Political races have developed locally as filing for the May primary closed at noon on Friday.

A trio of candidates has filed for the District One seat on the Bertie County Board of Commissioners.

Incumbent L.C. Hoggard filed for reelection on the first day of filing and has since been challenged by two others. J. Nick Shook, a retired educator and former member of the Bertie County Board of Education, filed on Thursday while Ronald D. Wesson made known his intentions to seek the office just before the close of filing on Friday.

Bertie County is not the only one who will have a commission race, however, as the District Three race in Hertford County also has competition. Incumbent John E. Pierce will be challenged by newcomer Bill Mitchell for that seat.

While Northampton County will see no challenges to incumbent commissioners, there are seven candidates for four seats on the county’s school board.

Incumbents Catherine Moody, Bill Little and Roland Whitted have filed to keep their seats on the board. Also filing is former school board member Lafayette “Lott” Majette as well as newcomers Ola Gathers, Erica Ingram and Marjorie Edwards.

The District Five seat of the late Howard J. Hunter Jr. in the North Carolina House of Representatives will also see opposition in the May primary. Annie W. Mobley, who was appointed to the seat after Hunter’s death, will be challenged by former Hertford County Commissioner Robert Richardson.

While voters have choices in those races, many area incumbents will be seeking reelection without opposition.

In Hertford County, District One Commissioner Howard J. Hunter III nor District Two Commissioner Dupont L. Davis will be opposed in their bids for reelection.

The same is true for Bertie County Commissioners Norman Cherry Sr. (District 4) and Charles Smith (District 5) as well as Northampton County Commissioners Virginia D. Spruill (District Two) and James Hester (District One).

The current Register of Deeds in all three counties will seek reelection unopposed. They are Belinda White (Bertie County), Pauline Deloatch (Northampton County) and Kathleen Wright (Hertford County).

According to the North Carolina Board of Elections website, Ed Jones will seek election to the North Carolina Senate seat from District Five unopposed. Jones was appointed to the seat after the death of the late Senator Robert Holloman.

Judicial District 6-B Judge Thomas R.J. Newbern will also seek reelection to his post unopposed.

In the Council of State races in North Carolina, a mild surprise occurred Friday morning when six-term Commissioner of Insurance James Long decided not to seek reelection. According to wral-tv.com, Long accompanied Assistant Commissioner Wayne Goodwin to the Board of Elections as Goodwin filed for the Democratic nomination. Goodwin is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, as is Republican challenger John Odom.

Those others who have filed for Council of State, according to the state’s website, include (I denotes incumbent):

Governor (Democrat): Bev Perdue, Dennis Nielsen, Richard H. Moore;

Governor (Republican): Bill Graham, E. Powers, Fred Smith, Pat McCrory, Robert F. “Bob” Orr;

Lt. Governor (Democrat): Dan Besse, Hampton Dellinger, Pat Smathers, Walter H. Dalton;

Lt. Governor (Republican): Greg Dority, Jim Snyder, Robert Pittenger, Timothy Cook;

Attorney General (Democrat): Roy Cooper (I);

Attorney General (Republican): Bob Crumley;

Auditor (Democrat): Beth Wood, Fred Aikens;

Auditor (Republican): Leslie Merritt (I);

Commissioner of Agriculture (Democrat): Ronnie Ansley;

Commissioner of Agriculture (Republican): Steve Troxler (I);

Commissioner of Labor (Democrat): John C. Brooks, Mary Fant Donnan, Robin Anderson, Ty Richardson;

Commissioner of Labor (Republican): Cherie Berry (I);

Secretary of State (Democrat): Elaine F. Marshall (I);

Secretary of State (Republican): Jack Sawyer;

Secretary of Public Instruction (Democrat): Eddie Davis, June St. Clair Atkinson (I);

Secretary of Public Instruction (Republican): Eric H. Smith, Joe Johnson;

Treasurer (Democrat): David Young, Janet Cowell, Michael Weisel;

Treasurer (Republican): Bill Daughtridge.

The United State Senate seat held by Elizabeth Dole will also be on the ballot. Dole is unopposed in the Republican primary.

On the Democratic side, there are five candidates vying for the post. They are Duskin C. Lassiter, Howard Staley, Jim Neal, Kay Hagan and Marcus W. Williams.

United States Congressman G.K. Butterfield will run unopposed for the Democratic nomination for the post. He will be opposed in the November election by Bertie County’s Dean Stephens, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the post.