Deadline nearing for unaffiliated candidates to file Hagerstown City Council race

June 10, 2012|By C.J. LOVELACE | cj.lovelace@herald-mail.com

The deadline for candidates seeking a nomination by petition or from a nonprincipal political party is later this month, according to a Maryland State Board of Elections news release.

Ashley C. Haywood, a current Hagerstown city councilwoman, is the lone unaffiliated candidate who has filed to run in the Nov. 6 general election, a Washington County Board of Elections official said Wednesday.

Haywood filed a Declaration of Intent to seek re-election to the five-member council in January, Election Director Kaye E. Robucci said.

Robucci said Haywood also filed a Statement of Organization, and has until Aug. 6 to file a petition with signatures representing at least 1 percent of the total number of the city’s registered voters — or at least 250 signatures.

No other candidates have filed a Declaration of Intent to run in this fall’s general election, but they may do so until June 29, Robucci said.

In the Hagerstown mayoral race, incumbent Republican Robert E. Bruchey II will be challenged by Democrat David S. Gysberts, who ran unsuccessfully against Bruchey in 2009.

Running for one of five open seats on the city council, GOP candidates include incumbent Forrest W. Easton, and challengers Chris Kelly, Don Munson, Jonathan R. Burrs and Larry Bayer.

Democratic candidates for council include incumbents Martin Brubaker, Lewis C. Metzner and William Breichner, as well as challengers Kristin B. Aleshire and Penny Nigh, both former city council members.

The top five vote-getters will win seats on the council. Each elected position carries a four-year term.

City of Hagerstown elections, last held in 2009, were changed this year to coincide with the presidential election as a way to try to boost voter turnout, city officials have said.

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