Qualifying in areas surrounding Lincoln County has quietedsignificantly nearly three weeks after campaigning began.

After the first week of qualifying in Copiah, Franklin and Lawrencecounties, 47 candidates declared running for county offices. Thatnumber has now only increased by 12, bringing the total to 59candidates declaring their intentions for surrounding countyseats.

Lawrence County

Lawrence County continues to see the most qualifying action amongareas surrounding Lincoln County, with the addition of fivecandidates as of Friday. Twenty-five candidates are now stakingclaim to county offices.

Circuit Clerk James “Sandy” Brister said, as expected, qualifyinghas slowed down since the opening week.

“The ones I have heard are running for one office or another havesigned up or qualified,” said Brister. “There’s a good chance therewill be more, but I haven’t heard of anybody.”

As of Friday, the newest incumbents to qualify since opening weekare County Attorney Damond Ready, County Coroner Sidney Fortenberryand District Four Supervisor Glenn Grubbs.

Other candidates who have qualified since the first week includeJamie Hardison-Edwards for county attorney and Bobby J. Herring forPost Two Constable.

The race for what will be an open seat for Constable Post Two isthe most contested in Lawrence County, with three jockeying for thetitle. Brister said it reminded him of the previous race forcircuit clerk when the county saw five candidates qualify for theopen seat.

“It’s opening up to anyone having an urge to run,” Brister said.”We’ll just have to wait and see how things work on out.”

Franklin County

From the first week of qualifying until Friday, Franklin County hasseen four more candidates become eligible, bringing the total to15.

Three more Franklin County incumbents qualified. That list includesSheriff James Newman, Coroner Percy Peeler and District FiveSupervisor M.L. Ezell.

The other candidate to qualify is David Bradley Griffin who willrun for District One Supervisor.

The race for District One Supervisor could heat up in the weeks tocome, as Circuit Clerk Millie Thornton said current District OneSupervisor Woodrow Wilson has indicated that he is retiring.

“If that is in fact the case, that’s wide open,” saidThornton.

Thornton said she is not sure what is in store for Franklin County,but said she expects a few more to qualify.

“I’m sure things will pick up since they have until March 1,” shesaid.

No one has yet to qualify for District One Constable.

Copiah County

Copiah County has only added three more candidates since the firstweek of qualifying, bringing its field of candidates to 19.

All of those that have recently qualified are incumbents. That listincludes Chancery Clerk Steve Amos, Post One Constable Jimmy DaleWhite and Post Two Constable Ronnie Earls.

No one has qualified for District One Supervisor. However, CircuitClerk Edna Stevens said she thinks current District One SupervisorEarl Dixon will qualify before all is said and done.

“All indications from his family are that he is going to qualify,”said Stevens.

Stevens said Dixon’s road to recovery from an automobile accidentthree weeks ago is most likely why the supervisor has yet toqualify.

“I haven’t had any recent updates from the family,” said Stevens.”I don’t know when he will qualify or leave the hospital.”

Stevens said the last she knew, Dixon was going throughrehabilitation in Jackson.

As far as her qualifying predictions, Stevens only knows herrole.

“We’re just here in the office every day if someone wants to comequalify,” said Stevens.

With the qualifying deadline being March 1, interested candidateshave roughly five weeks to declare a campaign for the primaryelections, which will be held on Aug. 2.