Filing closed at noon Friday at the Rowan County Board of Elections, and shortly thereafter staff printed out a lengthy list of the many candidates who have submitted their bids for public office this year.
Seasoned elected officials and political newcomers from all walks of life have thrown in their bids for offices from the U.S. Senate down to a seat on the Kannapolis Board of Education.
While some incumbents are running unopposed, other races are hotly contested.
At the Rowan County Board of Elections, Director Nancy Evans said filing has been “about normal” this year.
“I figured we would have more on the last day than we did. People either try to get it done early and get their names out there, or they wait until the end to see who has filed. Then there are the people in the middle,” Evans said. “We have a lot of Republican commissioners candidates.”
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-8th District, is not facing competition by any Republican candidates for his seat, but will be going up against Antonio Blue, a Democrat, in November.
N.C. Rep. Carl Ford has no challenger for his District 76 seat.
Two Republicans — N.C. Rep. Harry Warren, R-Rowan, and Rowan County Commissioner Chad Mitchell — will square off for Warren’s District 77 seat.
Eight Republican candidates and two Democrats are vying for three seats on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.
Three Republicans are looking to unseat Jeff Barger from his clerk of Superior Court seat, and Rowan Sheriff Kevin Auten is facing two challengers this year — a Republican and a Democrat.
Both Gene Miller and Raymond Coltrain are looking to skip the primary, go straight to the November ballot as unaffiliated candidates for commissioner seats by gathering 4,000 signatures from registered Rowan County voters before June 27.
The candidates who filed are:
Republican: Jim Sides, David Roueche, Jonathan Love, Judy Klusman, Jim Greene, Greg Edds, Joe Coladarci, Brandon Cupp
Democrat: Rick Locklear, Leda Shuping Belk
Republican: Joel Johnson, Jason Foster, Sandy Yon
Democrat: Jeff Barger
Republican: Harry Welch, John Brindle
Democrat: Sandra Sims Campbell
Republican: Kevin Auten, Brian Kiever
Democrat: Jack Eller
Republican: Tom McInnis
Democrat: Gene McLaurin
Republican: Andrew Brock
Democrat: Constance Johnson
Republican: Carl Ford
Republican: Harry Warren, Chad Mitchell
Republican: Brandy Cook
Republican: Vince Coakley
Democrat: Curtis Osborne, James Mitchell, Malcolm Graham, George Battle, Marcus Brandon, Alma Adams
Republican: Thom Tillis, Jim Snyder, Edward Kryn, Mark Harris, Heather Grant, Alex Lee Bradshaw, Greg Brannon, Ted Alexander
Democrat: Will Stewart, Ernest Reeves, Kay Hagan
Libertarian: Sean Haugh, Tim D’Annunzio
Republican: Virginia Foxx, Philip Doyle
Democrat: Will Stinson, Gardenia Henley, Michael Holleman, Josh Brannon
Republican: Richard Hudson
Democrat: Antonio Blue
Republican: Leon Threatt, Vince Coakley
Democrat: Rajive Patel, Curtis Osborne, James Mitchell, Malcolm Graham, George Battle, Marcus Brandon, Alma Adams
Mark Martin, Ola Lewis
Eric Levinson, Robin Hudson, Jeanette Doran
Bob Hunter, Sam Ervin
Mike Robinson, Cheri Beasley
Bill Southern, Lucy Inman
Donna Stroud
Paul Holcombe, Mark Davis
Charlie Brown
Beth Dixon
Kevin Eddinger
Douglas Smith, James Randolph, Ted Blanton
Oddy Crist, Millie Hall, Danita Rickard