South Alabamian

Governor, senator, local offices on ballot

Clarke has Democratic, GOP races for sheriff; 2 commission contests


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Two candidates will compete for the Republican nomination for Clarke County sheriff and two for the Democratic nomination in the May 24 primaries. The winning nominees will face each other in the Nov. 8 General Election to decide the county’s next sheriff.

DeWayne Smith and James “Rick” Jones are the Republican candidates. Smith, a former Jackson Police officer, was appointed sheriff by Gov. Kay Ivey last summer after Ray Norris resigned the office after impeachment charges were brought against him.

Jones has worked in law enforcement for area agencies and departments, including the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

On the Democratic ballot, Robert Barren, also a former lawman and an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff in 2018, is seeking the office as is Michael Hunt, a retired Jackson Police officer.

Commission races

Three Republicans are running in each of two Clarke County Commission districts. There are no Democratic candidates.

For the District 1 seat, Stan Hutto is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Abbey Walker Haag and Jake Faust. Hutto is retired as the owner/manager of Barfield Furniture and Haag is an accounting manager at the new Westervelt sawmill. Faust is the owner of Faust Fence and Construction.

In District 3, incumbent Bill Taylor has qualified for reelection. He is a retired U.S. Postal employee. His last postal position was as Jackson postmaster.

Also running for the seat is Barry Chancey, a former Republican member of the Clarke County Board of Education who represented District 3. Chancey is employed by PCA in Jackson

Brad Dronet, owner of the Lil’ Touch of Cajun Grill in Jackson had qualified to run but was disqualified by the Clarke County Republican Executive Committee because he ran for the seat four years ago as a Democrat.

Dronet has talked about the possibility of running as an independent in the General Election. He has until the day of the primary, May 24, to submit a petition with a required number of voters’ signatures to be put on the ballot.

The commission positions are elected by districts. District 1 includes Grove Hill and surrounding areas of central Clarke. District 3 includes a portion of Jackson stretching northward to Coffeeville.

The Democratic and Republican primaries are May 24 with any necessary runoffs on June 21. The General Election is Nov. 8.

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