Elections

Filing begins today at noon and closes in exactly two weeks. Races include Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education, Mebane Mayor and City Council, Hillsborough Mayor and Town Board, Carrboro Mayor and Board of Alderpeople, and Chapel Hill Mayor and Town Council.

There has already been a lot of discussion about candidates, and I think this will be a particularly interesting year. We'll have an opportunity to meet many of the candidates in person at The OP Posse's third annual Candidate Coming Out Party.

Please use this open thread to post updates as you learn about new candidates. We'll be watching candidate filings here on the Orange County Board of Elections web page.

Continuing our series about upcoming municipal elections, here's a look at what's happening in the northern part of the county in the race for Hillsborough Town Board. As a reminder, election filing opens in just a few weeks on July 5th. (You can read my post about Chapel Hill Town Council here and Molly's post about Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board here.)

There are two incumbents up for re-election this year:

Mike Gering was first elected to the Hillsborough Town Board in 2001, and has announced that he will not be seeking re-election this year. "The town is in good shape, and I believe change is healthy - both for me and for the town," Gering said in a news release, as reported by the News & Observer.

Frances Dancy also faces re-election this year. Dancy will complete her fourth term on the Town Board this year, and has not yet announced whether she will seek a fifth term yet.