As the new election season draws near, the filing deadline for anybody seeking candidacy has officially ended as of 4 p.m. on Jan. 30. To reiterate, the primary election is to be held on May 22. The purpose of this election is to determine the Democrat and Republican party candidates for the offices on the ballot.

“Qualifications varies depending on the office sought by each candidate. On the local level, all county offices are filed with the Bell County Clerk’s Office and then forwarded to the Secretary of State office. Any candidate running for federal, state or judicial offices must file directly with Secretary of State,” stated Bell County Clerk Debbie Gambrel.

In Bell County, there is one person on the ballot for the Commonwealth Attorney — Karen Greene Blondell. Colby Slusher is on the ballot for the Circuit Clerk position. For the Judge-Executive seat, current office holder Albey Brock, Jesse Taylor, Bruce Hendrickson and Jerry Watkins are on the ballot. All of the candidates are registered as Republican.

Debbie Gambrel is the only person on the ballot for the County Clerk seat. For the County Attorney, William Neil Ward is the only candidate. All of the aforementioned candidates are registered Republicans.

For Bell County Sheriff, the ballot lists current Sheriff Mitch Williams, Carl Frith, David Cornelius, and Tommy Fuson. Williams is registered Republican, Frith and Cornelius are Democrats and Fuson is registered as Independent. For County Jailer, current jailer Gary Ferguson, Larry McCullough, Randy Venable, Bobby Valentine Jr. and Jason Gregory have filed. Ferguson, Venable and Valentine Jr. are all registered Republicans. The other two are Democrats.

Jay Steele and Clyde Creech, both Republicans, are on the ballot for Coroner.

For the Middlesboro Mayor seat, Lucas Carter, Rick Nelson, Clarence Green and incumbent William Kelley are on the ballot.

The Middlesboro City Council has a full roster of folks on the ballot. They are Kevin Barnett, Alan Farmer, Travis Moody, Philip Ball, Jim Hyde, Josh B. Greene, Angela Jackson, Boone L. Bowling, William Smith, Scotty Branham, Jessie Moberg, Carolyn Pursifull, Glynna Brown, Jason W. Lambdin, Terry E. Poore, Mallory Shoffner and Judy Meredith Grandey.

For the Pineville City Council, Patricia Bingham, Billy Robbins Jr., Linda Patterson Wyatt, Shawn S. Fugate II, Gary Woolum, Ben Madon, Scott Jeffrey, Whitney M. Howard, Alex Jones, Dr. Lisa Gregory and Alicia Slusher have filed.

For Pineville Mayor, only incumbent Scott Madon is on the ballot.