CLAY COUNTY-With the qualifying deadline expiring last week, the ballot for the 2026 August Election is now set.

Featuring almost 60 local candidates running for a total of 25 seats, the ballot includes races for the offices of Clay County Mayor, all 10 Clay County Commissioners, county trustee, general sessions judge, sheriff, circuit court clerk, county clerk, register of deeds, and road superintendent.

Additionally, two new city alderman seats will be filled in the election and a pair of school board members in Districts 2, 3, and 5 will be elected.

Countywide

The races for register of deeds and county mayor will feature the most candidates among seven countywide offices on the ballot.

With the retirement of longtime register of deeds Brenda Browning, a total of eight candidates will vie to become her successor.

They include Allie Atchley, Tony Daniels, Isabella “Izzy” Hale, Valeria Browning Kendall, Carly Roach Lynn, Jennifer Watson Smith, Whitney Franklin Thompson, and Amy Lynn Tilson.

Five candidates are running for county mayor, including incumbent Dale Reagan and challengers Greg Brannon, Adam Bryant, Neal Austin Smith, and Ronnie “Pee Wee” Smith.

Three other countywide offices will feature a pair of candidates squaring off.

Incumbent sheriff Brandon Boone is being challenged by James “JB” Killmon, incumbent circuit court clerk Keshia Smith by Susan Beth Birdwell, and incumbent county clerk Donna R. Watson by Wendy Key.

Rounding out the list of countywide offices on the ballot will be two incumbents running unopposed, including trustee Angie Thompson and road superintendent Jason Browning.

Commission

A total of 24 candidates will run for 10 available county commission seats, including seven incumbents.

In District 1, seven candidates are running, but only one incumbent is seeking re-election.

With Neal Austin Smith making a bid for county mayor, James Bryan Coons is the lone incumbent on the ballot in District 1 and he is joined there by Hugh Brian Cherry, Robert “Bobby” Jacoby, Dale McLerran, Derek L. Scott, Terry W. Scott, and Anthony Lee Smith.

District 2 has two incumbents on the ballot, as both Jeff Gentry and Parrish Wright are seeking re-election.  They will also be challenged by Casie R. Skulley.

Six candidates are running in District 3, including incumbents Dorothy Burchett Forney and Mark Poindexter, who will be challenged by Clifton Boles, Kristen Mathews, James (Cornbread) Maxwell, and James (Jay) Reagan.

Both District 4 and District 5 have four candidates in each race, with one incumbent running in each district.

In District 4, incumbent Jerry Rhoton is not seeking re-election, but incumbent Winton E. Young is running.

Young is joined on the ballot by Anthony D. Boles, John L. Carman II, and Aaron Thomas Rohan’s.

Like Rhoton, District 5 incumbent Jeniffer Ritter is not running, but incumbent Elizabeth Ann Boles is seeking re-election.

Boles will appear on the ballot with Kyle Haney, Tanner Harvey, and Eli Watson.

School board

Eight school board candidates are running for the six seats on the ballot, including four incumbents.

In District 2, incumbent James Mays is joined on the ballot by Kurt West.

With no other challengers and incumbent Roy Henson not seeking re-election, Mays and West will assume office in August.

Both incumbents in District 3 are running, along with one challenger.

Incumbents Todd Houston Lynn and Kenneth David West, along with Waneta Newton, will vie for the two District 3 seats.

Three are also on the ballot in District 5, but Nathan Sherrell is the only incumbent running, as incumbent Todd Upton is not seeking re-election.

Sherrell will be joined on the ballot by Matthew Adams and Doug Strong.

City alderman

Six candidates are running for the two new city alderman seats.

They include Kevin Lee Boles, Patricia Ann Burton, Cassondra Abbott Cornell, Charles Robert Cox, Dorothy Burchett Forney, and Tonya Spears.

The pair of candidates elected in August will join the three sitting aldermen, who voted to expand their governing body to five members.

Primaries

Besides the county general and municipal elections, the ballot will also include races in the Clay County Republican and Democratic Federal and State Primaries.

Primary offices on the ballot will include U.S. Senate, District 6 U.S. House of Representatives, Governor, District 38 State House of Representatives, and District 12 Republican and Democratic State Executive Committeeman and Committeewoman.

Primary candidates are required to file their original petition in the county election office where they reside and file a certified duplicate petition in the other county election offices within their district.

Locally, incumbent District 12 Democratic State Executive Committeewoman and Clay County resident Carol V. Abney is running for re-election.

Clay County resident Rayne M. Smith will also be a local primary candidate.  She is running for District 12 Republican State Executive Committeewoman.

For more information about the upcoming election, contact the Clay County Election Office at 931-243-2536.

Candidates

encouraged

to announce

The HORIZON offers free election announcements edited to the newspaper’s format to candidates.  They run on the front page with a color photo as space allows, with no more than six appearing in a given issue.

If there are more than six announcements in any given week, they will be held until the following week or will be run in another prominent location elsewhere in the paper, if a candidate wants their announcement published that week.

A deadline to have announcements published will be released at a later date.  Announcements should be emailed to [email protected].