Although the 2012 general election is still more than a year away, candidates are already gearing up for a campaign they hope will put them in the office.
Brewton resident Becki Breckenridge has announced on her Facebook page that she intends to run for circuit clerk, and municipal mayoral candidates in Brewton and Atmore have already announced their intent to seek office.
A number of county and municipal offices in Escambia County will be up for election next year, along with national and statewide races.
Escambia County Probate Judge Emilie Mims, one of the overseers for elections in the county, said campaigns are beginning to kickoff as some candidates throw their hat into the arena.
“We are hearing that some candidates are already announcing their run for office,” Mims said. “Qualifying hasn’t really gotten started yet, so it’s hard to tell just how many candidates we will have on the ballot.”
Offices up for election in 2012 for Escambia County will include circuit judge, with incumbent Bert Rice; circuit clerk with Kenneth Taylor as incumbent; probate judge with Emilie Mims as the incumbent; county commission seats 2 and 4 with Brandon Smith and Raymond Wiggins as incumbents, respectively; and school board seats 2, 3 and 7 with Danny Benjamin, Jack Crutchfield and Charles “Chuck” Brooks as incumbents, respectively.
“It’s early yet and there are a lot of changes being made in the election schedule and process,” Mims said. “We still have to have some clarification on procedures before we’ll know exactly how things will go in this election.”
Mims said individual parties establish their own qualifying period which will be followed by candidates on each side.
“We haven’t heard from the Democratic party on qualifying dates yet,” Mims said. “I did receive a memo from the statewide Republican party stating qualifying will begin Nov. 14, 2011, and run through Jan. 13, 2012. That Jan. 13 deadline will be the absolute deadline for any candidate — Democrat or Republican.”
The deadlines are set so that all paperwork can be properly filed in time to be included in the March 13, 2012, primary election, Mims said.
“The elections, even for county, will begin with the primary election and go right on until the November general election,” Mims said. “I think there are plenty of national and statewide offices up for election that will be very interesting to a lot of people in our area. It’s going to be a busy year.”
The election schedule includes the March 13, 2012, primary a runoff election of April 24, if needed.
Municipal elections will be held Aug. 28, with the general election on Nov. 6.