The races have been set for all county seats for the upcoming election cycle.

All current county commissioners have qualified for reelection including Homer Wright District 1; Robin Sullivan, District 2; Jimmy Barron, District 3; Chad Copeland, District 4; Charlie Harris, District 5; and Russell Johnson, District 6.

Only one challenger has qualified to run for a commission seat: Michael Goodson for District 4.

Copeland, a Republican, said he has enjoyed his first term as a commissioner and would like to continue some of the projects already in motion by the commission.

“When I decided to run last time, I wrote a letter to the people of District 4 about the things I wanted to accomplish,” Copeland said. “One of the things I’m proudest of is that we’ve been able to accomplish many of those things or are in the process of trying to complete those things. One of those things was to better communicate with the public, which we’re still working on but doing better with our website and social media presence. Economic development was another big one and we’ve had a great run of luck with Rex Lumber, our involvement with Kimber, and one yet to be named. And then fiscal responsibility, getting our budgets turned around and riding a wave of economic success; we want to keep that going.”

Copeland said he was also proud of the commission for tackling the construction of a ne Pike County Jail and finding ways to pave local roads even before Alabama passed a new gas tax for that purpose.

Goodson, a Democrat, said he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father R. A. Goodson, who served District 4 on the commission for 24 years, and “just do a good job” serving the constituents of District 4.

“I’ve thought about it a long time and I just want to help,” Goodson said. “I support Pike County and I think I could do a good job. I want to do the best job I can do for better roads, I support all the local fire departments and local law enforcement. I just want to make Pike County a better place. I just want to do the best job I can do; and really one of the main reasons is our youth, our children of Pike County. I support all the youth programs at Pike County Schools and I want to make it a better place for them. I support all the county employees and road department employees and what they do. I believe in using common sense values and I just want to do the best job I can do if I can get in there.”

Harris is the longest-serving commissioner, seeking his seventh term on the commission after serving 24 years on the board. Wright, Sullivan and Barron have all served 20 years and will be seeking their sixth terms. Johnson is seeking reelection to a second term.

Pike County Board of Education representatives Greg Price and Earnest Green, and Revenue Commissioner Curtis Blair have also qualified for reelection.

The passing of the deadline ensures that there will be no local primary races and reduces the chances of any General Election races, although the deadline for independent candidates to qualify is not until March 3, 2020.

The primaries for statewide and national offices will be held on March 3, 2020, and the General Election polls will open on November 3, 2020