Ballot positions drawn for candidates facing off in May 18 Preferential Primary

BERRYVILLE -- A total of 52 local candidates filed for county seats during last week's filing period.

Of those, 37 are running in contested races.

Several of those candidates will drop out after the Preferential Primary on May 18.

The primary is scheduled to decide party races -- and a primary run-off in June is expected because of the number of candidates seeking U.S. Senate and Congressional seats.

There are 11 seeking Democrat Blanche Lincoln's U.S. Senate seat, including eight Republicans.

One of those eight Republicans must capture more than 50 percent of the vote to advance to the general election in November.

If none of the eight succeed, the top two vote-getters will face off in a primary run-off.

The same holds true for the eight Republicans vying for the U.S. Congress District 3 seat currently held by John Boozman, who is among eight Republicans seeking Lincoln's Senate seat.

At a Carroll County Election Commission meeting Tuesday, ballot positions were drawn for only those candidates who will facing off in the May 18 Preferential Primary.

Until primary races and primary run-off races are decided, there is no reason to draw for November general election ballot positions, Election Commission Chairman Levi Phillips said.

"We won't draw for November positions until later because we don't know who will be on it," he explained.

They did draw for preferential primary ballot positions. Only two candidates were present for the drawing.

One was Jamie Correia, the incumbent county clerk who is facing fellow Democrat F. Owen Kendrick in May. She drew the Number One ballot position.

The winner of their May race will face Republican challenger Charity Edwards for the county clerk's seat in November.

The other candidate present was Jack R. Gentry, Sr., a Democrat seeking the county sheriff's job. He drew the Number Two ballot position. He faces fellow Democrat John Bailey in May. The winner of that race will face incumbent Republican Sheriff Bob Grudek in November.

Two constable contests will be decided May 18. Those include: Republicans David Henderson and Robert Tollett for Beaver Township constable; and Butch Hanby and Johnnie Inman for Prairie Township constable.

There will be a number of state races on the ballot, along with the local contests.

The election commissioners discussed the upcoming elections, saying all polling sites will be open for the May primary -- and for the June run-off, if required.

Training for poll workers was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13 and 10 a.m., Saturday, May 15, likely at the Berryville Fire Station. Poll workers, it was noted, receive an extra $25 if they attend the hour-and-a-half training session.

Plans for the upcoming Green Forest School special election set for June 22 were also discussed. One set of poll workers, (six people), will work the poll on election day, and early voting will take place at the Berryville courthouse.

Another election commission meeting was set for 9 a.m. next Tuesday, March 16, to continue preparations for the elections.

(Ed. note: We have created a "Candidates' Page" on our home page with links to the candidates' official announcements and photos. These will be updated frequently as new submissions come in, so check back often. It can be found here.)