As of the end of the second day of qualifying, three Democrats and two Republicans have qualified to run for the Jones County Board of Education.

Gray’s special election had no qualifiers to date to fill the District Four council seat vacated by Russell Thompson, although representatives at City Hall said a candidate’s packet has been picked up.

Joshua Lurie (D) qualified to run for chairman Monday morning, and J.D. Collins (D) qualified as a candidate for District Three. Both Lurie and Collins announced their intentions to run in the April 15 edition of the News. Lurie is the publisher of The Jones County News, and Collins is an investigator with the Macon Judicial Circuit.

Brady Skinner (R) qualified Monday for District Three and will oppose Collins in November. Skinner is a claims adjuster for GEICO.

Board of Education District One incumbent Deloras Moon (D) also qualified Monday. Moon has represented the district for 20 years and in 2003 served as the president of the Georgia School Board Association.

Ken Hamilton (R) qualified Tuesday afternoon to run for chairman of the Board of Education and will oppose Lurie in November. Hamilton is a self-employed electrical designer. Incumbent Board Chairman Ted Stone previously announced he will not run.

On the state level, incumbent Bubber Epps (D) qualified to run for re-election in State House District 140, and Susan Holmes (R) qualified to run for State House District 125, which was formerly represented by Jim Cole.

Incumbent Senators Cecil Staton (R), District 18, and Johnny Grant (R), District 25, both qualified to run for re-election.

U.S. Congressman for District Eight, Jim Marshall (D), qualified Monday, as did two Republican opponents, Angela Hicks and Diane Vann.

Party primaries will take place July 20, and the date for the General Election is Nov. 2.

Qualifying for the elections opened at 9 a.m. Monday, April 26, and will close at noon April 30. In Jones County, three Board of Education positions are up for election, chairman and Districts One and Three, as is the vacant seat on Gray’s City Council.

Board of Education Districts Two and Four are not up for election this year. Board members agreed to start staggered terms in 2002 in order to avoid the possibility of the school system being under the leadership of a totally inexperienced board.

The qualifying fee to run for the office of chairman is $180, and it costs $108 to qualify to run for the district seats for the Board of Education and the City of Gray.

Candidates for the Board of Education qualify at the Government Center, and City Hall in Gray is handling the qualifying for the council seat.