CLAY CO., Ill.---The ballots in Clay County today are interesting, to say the least...and nowhere more interesting than in the city of Flora, where there's a three-way race for the office of mayor.
There are two challenging the incumbent, and one of those is a former mayor who is still held in high favor among the voting populace.
Across the county there are other interesting ballot points as well, so we're bringing them to you now in this article in the current issue (Consolidated Election 2015 Preview, March/April), Big mayoral election in Flora; a little more interest everywhere else in Clay than usual:
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This Consolidated Election 2015 is being taken quite seriously in many quarters of Clay County, and that’s an encouraging thing to see, given the lack of interest by qualified candidates in the General 2014 and quite a few previous elections.
Flora
In Flora, the big race is for that of mayor, which also was the big race four years ago.
Incumbent Bob Tackitt is tops on the ballot. However, he’s joined by two others: challenger (as he was in 2011) Charles Linder, as well as former mayor Charles Crowder.
Current word-of-mouth has it that Tackitt will likely take the race again, since Flora seems to be doing very, very well under the leadership he’s provided, as well as the fact that he hired former Olney city manager Randy Bukas to handle that same role in Flora, and the current council seems to get along well with Tackitt.
However, Linder has been running a strong, albeit low-key, campaign; and Crowder, as former mayor, has his own following, including many long-time Flora residents, many of which make up the sizable electorate.
So for mayor in that town, it might be a complete toss-up, and it might be a surprise come election night.
For the council race, the incumbents—Jerry Stringer, Ed McCormick, Norman Henderson and Phillip Wiley—will be challenged for the four seats by Dan McKinnon, Larry Fitch, Brock Earl Davis and Mike Stanford; top four vote recipients will take the seats in this open election.
Villages: Clay City, Iola, Louisville, Sailor Springs, Xenia
In the outlying villages throughout Clay, it’s not nearly as interesting as it was a couple of years back when the heat was on the fire district in Xenia…but there at least is interest in a couple of....
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To read the rest, simply click the headline link above if you have an online membership to the e-Edition, or, if you don't, click this link here to get started. But if you prefer to read a print version, visit any one of our wonderful vendors throughout southern Illinois, where you can pick up the current issue, the Consolidated Election 2015 preview (March/April) on stands until one week post-election. Don't miss this one...you need to be informed...more posts to come!