Who has filed?
Published 8:24 am Saturday, December 12, 2015
By Bobby Tingle
Wednesday you will be able to see a list of candidates who will be on our local ballot in May. Who is running and what they are running for is important. County Commissioner, Judge and Constable candidates will be chosen in the May primary election to be candidates in the November general election. County wide votes will be cast to choose party candidates for Sherriff, Tax-Assessor Collector and County Attorney. Each party will also choose their party Chair.
The Democrat ballot as of this writing will only have two candidates competing for one office, County Chair. All the other candidates have filed to be on the Republican ballot.
I find that interesting. I have not done an exhaustive study to determine why there are no candidates running on the Democrat ballot. The few I have talked to blame it on national politics.
That could be true. But that seems a bit out of sync with where we need to be. Federal and state ‘authorities’ have far too much influence.
So do you know who is running locally? Are you a resident served by the County Commissioner for Precinct 1? If so, do you know Johnny Trahan or who is running against him? Now is your chance to get to know them. One of the two, as it stands at this writing, will be represent you. What about Sherriff of Orange County? Do you know incumbent Keith Merritt or challenger David Smith? For now one of the two will serve you.
So far five candidates have submitted an announcement of their candidacy for publication. We have published all five. They include the candidates just mentioned. The other two are Dennis Powell and John Gothia who seek party nomination for 163rd District Judge and County Commissioner Precinct 3.
I have a copy of their announcements. If you missed reading these announcements I will be happy to provide a copy. You can reach me at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com or 841-B Dal Sasso Drive.
And while I have your attention, urge a Democrat to run. Competition is good. Both sides should be represented.
Bobby Tingle is publisher of The Orange Leader. He can be reached at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com
