5 seek revenue seat

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 8, 2014

Qualifying for the 2014 elections ended Friday afternoon with 11 people on the ballot for June’s Republican primary.

Local attorney Meredith Peters qualified late this week to run for Covington County Revenue Commissioner, joining Chuck Patterson of Opp; Lorene McCart of Andalusia; Gwen Kelley of Andalusia; and Cindy Cook of Andalusia in the race.

The incumbent, Janice Hart, is retiring after nearly 30 years in the office.

GOP chairman William Blocker said Friday that he was pleased with the interest shown in the race.

“Mrs. Hart told me that when she ran for an open office 24 years ago, there were six in the field,” he said. “So I feel good about a race that has five people in it.”

Incumbent Norman Hobson also qualified late this week for coroner. He is opposed by Eddie Rowell.

Other races on the ballot in the primary include:

• Covington County Sheriff, where incumbent Dennis Meeks faces Chris Byrd;

• County School Board Place No. 5, where incumbent James “Jimmy” Prestwood faces recently retired county school superintendent Terry Holley.

In state races, Rep. Mike Jones will be unopposed in his bid for reelection to Alabama House of Representatives District 92, barring entry into the race by an Independent in June. Four years ago, Jones had an Independent opponent.

Incumbent Jimmy Holley, who currently represents Senate District 31, including Covington County, is opposed by Garreth Moore of Enterprise, a former one-term member of the House of Representatives.

At press time, there appeared to be no Democrats seeking office in Covington County.

Gov. Robert Bentley appeared to be headed toward re-election with no serious opposition, but a former Congressman qualified as a Democrat just 15 minutes before the deadline Friday.

Parker Griffith, 71, a former GOP Congressman from Huntsville, is running as a Democrat. Also on the Democratic ballot for governor is Kevin Bass, a former minor league baseball player from Fayette County.

In his own party, Bentley is being challenged by former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy Lee George and Bob Starkey, a software company founder from Scottsboro.

Both the Republican and Democratic primaries will be held on June 3. In the case of the race for revenue commissioner, if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, there will be a run-off on July 15.

The General Election is Nov. 4.