A series of forums for contested races in Atoka, Mason and Covington will soon take place.
The Leader will be hosting two of these forums with Mason hosting the third.
“There are so many people on the ballot and contested races in three different cities that we thought it best to host an event where voters could ask questions and meet the candidates,” said Leader managing editor Echo Day.
Almost every town and city in Tipton County – everyone except Brighton – will be holding elections for mayor and aldermen. (All of Brighton’s elected officials will be on the ballot in 2020.)
Atoka
Atoka’s candidate forum will take place tonight at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
Incumbents Barry Akin and Danny Feldmayer are up against 10 challengers for alderman.
Others who’ve thrown their proverbial hats in the ring include Ryan Ripperton, Christy Renfrow, Daniel Lee, Gregory Billings, Christopher “Cody” Pace, Bruce McConnell, Keith Richter, John Harber, Pamela Johnson and Scott Cooper.
The third seat up for re-election is that of former alderman Mike Joyner. He moved out of the city limits this past spring and Marianne Dunavant, who expressed from the beginning she was not looking for a permanent position on the board, has been filling in since his resignation.
Mayor Daryl Walker is up for re-election but is running unopposed.
The Leader is hosting and will moderate the forum.
Mason
Mason has organized a town hall event to take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11 at Cedar Grove M.B. Church.
In the mayoral race, Celia Jones Chastain and current alderman Emmit Gooden will be challenging Gwendolyn Kilpatrick, who has been the town’s mayor since 2015.
Mason aldermen Joe Nelson and Gloria Whitley are running for re-election and Sylvester Harvey, Sandra Norvell, Sha’Te Toliver, Eddie Noeman and Carolyn Catron have also qualified to run.
The Town of Mason is hosting the forum and The Leader will serve as moderator.
Covington
Covington’s candidate forum will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15 at Dyersburg State Community College’s auditorium.
There are contested mayoral and alderman races here as well.
John E. Edwards, who took over his father’s position as alderman in 2005 when John M. Edwards died, announced in May his plans to run for mayor against incumbent Justin Hanson, who’s been in office since 2014.
In Covington, unlike everywhere else, representation is done through districting and each district has two aldermen. Half of the board is up for re-election every two years.
District 1
J.B. Leverette, Olean Anderson, Shelvie Rose, Brian “Moody” Max and Johnetta Yarbrough are running to fill the District 1 seat, which Edwards has held for 13 years.
District 2
Mac McGowan is running for re-election in District 2 and will be challenged by Jeff Morris, Catina Stark and Wanda Lynn Bellow.
District 3
Billy Yancy and Danny Wallace are running to represent District 3. Alderman Drew Glass, who was appointed to fill Bill Scruggs’ unexpired term in early 2015, is not running.
The Leader will host and moderate this forum.
Other races
There are dozens of people running for alderman all over the county.
In each city – except Burlison, where one councilperson will be elected, and Garland, where voters will choose six alderman and a recorder – voters will be choosing three aldermen.
Here’s who’s running, broken down by city:
Burlison
Incumbent Danny Howard is running for re-election as alderman. He has no opposition.
Garland
In Garland, Lisa McClain is running to keep the recorder position and Kelley Gray and Clayton Wilson are running to stay on as aldermen. Audrey Peach and David Fike are also running for aldermen.
Gilt Edge
Incumbent Brian Shoemaker and Donna Fletcher are running for aldermen. There are three positions up and only two qualified candidates, so a write-in will fill the third position up for grabs.
Munford
Glenn Turner and Robert Dodson are running with incumbents Sue Arthur and Jack Bomar for Munford aldermen. Bob Wilson, who was appointed to serve the remainder of the late Johnny Crigger’s unexpired term, is not seeking re-election.
Still need to register to vote?
Voter registration for the November 2018 municipal elections will be open until Oct. 9. Early voting begins Oct. 17.
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