The Alexandria Municipal Election is set for tomorrow, Sept. 3.
Voting hours will begin at 8 a.m. and continue through 7 p.m. at the Kenneth Sandlin Building inside the DeKalb County Fairgrounds. Early voting was held last week for the Alexandria election, with nine people casting ballots after two weeks of voting.
The winner of the mayor’s race will serve the remainder of a two-year term left vacant by Jim York, who was elected in 2013, but resigned three days after taking office. Tarpley has served since then as an appointee, and will face Alderman Bennett Armstrong at the polls.
Meanwhile, five people will run unopposed for aldermen’s seats. Three aldermen will be chosen to serve four-year terms, and two other will be elected to fill vacancies or unexpired terms.
David Cripps, Kelly Pyburn, and John F. Suggs are seeking the four-year terms. Both Cripps and Suggs are current aldermen appointees filling vacant or unexpired terms. Danny Parkerson and Matthew Boss will run for the two-year terms.
Current members of the Alexandria City Council are Mayor Tony Tarpley and Aldermen John Suggs, David Cripps, Pat Jackson, and Bennett Armstrong. The mayor and all the aldermen are appointees except for Jackson, who has two years to serve in his elected term.
Meanwhile, potential candidates for constable or property assessor will soon be able to pick up qualifying petitions.
“We can begin issuing qualifying petitions on Sept. 11,” Administrator of Elections Dennis Stanley said Monday.
Since the local Democratic Party has chosen to hold a local primary in conjunction with the Presidential Preference Primary on March 1, 2016, candidates for property assessor and all seven constable seats will have the same qualifying deadline, Dec. 10 at noon. Independent candidates must also qualify through the petition process. Local Republicans will select candidates by caucus.
The office held by current Property Assessor Scott Cantrell will be up for grabs in the March race, as will the constable seats now held by Chad Curtis in the 1st District; Chris Tramel in the 2nd District; Travis Bryant in the 3rd District; Paul Cantrell in the 4th District; Mark Milam in the 5th District; Carl Webb in the 6th District and Johnny King in the 7th District.
The last day to register to vote in March is February 1, 2016. Early voting will be held Feb. 10 through Feb. 23, except on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 15.
After the dust settles from the March races, county and state voters will return to the polls in August to cast ballots in the DeKalb County General and Tennessee State primaries.
Local offices on the ballot in August will be assessor of property and constables as well as 4th, 5th and 6th District school board seats. Kate Miller is filling Billy Miller’s unexpired term in the 4th District W.J. (Dub) Evins, III currently serves in the 5th District, and Doug Stephens holds the 6th District seat.
Petitions for the August elections will be available on Jan. 8.
State offices to be decided include State Representative in the 40th District, currently held by Terri Lynn Weaver, and the 46th District seat currently held by Mark Pody, as well as 6th District Congressman, currently held by Diane Black.
Three municipal elections, in Dowelltown, Liberty and Smithville will also take place in August.
A mayor and two aldermen will be chosen in Dowelltown, while four aldermen will be elected in Liberty and three aldermen seats will be filled in Smithville.
