Five candidates enter City Council race on last day of filing period

Published 3:27 pm Friday, July 16, 2021

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The race for the five seats up for election on the Washington City Council swelled to 10 candidates on the final day of the filing period for most local municipalities.

City Council incumbents William Pitt and Virginia Finnerty filed on Friday, the final day of the 2021 filing period for all municipalities except Belhaven. Linda “Lou” Hodges, Roland Wyman and Gwendolyn Gilbert also entered the City Council race.

Lou Hodges is the wife of Mac Hodges, Washington’s late mayor who died last year of COVID-19 complications.

Just one person filed as a candidate for the Aurora Board of Commissioners, which has two seats up for election. The Beaufort County Board of Elections was set to meet Friday night to consider extending Aurora’s filing deadline. That meeting ended after this newspaper’s print deadline; check thewashingtondailynews.com for updated information.

The filing period for Belhaven begins at noon on July 26 and ends at noon on Aug. 13. The mayoral races in all other Beaufort County municipalities will be uncontested — pending any additions resulting from a potential extension of Aurora’s filing period. Aurora Mayor Clif Williams, Chocowinity Mayor Jimmy Mobley, Pantego Mayor Stuart Ricks, Washington Park Mayor Tom Richter, and Washington Mayor Donald Sadler are unopposed in their respective bids for re-election.

As of the end of the filing period Friday, there are just two contested races in the county. Three candidates are in the running for two spots on the Chocowinity Board of Commissioners, and 10 candidates are vying for five spots on the Washington Council.

Following is the final list of candidates who’ve filed for the 2021 municipal election. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk. The seats up for election are shown in parentheses next to each municipality.

 

Aurora (Mayor and two commissioner seats — pending extension)

  • Mayor: Clif Williams*
  • Commissioner: Jeff Peed*

Bath (Two commissioner seats)

  • Commissioner: Donna Wortman, Donald Shreve

Chocowinity (Mayor and two commissioner seats)

  • Mayor: Jimmy Mobley *
  • Commissioner: Gerald Bullock, Billy Albritton*, Louise Furman*

Pantego (Mayor and five commissioner seats)

  • Mayor: Stuart Ricks
  • Commissioner: Mart Benson*, Chuck Williams*, Chad Keech*, Reid Gelderman*, Matthew van Nortwick*

Washington Park (Mayor and five commissioner seats)

  • Mayor: Tom Richter*
  • Commissioner: Jeff Peacock*, Belinda Cowell*, Patrick Nash*, Wade Dale*, Lee Bowen*

Washington (Mayor and five City Council seats)

  • Mayor: Donald Sadler *
  • City Council: Richard Brooks *, Mike Renn* (appointed), Betsy Kane , A.J. Congleton, Bobby Roberson, William Pitt, Linda “Lou” Hodges, Roland Wyman, Virgina Finnerty*, Gwendolyn Gilbert