25 candidates file for Winston-Salem City Council; Joines will run unopposed

Three more candidates filed to run for Winston-Salem City Council this week, bringing the total number of hopefuls to 25 for the upcoming municipal election. Mayor Allen Joines will be unopposed in his bid for a third term as mayor.

On Friday morning, Sam Davis entered the race for the Democratic nomination to represent the city's Northeast Ward. Davis was the last city council candidate to file before today's noon deadline. Davis will face Mayor Pro Tem Vivian H. Burke, who has represented the city's Northeast Ward for the past 32 years. Claudia L. Shivers was the only candidate to file for the Republican nomination to represent the city’s Northeast Ward.

East Ward Democratic incumbent Joycelyn Johnson will face three challengers in the September 15 primary. Derwin Lamar Montgomery and Harold Lee Hairston both filed their candidacy to represent the city's East Ward earlier this week. Donald L. Scales filed his candidacy last week. Johnson is seeking her fifth term in office.

In other races, the contest for the Democratic nomination in the Southeast Ward is shaping up to be a slugfest. Evelyn Terry, the Democratic incumbent, will face off against James Taylor, a 28-year-old juvenile justice counselor, and Jimmie Boyd, a retired police supervisor and president of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County chapter of the NAACP, in the Democratic primary. Republican Chuck Woolard will carry the banner for his party in the Nov. 4 election.

Republicans Matthew Shelton, Peter Sorenson and Jim Painter entered the race for their party’s nomination to represent the Northwest Ward last week. Northwest Ward incumbent councilwoman Wanda Merschel, a Democrat, will seek a fourth term on the council.

Donald T. Shaw filed his candidacy for the Republican nomination to represent the city’s Southwest Ward. Shaw will have at least one opponent in the municipal primary — attorney Ted Shipley. Dan Besse, the Democratic incumbent, will seek a third term in office.

City Councilman Robert Clark, a Republican who represents the city’s West Ward, remains unopposed as he seeks a second term in office. In the city's South Ward, Samuel Wesley Hudson will square off against incumbent Molly Leight for the Democratic nomination.

The retirement of long-time city council member Nelson Malloy has opened up the race for the North Ward seat. Phillip Carter, Wayne Patterson and Denise “DD” Adams have filed to run in the Democratic primary. A political veteran, Adams ran for NC House in 1990 but lost to Warren P. Odom by just over 100 votes. Adams currently serves as the Democratic Party’s first vice-chair for the 5th Congressional District. John Hopkins is the only Republican to file for the North Ward seat vacated by Malloy's retirement.