Though there are no county, state or federal elections in 2013, all of the cities in Newton County have council seats up for election.
To date, Covington City Councilman Chris Smith is the only elected official to publicly announce he’s running for re-election and no challengers have yet tossed their hats into the ring.
Covington
Covington has three seats up for election this year, including east council Post 1 east, held by Smith; west council Post 2, held by Hawnethia Williams; and west council Post 3, held by Ocie Franklin.
Qualifying fees for Covington council seats are $270; qualifying fees for all city seats are 3 percent of the annual salary of the position.
Qualifying for Covington will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Aug. 26-30 at the Newton County Board of Elections, 1113 Usher St., Covington.
In order to qualify to run for office, residents must be a certain age and must have lived in the city they’re running in for a certain period of time. Contact individual cities for their requirements.
Elections for all cities will be held in November assuming there are contested races.
Porterdale
Three council seats are also up for election this year, including Post 3, held by Tim Savage; Post 4, held by Mike Harper; and Post 5 held by Lowell Chambers.
Qualifying fees for Porterdale seats are $15 and qualifying takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Sept.9-13 at Porterdale City Hall, 2400 Main Street. Qualifying on Wednesday, Sept. 11 is only from 8:30 a.m. to noon, because city hall closes early on Wednesdays.
Oxford
The council seats up for election in Oxford are Post 4, held by David Eady; Post 5, held by Jim Windham; and Post 6, held by Terry Smith.
Qualifying fees for Oxford council seats are $75, and qualifying is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Aug. 26-30 at Oxford City Hall, 110 W. Clark St.
Newborn
Newborn is the only city to also have the mayor’s seat up for election; Mayor Roger Sheridan is the oldest mayor in the state of Georgia.
The other seats up for election are Post 3, held by Tom Krieger, and Post 4, held by Martha Ellwanger.
Qualifying fees for the council members are $25 and $30 for the mayor. Qualifying is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Aug. 26-30 at Newborn Town Hall, 4224 Ga. Highway 142.
In addition, Town Clerk Lisa Rowe said Newborn is looking for an elections supervisor after the recent resignation of the previous supervisor.
For more information about the position, contact Rowe at nbornga@bellsouth.net or 770-787-1660 or visit Town Hall.
Mansfield
The council seats up for election in Mansfield are Post 3, held by Lyra Cocchi; Post 4, held by Lisa Dunn; and Post 5, held by Larry Cummins.
Dunn has only served two years as she filled the vacant seat in 2011 of Larry Haigwood, who died in December 2009, shortly after being re-elected.
Qualifying fees for Mansfield council seats are $18. Qualifying will take place at Mansfield City Hall, 3146 Ga. Highway 11.
The dates and times for qualifying were not provided.
