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Few Candidates Announce for Town Elections

From staff reports

Registered voters in five of the county's town will select persons for their governing bodies this May and several towns are lacking candidates.

Scott County Registrar Willie Mae Kilgore submitted a list yesterday afternoon of the candidates who have filed for the May 6 ballot in Clinchport, Duffield, Dungannon, Gate City and Weber City.

Most notably are a less than full slate of candidates in the towns of Clinchport, Duffield, Dungannon and Gate City. Only Weber City boasts more candidates than council seats.

In Weber City, Mayor G.W. Dougherty is the lone candidate for the town's highest office but currently seven residents are seeking seats on the town council.

Current incumbents, George Lane, Ronnie McMurray, Mary Lou Roberts, Carl Smith, Don Stokes and Garland Stokes, are all seeking re-election. Larry Wagner is looking to unseat a current incumbent as he runs for a spot on the six-member council.

In Gate City, Mayor Mark Jenkins is currently running unopposed in his third re-election bid. Gate City Town Council members, Roger Cassell, Tommy Herron, Frances Perry and Rita Tipton, are seeking re-election to the five-member council.

Carl Hurt, who is an incumbent on the Gate City Town Council, had not filed his necessary paperwork at press time.

Gate City candidates are required to get at least 125 signatures per Virginia law, Kilgore explained, because of its number of registered voters.

In Dungannon, current Mayor Phil Osborne had not filed his declaration of candidacy forms as of 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Karen Lynn Powers is seeking her first term as Mayor of Dungannon.

Only three candidates have completed their paperwork for the Dungannon Town Council, which is composed of five members. James McKinley Lane Sr., Herbert Horne and Melissa A. Hunt have filed paperwork to appear on the May 8 ballot in Dungannon.

Sylvia Bowen is the lone candidate to have announced her candidacy for re-election to the Clinchport Town Council. Clinchport voters will select five town council members and a recorder in May.

At press time, no candidates in Duffield have completed their required paperwork for the May 8 ballot.

The deadline to file for candidates running in the May 8 local town elections was yesterday afternoon at 7 p.m.

Kilgore said the computerized voting machines will be used for all of this year's town elections, which makes writing in candidates a bit easier. Voters don't really "write in" a candidate's name instead they type in the name of the person they are choosing for the position.

And on May 8, it appears registered voters in the most of the towns will be using their "write in" prerogative to determine who will lead their town in the next two years. The Registrar's Office is located in the DMV Building at 104 Jones Street in Gate City. For information, call 386-3843.

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