By Paul T. Choate
Feb. 20, 2012. BOONE –- The number of candidates seeking various offices has grown to ten, with nine candidates filing for election on Feb. 13 and a tenth on Feb. 15. Candidates will be able to file for election until Feb. 29 at the Watauga County Board of Elections, located on the first floor of the Watauga County Courthouse.
North Carolina Senate
Daniel F. “Dan” Soucek, R-Boone, filed for re-election to the District 45 Senate seat on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Soucek is currently the Logistics Officer and International Disaster Manager with Samaritan’s Purse. He has previously served as a cross country and track coach at Watauga High School, coached youth soccer and served as an adult and high school Sunday school teacher at Alliance Bible Fellowship.
N.C. State Senators serve two-year terms.
North Carolina House of Representatives
Cullie M. Tarleton, D-Blowing Rock, filed for election to the District 93 House seat. The seat is currently held by Jonathan C. Jordan, R-West Jefferson (Ashe County). Tarleton previously held the seat before being defeated by Jordan in 2010.
N.C. House members serve two-year terms.
Watauga County Board of Commissioners
Virginia N. Roseman, D-Boone, filed for election to the District 1 seat. She currently works with the Appalachian Historical Association. The seat is currently held by Timothy L. J. “Tim” Futrelle, D-Boone, and he has not indicated whether he plans to file for re-election.
Vincent L. “Vince” Gable, R-Boone, and John E. Welch, D-Boone, both filed for election to the District 2 seat. Gable, who currently holds the seat, is a retired attorney and was formerly deputy chief of the Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department. Welch currently works for the Appalachian State University athletics department and serves on the Watauga County Board of Education.
William B. “Billy” Kennedy, D-Vilas, filed for election to the District 3 seat. Kennedy is a farmer and carpenter who previously ran for a United States House of Representatives seat in 2010. The seat is currently held by James M. “Jim” Deal, Jr., D-Boone, and he has indicated that he will not seek re-election.
The winning candidates with the two highest vote tallies will serve four-year terms. The candidate with the third most votes will serve a two-year term.
Register of deeds
JoAnn Townsend, R-Boone, filed for re-election as the Watauga County register of deeds. Townsend has been employed by the office of the register of deeds since 1983 and has held her current position since 2004.
The register of deeds serves a four-year term.
Watauga County Board of Education
Deborah B. Green, of Boone, James B. “Jay” Fenwick, Jr., of Todd, and Barbara L. Kinsey, of Deep Gap, have all filed for election to seats on the Board of Education.
Green is an accountant and owner of a small farm in the area. She is also widely known as a government watchdog in the community. Fenwick is an ASU computer science professor. He was also formerly the president of the non-profit Watauga Education Foundation. Kinsey is a former English and Latin teacher who taught in the public school system, including at ASU, for 38 years.
There will be at least two seats available, as board chair Deborah H. Miller, of Todd, said she does not plan to seek re-election and board member John E. Welch is running for a seat on the Board of Commissioners. Board member Steve Combs, of Sugar Grove, is in an expiring term and has not stated if he will seek re-election.
Election graphic by Tim Salt.
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