The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office announced that the filing period for candidates is Jan. 9-28. Any individual seeking to run for public office in the state must file either with their local County Clerk’s office or with the Secretary of State’s office.

Offices on the primary ballot in May will include that of President of the United States; United States Senator and United States House of Representatives. In addition, West Virginia voters will see candidates for Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Commissioner of Agriculture, Attorney General and Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

State Senators, House of Delegates, Circuit Judge and Family Court Judge will also appear on Jefferson County ballots as will Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney, Assessor, Magistrate(s), Conservation District Supervisor and two County Commissioners.

In the local races, pre-candidacy paperwork has been filed by incumbent Sheriff Robert “Bobby” Shirley, Prosecuting Attorney Ralph Lorenzetti and Angela Banks for Assessor as well as current Commissioner Frances B. Morgan. Reese Clabaugh has pre-filed with the intent of running against Morgan.

Kearneysville resident Robert “Bob” Tabb has pre-filed for the position of Commissioner of Agriculture while local attorney Stephen Skinner and Elliot Simon have announced their candidacy for the Delegate seat currently held by John Doyle. Paul Espinosa and Wayne Harris, Sr. have pre-filed for the newly-created 67th delegate seat.

The recent decision to nullify the state’s redistricting should not hamper individuals from filing, said the SOS office. In a press release, it was stated, “candidates may choose to file before the final makeup of the three congressional districts are known. Candidates do not have to reside in the district for which they are running.”

Qualifications for all offices can be found on the Secretary of State’s website at www.wvsos.com.