chairman Randy White and board member Eric Clark are up for grabs. Both White and Clark are among four who have picked up qualifying petitions, but none have been filed.
In a recent interview with the Herald Courier, Goodson said she didn’t plan to seek re-election.
“I have a personal situation with my elderly mother and my husband’s business, where they need a lot of my time and, consequently, I don’t feel I have the time to devote to the School Board,” Goodson said.
To qualify, each candidate must submit petitions with the names of at least 125 registered city voters. They must have lived in the city at least one year, be at least 18 years old, a registered voter, U.S. citizen and not have been convicted of a felony.
dmcgee@bristolnews.com (276) 645-2532
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