By Jesse Wood
With one day of filing remaining, nearly two-dozen people have officially announced their candidacy for the 2017 municipal elections in Watauga County, according to the Watauga County Board of Elections.
Filing opened on July 7 and closes at noon tomorrow, Friday, July 21.
The following seats are open for election: mayors of Boone (Rennie Brantz) and Blowing Rock (J.B. Lawrence); and council members of Boone (seats of Charlotte Mizelle, Jennifer Underdown-Collins and Jennifer Teague), Blowing Rock (seats of Doug Matheson and Sue Sweeting), Beech Mountain (seats of E. Rick Miller, Paul Piquet and Rick Owen) and Seven Devils Kay Ehlinger, David Hooper and Brad Lambert.
The following have filed their candidacy as of Wednesday evening:
Beech Mountain Town Council:
- Weidner Abernethy
- Barry Kaufman
- Rick Miller (I)
- Paul Piquet (I)
- Carl Marquardt
Blowing Rock Mayor:
- Charles Sellers
- B. Lawrence (I)
Blowing Rock Town Council
- Doug Matheson (I)
- Sue Sweeting (I)
- Virginia Powell
- Ray Pickett (I)
Boone Mayor:
- Rennie Brantz (I)
Boone Town Council:
- Connie Ulmer
- Jeannine Underdown Collins (I)
- Charlotte Mizelle (I)
- Jill Reeves
- Marshall Ashcraft
- Sam Furgiuele
Seven Devils Town Council:
- Brad Lambert (I)
- Kay Ehlinger (I)
- Bob Dodson
- Tina Bailey
The election is in November.
For more information, click to the Watauga County Board of Elections website or call 828-265-8061.