Murphy – Candidate filing for the 2020 election ended at noon Friday, with a few people making almost last-minute decisions to run for office.
In the final hours, Democrat Vicki Bauman filed to run for the District 5 seat on the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, while Republican Randy Phillips filed for the District 2 commission seat. Bauman is the only Democrat seeking local office.
With only one Democrat running in local races, most elections essentially will be decided by Republicans and independents who choose a GOP ballot in the primary Tuesday, March 3.
“It’s just disheartening,” said Lawrence McNabb, chairman of the Cherokee County Democratic Party.
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McNabb spent much of Thursday night on the phone trying to find someone to run for local seats up for re-election. He said he did “everything but hogtie one individual.”
He said it’s probably one of the most frustrating election cycles for him. Many people believe two commissioners in particular are isolating another commissioner from the same party, and they don’t want to be isolated, too.
“The climate has been so politicized that many of the very confident candidates who could run feel like the county government is in such disarray that they don’t want to get involved,” McNabb said. “That’s a sad state of affairs for the county.”
Another Democrat from Cherokee County, Susan Landis of Bellview, filed for Kevin Corbin’s state House of Representatives seat in District 120 on Friday morning. She is the only Democrat seeking the position. Republican Karl Gillespie of Franklin, who filed on Dec. 2, will be her opponent in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.
There are two Cherokee County Board of Commissioners seats up for re-election as well as three Cherokee County Board of Education seats.
Phillips will face incumbent CB McKinnon for the county commission District 2 seat in the Republican primary, while Steve Coleman and Jan Griggs are both running for the District 5 seat. For school board, James Ellis and Jeff Tatham are running for the two seats in District 1, while Arnold Mathews is seeking re-election to the District 2 seat.
One unaffiliated candidate will be seeking signatures for a petition to get his name on the general election ballot. George Bendzen hopes to seek the District 2 commission seat. He must get enough signatures by noon March 3 to qualify for the general election.
County commission District 2 includes Marble and Peachtree, while District 5 includes Grape Creek, Hanging Dog, Hiwassee Dam and Unaka. School board District 1 includes Andrews, Marble and Topton, while District 2 includes Bellview, Brasstown, Grape Creek, Hanging Dog, Murphy, Peachtree and part of Unaka.
In Cherokee County, there are 9,796 registered Republicans and 4,315 registered Democrats out of a total 21,186 registered voters. That means 7,075 local voters are independent or affiliated with a third political party.
McNabb said he was actually the last local Democratic candidate who was in a competitive race against his Republican opponent.
“And that was 10 years ago,” he added.
He believes there are many moderate Republicans and independents in the county who would vote for a Democrat, saying the three groups have similar viewpoints on education, the economy and health care. He has some words of encouragement for fellow Democrats.
“I tell them all the time, ‘This too shall pass,’ ” he said. “I just wish it would pass a little faster.”
When they cast a ballot next year, voters will have to present one of the state-approved photo identifications. Voters will also noticed the candidates will be ordered randomly, as determined by the state Board of Elections.