2010 is starting early

It's everyone's favorite season - if by "everyone," you mean media types looking for stories to get us through the winter, and "favorite," you mean filled with announcements of "running," "not running" and "may have an interest in running and will hold a press conference at 3 to say whether or not they are running."

That's right, the 2010 election cycle is upon us. Within 10 days of the November election, three people — Renee Price, Greg Andrews and Earl McKee — all announced they would seek the District 2 county commissioner seat next year. Since that announcement, campaigning has already begun.

At Saturday's Hillsborough holiday parade, Andrews walked down Churton Street between two giant banners with his face and campaign slogan, along with a few dozen supporters. The following Monday, Renee Price formally announced her candidacy at the Hillsborough/Orange County Visitors' Center and was met by 10 or so supporters and a film crew, which filmed "endorsements" which I gather will soon be broadcast in some form.

The Board of Elections' Web site isn't posting filing information for the 2010 election yet, and I have not noticed any of the three candidates' campaign Web sites so far, but that's probably just around the corner. The primary race is in May, and if the last BOCC election is any guide, that means the field will be largely decided in that round of votes.

To review, since we're entering the final leg of a transition to a districted board, one candidate will be elected to District 1, one to District 2 and another will be At-Large. Mike Nelson has said he will not run again, and he would have been either D-2 or At-Large. Barry Jacobs (D-2 or At-Large) and Alice Gordon (D-1 or At-Large) are the remaining potential incumbents. (Since all three announced candidates have said they are after a D-2 seat, and Price explicitly said she would not challenge an incumbent, it's a good bet that Jacobs would run as an At-Large candidate).

And I haven't even touched school board elections. Come January, you can expect that to heat up in a hurry. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.