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Tuesday was the first day candidates for municipal offices in Alabama could qualify to run for seats on the city council in the August 26 election.

A number of candidates jumped into the races in Lanett and Valley on the first day they could and with nearly two weeks left to qualify more will likely join what could be some crowded races.

The one office that seems to be drawing the most interest right now is the office of mayor in Lanett. Six candidates are already in that race, among them incumbent mayor Jamie Heard and two current members of the city council, Tony Malone and Tifton Dobbs. Others running for that seat include Randall Aikens, a former building inspector for the city, Charles Autry and Erick Woody.

There’s an uncle and a nephew in the upcoming election. District One council candidate Roderick Autry is the nephew of mayoral candidate Charles Autry. Another Autry is on the present council, Tamalita Autry who represents District Two. She has yet to qualify but is expected to run.

Sherry Potts and Teresa Woody qualified Tuesday to seek the District Two seat.

Roderick Autry and Denise Zackery are in the race for the District One seat. With Tony Malone running for mayor, it will be an open seat in the upcoming election.

With incumbent Tifton Dobbs running for mayor the District 5 seat will also be open. Emily Norman Shepard qualified to run in that district on Tuesday.

Incumbent Ronnie Tucker has qualified for reelection in District 3. Jarquez McCullough is also seeking that seat.

Angelia Thomas is the incumbent in District 4. She has yet to qualify for reelection. Kenneth Smith and Charles Brandon Bagley have qualified to run for that seat.

In Valley, Mayor Leonard Riley and all seven incumbents on the city council have filled out all the needed paperwork to qualify for additional terms. The council incumbents include Jim Clark in District One, Jim Jones in District Two, Randall Maddux in District Three, Marquetta Madden in District Four, Kendall Andrews in District Five, Henry Cooper in District Six and Jimmy Gilson in District Seven.

Thus far, there are two contested races. Desmond Reece is opposing Madden in District 4 and L C Marshall and Jolanda Barnes are opposing Co0per in District 6.