Fayetteville City Council candidate Stephon Ferguson put on a suit and tie and arrived at the Cumberland County Board of Elections an hour before it opened for business on Monday morning to fill out and file his election paperwork, determined to be at the front of the line when the candidate filings started.
“I’ve been here since 7 a.m.,” he told CityView around 7:45 a.m. “I wanted to be the first one, ready to go.” Ferguson is running for City Council District 1, which is on Fayetteville’s northside and the Ramsey Street corridor. The seat is open with incumbent Kathy Jensen’s run for mayor.
Jensen filed for mayor later Monday morning, as did District 3 Council Member Mario Benavente.
While there is a bit of flair to being the first candidate to file for office, Ferguson needn’t have gotten up so early. No other candidate arrived before 8 a.m.
In the first hour, only three people filled out their candidacy paperwork: Ferguson; City Council Member Lynne Greene, who is seeking reelection to south-central Fayetteville’s District 5; and mayoral candidate Freddie de la Cruz.
De la Cruz, also in a suit plus a patriotic tie, succeeded in being the first of the candidates for mayor to turn in his paperwork, and second among all the candidates. As of 4:30 p.m., 20 people had filed for office in Cumberland County’s municipalities.
Why did de la Cruz want to be first?
“Publicity, showing people that you really want to be out there in front,” de la Cruz said. He said he heard a live report on WFNC radio’s Good Morning Fayetteville show Monday morning that Greene was filling out her paperwork, “so I kind of rushed up here” to see if he might get included in the on-air conversation. (He was too late.)
In the end, Greene was the first person to fill out the candidacy paperwork, de la Cruz was second and Ferguson was third. Ferguson’s bid to be first to file was stymied when he had to leave to get a check for the filing fee, as the elections office does not accept cash or debit cards. The fee is $206 for a Fayetteville City Council candidate.
Greene wasn’t trying to win the race to be the first candidate to file for elected office this year, she said. She came in shortly after 8 a.m. Monday because she wanted to get the paperwork done before she left for vacation.
The small number of candidates at the start was unusual.
Normally a crowd of political hopefuls lines up outside the door to the elections office on the first day of the candidate filing period. But the filing typically starts at noon, not at 8 a.m. Greene said others had told her filings started at noon, but she knew that this year it was 8 a.m.
Municipal filings usually run from noon on the first Friday in July to noon on the third Friday, Cumberland County Elections Director Angie Amaro said. Since this year the first Friday in July was the Fourth of July, the start of filing moved to Monday morning, the start of the next business day.
The filling period ends at noon on July 18.
The candidates so far
Here are the candidates as of 4:30 p.m. Monday:
Fayetteville mayor
- Freddie de la Cruz
- Kathy Keefe Jensen
- Mario “Be” Benavente
Fayetteville City Council District 1
- Stephon Ferguson
- Jamie Davis
Fayetteville City Council District 2
- Malik Davis (incumbent)
Fayetteville City Council District 3
- Antonio Jones
Fayetteville City Council District 4
- D.J. Haire (incumbent)
Fayetteville City Council District 5
- Lynne Bissette Greene (incumbent)
Fayetteville City Council Districts 6, 7, 8
(No candidates yet.)
Fayetteville City Council District 9
- Deno Hondros (incumbent)
Hope Mills mayor
- Jessie Bellflowers (incumbent)
Hope Mills Board of Commissioners
- Bryan A. Marley (incumbent)
- Ronald Starling
Spring Lake mayor
- Kia Anthony (incumbent)
Spring Lake Board of Commissioners
- Sona L. Cooper (incumbent)
- Mary C. Jackson
Eastover Sanitary District Board Members
(No candidates yet.)
Eastover Mayor
- Charles G. McLaurin (incumbent)
Eastover Town Council
(No candidates yet.)
Falcon mayor
- Clifton L. Turpin, Jr.
Falcon Board of Commissioners
(No candidates yet.)
Godwin mayor
(No candidates yet.)
Godwin Board of Commissioners
- Scarlet McIntyre Hall (incumbent)
Linden mayor
(No candidates yet.)
Linden Board of Commissioners
(No candidates yet.)
Stedman mayor
(No candidates yet.)
Stedman Board of Commissioners
(No candidates yet.)
Wade mayor
(No candidates yet.)
Wade Board of Commissioners
- Beth Ritchie (incumbent)
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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