Municipal elections: Asheboro will need primaries for mayor, city council

ASHEBORO — There will be primaries for the mayoral race and city council seats in Asheboro for the fall elections.

Two candidates – Brett Thompson and Jennyfer Bucardo – entered the mayoral race Friday, which was the final day for candidates to file.

They’ll join sitting city council members Eddie Burks and Joey Trogdon looking to replace retiring mayor David Smith. They filed for spots on the ballot on the first day of the filing period.

For city council, there are 14 candidates for four seats on the 2025 ballot.

The council candidates are incumbents Kelly Heath and William McCastkill along with Phillip Cheek, Al LaPrade, Mary Joan Pugh, Phil Skeen, Dave Thomas, Jimmy Efird, Kate Snuggs, Joel McClosky, Kevin Garcia Cordova, Timothy Woodle, Pamela Vuncannon and Aaron McLendon.

The primary will be Oct. 7 in Asheboro. The general election comes Nov. 4.

The mayor’s race will be reduced to two candidates. The city council competition will be trimmed to eight candidates.

Primaries are required if more than two mayoral candidates and more than eight city council candidates filed.

In Asheboro, council members Walker Moffitt and Clark Bell chose not to seek another term.

Cheek is an elected official on the Asheboro City Schools Board of Education.

The Asheboro City Schools Board of Education has four candidates – Hilda DeCortez (incumbent), Mikayla Cassidy, Michael Brown and Brad Thomas.

Board members Cheek, Linda Cranford and Michael Smith chose not to run.

Other municipalities

Around Randolph County, only one mayor’s race has more than one candidate.

In Randleman, J.W. Gaster is making a bid to unseat mayor Gary Betts Sr.

For the Board of Alderman, the Ward 2 candidates are incumbent Melissa Blalock and Craig Hancock, while Ward 3 has incumbent Nancy Henderson as the lone candidate.

** Liberty mayor Filmore York will be unopposed for another term.

Commissioner candidates are mayor pro tem Larry Coble, incumbents Terry Caviness and Tyson Nixon along with Rebekkah Glass.

** In Seagrove, mayor David Fernandez is unopposed as he attempts to remain in his position.

Candidates for town commissioners are Jeremy Steinhart, Kevin McBride and incumbents Ed Walker and Sandra Walker.

** Staley mayor Karen Scotton is unopposed.

Town commissioner candidates are Brooke Boswell and incumbents Lori Lynn Langley, Faye Johnson and Sherri Martin for four seats.

** In Franklinville, Ben Harman will seek to become mayor as the only person on the ballot for that position. Incumbent A.C. Hurley isn’t on the ballot.

Franklinville council members Billy Farias and Richard Goodwin have filed to keep their seats, while Sara Nieblas and Joe Dawkins have entered the race.

** In Ramseur, David Neve, Diana Brower and Jesse Hembree are candidates for two town commissioner positions. Brower is an incumbent, while Joy Kearns opted not to run to keep her seat.

** In Thomasville, with a small sliver of the population in Randolph County, JacQuez Johnson, Wendy Sellars and Raleigh York Jr. are vying to be mayor. For city council, there are 12 candidates.