Campaign season for the May 21st general primary officially kicking off on Monday with the close of the qualifying period on Friday.
In Carroll County – only three non-partisan races will be contested on ballots. They are for Chief Magistrate where Nathaniel Smith is challenged by Kierston Phillips; Carroll County School Board Rep 3 Kerry Miller is challenged by former school board member Doctor Bob Pinckney; and, Carroll County School Board Rep 4 Lawana Knight is challenged by Clayton Ward.
There is only one challenged contest in partisan offices at the county level. Seven candidates qualified for the district 5 seat on the board of commissioners. All are Republicans and none of them are the incumbent. Lee Powers, Mark Johnson, Sean Paul, Keith Knowles, Jeff Barron, John Mills and Ben Hicks all filled out the necessary paperwork and paid the required fees to qualify last week.
There is only one challenged race on the state level for the general primary. That is for the district 71 state rep seat to replace Jay Collins beginning in 2025. Collins did not seek re-election.
Instead, local voters can select either Justin Howard or Marc Lattanzio to begin a two-year term next year. Both are republicans.
The winner here will go up against democrat Kwasi Hudson in the general election in November.
