The filing period for candidates of the Raleigh municipal and the Wake County School Board elections started Monday at noon.
Wake County Director of Elections Cherie Poucher said 20 people filed for candidacy Monday. Candidates for Angier, Cary and Morrisville offices also began filing.
Raleigh City Council member Russ Stephenson, left, waited at the Wake County Board of Elections to file to run for another term in his at-large seat. Filing began at noon Monday. Photo by Charles C. Duncan Pardo.
Poucher said more candidates filed on the same day in 2009, but that was because all of the candidates from all municipalities filed on the same day.
When asked if she thought more people will file this year than in previous years, Poucher said, “I think because of everything with the media and the Board of Education, and the fact that Mayor Meeker is not seeking re-election, I am hopeful that we will have a higher voter turnout for municipal and Board of Education elections.”
Any candidate can have his or her residency contested, which would then be brought to the Board of Elections for verification.
The one candidate Poucher said the board has had questions about is Lent Carr II, who has been previously convicted of a felony. Poucher said the Board of Elections would have to go through the Department of Corrections to see if his citizenship rights have been restored in order to qualify for candidacy. Carr will also have to go through a hearing process if they receive a complaint, Poucher said.
Here is the list of Raleigh and Wake School Board candidates who filed as of 5 p.m. Monday:
Raleigh
Mayor
Nancy L. McFarlane
At Large
Russell G. Stephenson
District A
Randall Kent Stagner
District C
Eugene Weeks
Lent Christopher Carr II
Board of Education
District 3
Kevin L. Hill
District 4
Keith A. Sutton
District 5
James D. Martin
Cynthia Chiklis Matson
District 6
Christine C. Kushner
George W. Morgan Jr.
District 8
Susan P. Evans
Ronald A. Margiotta
