Despite the fact that the primary election took place in Worth County well over a month ago, Worth resident Kenneth Willis qualified last Thursday to run against Bettye Bozeman for the District 3 seat among the county Board of Commissioners. Because he missed the deadline to choose party affiliation, Willis will run as a non-partisan, independent candidate in November’s general election.
However, there is still work to be done before the candidate’s name will be granted a place on the ballot. Chief Registrar Brandi LeBlanc explains that Willis has paid his qualifying dues and it is possible to run this late in the race. However, the hopeful candidate will have to find 152 voters to sign a petition by July 8 before his name will appear on the ballot. And, the qualifying fees are non-refundable.
After the petition is submitted to the registrar’s office, all of the signatures will have to be verified, but if he can gather enough names of registered voters within the next week, his name will appear among Worth’s other candidates for the general election on Tuesday, November 4.
Incumbent Commissioner Bettye Bozeman was previously unopposed for the District 3 seat through the primary election. She has served on the Worth County Board of Commissioners for over 20 years.