~Worcester County~18 Seek County Commissioner Seats-

SNOW HILL – Eighteen candidates filed to compete for the seven Worcester County Commissioner seats by the July 6 deadline.

The most competition has appeared in District 1, with five candidates emerging to contest for Commissioner Bobby Cowger’s seat.

Democrat Jimmy Schoolfield is ensured of competing in the general election, but the other four District 1 candidates must jockey with each other in the September primary for the Republican nomination.

Republicans Jerre Clauss, Merill W. Lockfaw, Jr., Bill McDermott and Larry Ward will fight for the party nomination.

In District 2, incumbent Commissioner Jim Purnell will face Ed Lee in the September primary election for the Democratic nomination. At this point, there is no Republican candidate in District 2.

Currently, Republican Commissioner Bud Church is unchallenged in District 3.

Longtime District 4 Commissioner Virgil Shockley, a Democrat, will face fellow Democrat Tommy Tucker in the September primary. The winner of that contest will go on to face Republican Ted Elder, who lost to Shockley in 2006, taking 38 percent of the vote.

In 2006, District 5 Commissioner Judy Boggs ran unopposed, but in 2010, she must surpass Republican challenger Bob Thompson in the primary. The victor will go on to face Democrat John Bodnar.

In District 6, Commissioner Linda Busick will face fellow Republican Jim Bunting in the September primary.

District 7 Commissioner Louise Gulyas, a Republican, nearly ran unopposed for re-election, until her 2006 opponent, Democrat Ellie Diegelmann, filed at the last minute. In 2006, Gulyas defeated Diegelmann with 65 percent of the vote.

The surprise of the election season so far is the numerous candidates for the District 1 commissioner race.

“People tend to think incumbents have a little bit of an edge and it seems when an incumbent steps out more people file for that office,” said Elections Board Supervisor Patti Jackson.

In 2006, when then District 1 Commissioner Sonny Bloxom decided not to run for re-election to his commissioner seat to run for state office, three contenders emerged for the District 1 seat.

“Everyone has their own idea about government,” said District 1 candidate Ward, when asked why so many candidates chose to run for the seat.

Another change from 2006 is the District 5 race. Four years ago, Boggs ran unopposed. Now she faces two opponents, and almost faced three, but early filer Ray Unger withdrew his candidacy.

“I assume other people have an interest in being county commissioner, and that’s democracy,” Boggs said.

Bodnar said he decided to run because of his concerns about jobs in the county, not because he has anything against Boggs.

“I’ve always wanted to run for that seat,” Bodnar said, who added the time was not right for him personally in previous elections.

While many thought Diegelmann would once again run against Gulyas, her decision to hold off on committing until the last minute had some thinking Gulyas would run unopposed.

“I just figured that someone would file. Why should I have a free ride?” Gulyas said after the late filing. “I thought from the beginning that she would file.”

Diegelmann was the last candidate in Worcester County to file, said Jackson.

“I waited ‘til the very last minute literally because I was hoping someone else would file,” Diegelman said. “I wanted to encourage other people to file.”

Diegelmann said she is a “hopeful optimist” and thought she had a chance to unseat Gulyas, saying that a lot of things change in four years.

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