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As of Dec. 5, several candidates across the Roanoke-Chowan area have submitted their names for races in the upcoming primary election which will be held on March 3, 2020.

Filing opened on Monday, Dec. 2 and will remain open until 12 noon on Friday, Dec. 20.

In Bertie County, the District 1 and District 4 seats of the Board of Commissioners are up for grabs. The only person to file for District 1 so far is incumbent Ronald (Ron) Wesson, a democrat from Windsor.

No one has yet to file for District 4’s seat which is currently held by John Trent.

Citizens in Bertie can also file for the Register of Deeds. The sole candidate for that race so far is Annie F. Wilson, a democrat from Windsor.

The Bertie Board of Elections office is located at 210 West Watson Street, Windsor. For more information, call 252-794-5306.

Gates County citizens will be able to vote in races for two County Commissioner seats, the Register of Deeds, and two seats on the Board of Education.

Only three candidates have filed so far.

Linda Hofler, a Sunbury democrat, is seeking reelection to her District 5 commissioner seat. Register of Deeds democrat incumbent M. Cathy Horton of Eure is also seeking reelection to her position. Incumbent Ray Felton of Eure has filed to reclaim his District 2 seat on the Board of Education.

No one has yet to file for the District 4 county commissioner seat held by Henry Jordan or the District 4 Board of Education seat held by Claire Whitehurst.

Gates County residents seeking to file can do so at the Board of Elections office located at 931 Main Street, Gatesville. For more information, call 252-357-1780.

A few candidates have already filed their names for races in Hertford County.

Three county commissioner seats are open for interested candidates, and are currently held by Ronald Gatling, John Horton, and Bill Mitchell. Of those incumbents, only Gatling has filed for reelection to his seat in District 2. He is a democrat from Ahoskie.

Tim Wadsworth, an Ahoskie Democrat, has also filed for the District 1 county commissioner seat.

Incumbent Register of Deeds Melanie Storey has submitted her name for reelection. No other candidates have filed to challenge the democrat from Murfreesboro.

The Hertford County Board of Elections office is located at 418 Everett Street, Suite A, Ahoskie. For more information, call 252-358-7812.

Several Northampton County incumbents remain unchallenged for the upcoming primary election.

The seats for District 1 and District 2 on the Board of Commissioners will be on the ballot, and both incumbents have already filed to run for another term. The District 1 seat is currently held by Charles R. Tyner, Sr, a democrat from Murfreesboro. Serving District 2 is Geneva Riddick-Faulkner, a democrat from Rich Square.

Robin Phillips Williams, the county’s current Register of Deeds, has also filed to seek another term. Williams is a democrat from Seaboard. No other candidates have filed for the position.

Four seats on Northampton’s Board of Education are up for grabs in the next election. Those seats are currently held by Clinton Williams, Richie Harding, Lloyd Pitman, and Keedra Whitaker. Of those incumbents, only Whitaker has filed for reelection. She is from Rich Square.

Newcomers to the Board of Education race include Tony Burnette of Jackson, Theresa Scott of Conway, and Josephine Tyner Dunn of Murfreesboro.

Candidates wishing to file for Northampton races can do so at the Board of Elections office located at 9495 NC Hwy 305, Jackson. For more information, call 252-534-5681.

Several candidates have already filed for federal and state races as well, including seats in the NC House of Representatives and the NC Senate. Locally, those seats are District 1 (Bertie), District 5 (Hertford, Gates), and District 27 (Northampton) in the House, and District 1 (Hertford, Gates) and District 3 (Bertie, Northampton) in the senate.

NC House District 1 representative Edward C. Goodwin, the incumbent republican, has already filed for the upcoming primary. He is currently unchallenged in his reelection bid.

The democrat incumbent for NC House District 5, Howard J. Hunter III, has already filed for reelection. He will be challenged in the primary by Keith Rivers. Republican Donald Kirkland has also filed for the seat.

Michael H. Wray, the democrat incumbent for NC House District 27, has also filed to run again. As of yet, he is the only candidate to file for that race.

NC District 1 Senator Bob Steinburg, the republican incumbent, is the only candidate who has filed so far for that position.

In NC Senate District 3, Republican Thomas S. Hester, Jr. has filed for the position. He currently remains unchallenged.

Erica D. Smith was the democrat incumbent in the NC Senate District 3, but she has chosen to file for US Senate instead. Other democrat candidates in the US Senate primary include Trevor M. Fuller, Steve Swenson, Cal Cunningham, and Atul Goel.

In the US House of Representatives District 1, democrat G.K. Butterfield has filed for reelection. He is currently the sole candidate who has entered his name in the race.

No republicans have filed yet for the US Senate and US House of Representative races.

A number of local district judge seats are also open for filing. Gates County is in District 1 while Bertie, Hertford, and Northampton are in District 6.

The only candidate so far to file for NC District Court Judge (District 1) is democrat Amber Davis Malarney, seeking Seat 5.

Five candidates, all democrats, have filed for NC District Court Judge (District 6) seats. Brenda Green Branch has filed seeking Seat 1, and Teresa Raquel Robinson Freeman has filed for Seat 2. W. Turner Stephenson III has submitted his name for Seat 4. All are currently unchallenged. For Seat 3, Vershenia Ballance Moody will face off against Jamal Summey.

Cy Grant, the democrat incumbent, has filed again for NC Superior Court Judge District 6B Seat 1. He is currently the only candidate to file for this position.

Other statewide seats for the 2020 election include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all state executives, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Judges of the Court of Appeals. Candidates wishing to file for those seats are required to file with the NC State Board of Elections.

Candidates for Governor so far include democrat Roy Cooper seeking a second term, and Republicans Holly Grange and Dan Forest looking to unseat him.

The race for Lieutenant Governor, however, includes a much more crowded field of both democrats and republicans since current Lt. Governor Forest is seeking a higher office instead of reelection.

Democrat candidates for Lieutenant Governor include Bill Toole, Terry Van Duyn, Yvonne Lewis Holley, Chaz Beasley, and Allen Thomas. Republican candidates include Mark Robinson, Deborah Cochran, Andy Wells, and Greg Gebhardt.

Candidates must be affiliated with their political party for at least 90 days prior to the filing date.

The primary election will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. If there is no clear party nominee in certain contests following the partisan primary election, there may be a second primary for that contest, either on Tuesday, April 21, 2020 (if no contest for federal office in the state requires a second primary), or Tuesday, May 12, 2020 (if one or more contests for federal office in the state requires a second primary).

The date of the general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.