ASHLAND — Only one of five elected officials up for election in Ashland has filed his declaration of candidacy, although incumbents have signaled runs, according to records at the Ashland County Board of Elections.
Ashland’s Director of Finance and Income Tax Administrator Larry Paxton has officially declared he is running for re-election for another four-year term.
Paxton, who was first elected to the position in 2009, does not have opponents heading into the primary three weeks before the Feb. 1 filing deadline.
There are four other elected officials whose positions are up for re-election but who have not yet filed a declaration of candidacy. They are:
• Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good
• Ashland Law Director Rick Wolfe
• Ashland At-Large Councilman Dan Lawson
• Ashland 1st Ward Councilman Steve Workman
Good, Wolfe, and Workman have signaled runs for re-election, as all have pulled petitions from Ashland’s board of elections office. Good needs 50 signatures in order to get on the ballot, the law director needs 61 and Workman needs 24.
Lawson said a friend picked up the necessary forms from the Ashland office on his behalf while he was out sick with the flu recently. However, the Ashland County Board of Elections office staff has said they have no record of the form being collected.
Nevertheless, Lawson — who was first appointed to the at-large position in 2018 — intends to run for re-election and has begun collecting signatures. He needs 61 signatures to get on the May primary ballot.
Shannon Johnson, the director of the board of elections, said there is apparently little interest from residents to run against incumbents.
“It’s sad that we’re so close to the deadline and there aren’t any candidates interested (in running against incumbents),” said Shannon Johnson, the director of the county board of elections.
She said it’s generally tough to beat an incumbent.
“Unless there’s some sort of distrust or something going on,” Johnson said.
