The 2010 campaign season formally opened at noon Monday as several incumbents and a few challengers lined up at Twin Counties boards of elections offices to pay their filing fees.
Nash County Sheriff Dick Jenkins and Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight each filed for re-election early in the day.
Both men are expecting competition in the Democratic primary, although their respective challengers did not file on opening day.
N.C. Sen. Clark Jenkins, D-Edgecombe, and both of the candidates who have announced plans to challenge him in the Democratic primary registered their campaigns Monday.
Greenville businessman Frankie Bordeaux and former Edgecombe County Commissioner Florence Armstrong each filed.
Jenkins, a fourth term lawmaker, used filing day to highlight his experience in Raleigh.
“There is just no substitute for experience in the North Carolina Senate and in dealing with other elected leaders and state officials who make decisions daily that directly affect — both positive and negatively — the citizens of my district and all of Eastern North Carolina,” Jenkins said in a written statement.
Nash County’s entire state legislative delegation also filed re-election campaigns.
No candidates officially have stepped forward as of yet to challenge N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, or N.C. Reps. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, and Randy Stewart, D-Nash.
“We still have work left to do in Raleigh to reduce poverty and get our economy back on track,” Bryant said of her decision to run for a third term. “We can’t turn our backs on North Carolinians who work hard every day and are afraid of losing their jobs, their savings and their health care.”
District Attorney Robert Evans, who was appointed to the post last year, filed for election.
Nash County commissioners Robbie Davis, Fred Belfield and Wayne Outlaw all filed their campaign paperwork, as did the incumbent Nash County Clerk of Court Rachel Joyner.
In Tarboro, Edgecombe County Clerk of Court Carol White also filed for re-election.
A complete list of candidates who filed for statewide and federal offices at the N.C. Board of Elections office in Raleigh will be made available Tuesday, elections officials said.
The filing period for the May 4 primaries will run through Feb. 26.
