UPDATED: Board of Elections certifies candidates, issues for Nov. 7 election

The Highland County Board of Elections has certified the list of candidates for the Nov. 7 general election, which will include village, township and school board races, plus 12 issues and options.  

In the Villages of Leesburg and Lynchburg, voters will have a contested mayoral race. Incumbent mayor Shawn Priest, as well as council president Rita Smith-Daulton, are running for mayor of Leesburg, while in the village of Lynchburg, current mayor James Burton and former mayor Terry Burden are both seeking office.

For the villages of Highland and Mowrystown, the incumbent mayors — Jeremy Kibbey and James Allen, respectively — are running unopposed.

There will be three vacant seats on the Greenfield Village Council, and petitions were certified for four candidates: current council members Brenda Losey and Mary Ellen McMurry, as well as Donald Davey and Carlos Ooten. Current council member Jessalyn Hunter did not file for election.

There are two open seats and two candidates filing for the Lynchburg Village Council, including incumbent Martin Bailey and candidate Christopher Toller. Current council member Ken Eaglin did not take out petitions.

For the Leesburg Village Council, there are two open seats, and only one individual — Kenneth Worley — has filed petitions, according to the BOE list. Smith-Daulton, who has filed petitions to run for mayor, would be up for reelection this November, while current council member Joel Morris did not file.

The same is true of Mowrystown, where current council member Rachel Byrd is the only candidate filing to run, with two open seats.

As previously reported, the City of Hillsboro candidates who won the May Republican primary races will also appear on the ballot. Those individuals include current mayor Justin Harsha, auditor Dawson Barreras (who was appointed to the position), Municipal Court Judge William Chad Randolph and law director Randalyn Worley.

Also this November, voters will select one trustee for each township (unless otherwise noted, for unexpired terms), as well as a township fiscal officer.

For Liberty Township, a total of three individuals have filed petitions for the fiscal officer race in Jeffrey Beery, Robert Brown and Dennis Dunlap. The current fiscal officer, Kay Barrera, did not file. Also in Liberty Township, there are two candidates filing petitions for township trustee: incumbent Ron Ward and challenger Rhonda Hassman.

In Concord Township, three individuals have filed for the township trustee race, with incumbent Gary Shannon up for reelection and appointee Jason Campbell filing to retain his spot fulfilling an expired term. Also filing petitions is James Satterfield.

For the Madison Township trustee race, current trustee Daniel Mathews has filed petitions and will be opposed by Joshua Roe. The Marshall Township trustee race shows incumbent Jeffray (Shane) Flannery opposed by Robert Mason. In Washington Township, current trustee Arthur Harless will be opposed by Nathaniel Zornes.

There are two candidates listed for the Clay Township fiscal officer race, with appointee Kelle Winkle and Toni Stacey both filing petitions.

In Jackson Township, Stephen Hart has filed to take the trustee seat currently held by Jerry Miller Jr. (who did not file petitions), and in Washington Township, Kelli Williamson has filed for fiscal officer (incumbent Vic Gall did not file). For the Paint Township fiscal officer race, Tara Matthews Campbell has filed to run, as Karen Rumbaugh did not file for reelection. For the Whiteoak Township trustee race, Timothy Truman and Chip Yochum are both vying for the seat currently held by Fred Yochum (who did not file).

Township candidates filing petitions also included the following incumbents: Brushcreek, trustee David Chaney and fiscal officer Angela Crum; Clay, trustees James Massey and Michael Truman (appointed to fulfill unexpired term and must run this November); Concord, fiscal officer Karen Schroeder; Dodson, trustee Marvin Resibois and fiscal officer Kristy Warner; Fairfield, trustee Andy Caldwell and fiscal officer Pat Hagen; Hamer, trustee Nathan Mootz and fiscal officer Kim Walker; Jackson, fiscal officer Carleta Weyrich; Madison, fiscal officer Sherri Beatty; Marshall, fiscal officer Melanie Phillips; New Market, trustee Richard Barrera and fiscal officer Sara Surber; Paint, trustee Randy Mustard; Penn, trustee Daryl Bumgarner and fiscal officer Joshua Matthews; Salem, trustee David Hamilton and fiscal officer Jamie Wells; Union, trustees Nathan Brown and Scott Lindsey (appointed to fill unexpired term) and fiscal officer John Henize; and Whiteoak, fiscal officer Lewis (Wayne) Ferguson.

Moving on to school board races, five individuals have filed petitions to fill three open seats on the Bright Local board. Incumbents John Gillespie, Tammy Hauke and Jobey Lucas have all filed petitions, as have Nicole Barnett and Ethan Howard.

The Lynchburg-Clay district has four candidates — none of whom are currently serving — filing for three spots on their board: Cathy Griffith, Emily Hall, Rebecca Sanderson and Ashley Watson. Current board members not filing petitions are John Carraher, Brett Malone and Matt Stroud.

For Fairfield Local, four candidates have also filed for three open seats, including school board president Ronald Friend and current school board member Corey Cockerill, as well as candidates Casey McIntosh and Larry McKenzie. Current school board member John Welling did not file.

The Hillsboro City Schools board has school board president Bill Myers and current school board member Tom Milbery both listed as running for reelection, and the Greenfield Exempted Village Board has current school board members Sandy Free and Eric Wise filing to retain their seats. Those races will be unopposed.

In addition to the individuals filing, there is a total of 12 local options or levies that have been certified by the board. Those include:

• Highland County North Joint Fire and Ambulance District, an additional 1.74-mill levy;

• Brushcreek Township (two), 1-mill cemetery maintenance renewal levy and an additional 2-mill fire protection levy;

• Lynchburg Area Joint Fire and Ambulance District, a 5.5-mill replacement levy;

• Salem Township, a .8-mill cemetery renewal levy;

• Highland County Children Services/County Commissioners, a 1-mill replacement levy (with .1-mill increase) for the care and placement of children;

• Village of Highland, a 2.5-mill current expenses renewal levy;

• Dodson Township, a .5 mill cemetery maintenance renewal levy;

• Village of Lynchburg, a 5-mill police salaries replacement levy;

• Madison Township, an additional 8-mill law enforcement levy;

• Village of Mowrystown, a 5-mill current expenses renewal levy; and

• A local option for Hillsboro Event Center (for Hillsboro Northwest-19) for on-premises sales.