The early week saw most of the candidates who are incumbents get into the race earlier in the week, and now newer faces are beginning to show up to qualify for the ballot in November.

Among those is Stephen Sanders, a Rockmart High School teacher who will be running for the Aragon City Council special election this fall. The seat left open over what will be more than a year after former Council Member Daniel Johnson so far has no competition other than Sanders.

One seat remains open to qualify on the Aragon City Council, that being left open by Judd Fee as he seeks to take on the job of Mayor of Aragon full time from an acting role. He thus far is running unopposed.

Donnie Canada qualified to retain his seat on Tuesday morning alongside Fee when he qualified to run for Mayor.

If qualifying closed out today, Aragon would have to re-open the qualifying period in the next couple of weeks to allow for the opportunity for a candidate(s) to step up for one of the open seats.

The only contested election so far is for the Mayor of Rockmart. Incumbent Mayor Sherman Ross is seeking a second term in office, and he’ll face off against two former Council Members: James Payne and Cooley Austin.

The two council seats up this year held by Rick Stone and Marty Robinson as incumbents thus far have no challengers who have stepped up in the race.

Additionally, as of this moment the Cedartown City Commission is unopposed as well. Commissioner Dale Tuck is seeking her fifth term in office and thus far has no opposition, nor does new candidate Ryan Casey.

He’s running to take over the seat to be vacated soon by Commissioner Andrew Carter, who will be stepping aside in this election cycle after two terms in office.

Qualifying continues at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. Those interested in running for office and want more information can contact the Board of Elections office at 770-749-2103.

If the period ends with no additional candidates in Aragon or Cedartown other than a single one to fill positions, they might not require a November vote.

As it stands, the Rockmart Mayor’s race will require a ballot to be cast by city residents.