Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

There looks to be a wild campaign season on the way in Lanett and a relatively quiet one in Valley this year unless some late qualifiers jump in before tonight’s 5 p.m. EDT deadline to run in the August 26 municipal election.

At the beginning of last week, Lanett had an astounding number of 29 people qualify to run for a seat on the city council or city school board. That number jumped to 33 by Friday.

In Valley, the office of mayor and seven council seats will be up for grabs this year.

By Friday, all eight of the current Valley office holders had qualified to run for additional terms, but only three of those positions have more than one candidate running.

Leonard Riley has drawn opposition in the mayor’s race. Alison Banks will oppose him in the August election.

The one race in Valley drawing the most interest is for the District 6 seat on the city council. Incumbent Henry Cooper is drawing opposition from L C Marshall and Jolanda Barnes. In District 4, incumbent Marquetta Madden will have opposition from Desmond Reece. Incumbents seeking additional terms in office who do not have opposite thus far are Jim Clark in District 1, Jim Jones in District 2, Randall Maddux in District 3, Kendall Andrews in District 5 and Jimmy Gilson in District 7.

It’s wild what’s been going on in Lanett, where only one of the eleven elective offices has an incumbent seeking another term with no opposition. That would be Myron Fears, who is seeking reelection to the District 2 seat on the city school board.

The Lanett office that is getting the most interest is for mayor. The incumbent mayor, Jamie Heard, is seeking another term and currently has opposition from seven different people. His challengers include two current members of the city council, Tony Malone of District 1 and Tifton Dobbs of District 5, a former member of the council, Stanley Roberts, and a former building inspector for the city, Randall Aikens. Three other candidates, Charles Autry, Rodney Ross and Erick Woody, are also in the race.

In District 1, two people have qualified to seek the seat being vacated by Malone. They are Roderick Autry and Denise Zachery. Incumbent Tamalita Autry has yet to qualify for another term in District 2.

Three candidates have qualified to seek that seat so far. They are Sherry Potts, Kristina Story and Teresa Woody.

In District 3, incumbent Ronnie Tucker is seeking a new term of office. He will have opposition from at least two other candidates. Brad Lynn and Jarquez McCullough will be in that race as well.

In District 4, incumbent Angelia Thomas will have at least two opponents on August 26. Charles Bagley and Kenneth Smith will also be in that race.

In District 5, three candidates have qualified to succeed Tifton Dobbs in the seat he is vacating to run for mayor. Those candidates are Tony Moffett, Kim Roberts and Emily Shepherd.

In the school board races, Board President Gwen Harris Brooks is seeking another term in office. She has gotten opposition thus far from Terry Reed. Johnny Wood is seeking another term in District 3. Three other candidates have qualified to run for that seat. They are Leilani Rudd, Michelle Tucker and Patricia Woody. In Districts 4 and 5, incumbents David Gagnon and Gail Holley are seeking new terms. Thus far, Gagnon has gotten opposition from Ashley Holloway and Holley from Ryan Seymour.

Qualifying will end tonight at 5 p.m.