Court challenges and legal rulings rudely interrupted the candidate filing period in December of last year.
On Tuesday, Feb.22, Guilford County announced that the filing period to run for office in 2022 will resume on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 8 a.m. and end on Friday, March 4 at noon.
That schedule is dependent on the North Carolina Supreme Court approving new redistricting maps on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The three judge panel appointed to approve the redistricting maps accepted the state legislative redistricting maps, but not the Congressional redistricting map passed by the state legislature. Instead the panel approved its own Congressional redistricting map and those decisions could be appealed to the NC Supreme Court.
Last December, the Guilford County Board of Elections opened up the candidate filing period for the 2022 Primary election and, soon after, people began tossing hats in the ring. But legal battles at the state level over redistricting caused the filing period to be suspended. Since then, some local candidates have announced their intentions to run but, have been unable to make it official.
Filing, as before, will be held at the Board of Elections Office on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro.
Filing will also take place at the county’s High Point Board of Elections Office but that will be done by appointment only.
Interestingly, the delay in filing could mean a somewhat different list of candidates than one would have gotten in December. Some planning to run may have thought better of it with more time to mull the decision, and some who weren’t originally planning on filing may have reconsidered.
At the start of the year, Guilford County Commissioner Justin Conrad said that, given more time to think about it, he might run again for his District 3 seat rather than exit as he planned earlier. Conrad seems to have been joking, but some candidates who thought about stepping down may have thought better of it with more time to consider running.
Sadly, Commissioner Carolyn Coleman – whose District 7 seat term on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners was ending later this year – passed away recently. So there’s likely to be more candidates in that race than there would be if the filing period had closed last December.
Offices that are eligible for candidates to file for at the Guilford County Board of Elections office are:
- NC Senate (Candidates may also file in Raleigh with the State Board of Elections),
- NC House of Representatives (These candidates may also file in Raleigh with the state board),
- Guilford County Board of Commissioners
- Guilford County Board of Education
- Sheriff
- Clerk of Superior Court
- Mayor and City Council of Greensboro
Judicial office, Guilford County District Attorney and federal office candidates must file with the State Board of Elections at the Governor James Martin Building at 4381 Trinity Road in Raleigh.
Notices of candidacy and filing fees have to be filed and paid in the county’s Board of Elections Office or notarized and received – not postmarked – in the office by noon on Friday, March 4.
Candidates who filed to run in December don’t need to file again.
For a list of available offices and filing fees, or answers to other questions, candidates can call the Guilford County Board of Elections at 336-641-3836 or checkout www.guilfordelections.org.
