Pilot candidates pick up filing pace

DOBSON — After several days of inactivity at the Surry Board of Elections, where five people seeking municipal offices in the county had flocked to when the candidate filing period opened last Friday, two more came forward Wednesday.

Dwight Atkins and Rachel Collins each filed for re-election to their seats on the Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners.

Both are now in their first four-year terms as commissioner, although Atkins is a former mayor in Pilot Mountain.

The positions of Atkins and Collins are the only ones in Pilot affected by the 2024 non-partisan municipal election season in Surry County, which also includes offices in Dobson and Elkin.

Three incumbents on the Dobson Board of Commissioners filed for re-election when the filing period began last Friday in the county seat, Todd Dockery, Robin T. Beeson and Amy Whitaker.

No other offices are affected in Dobson.

Candidates filing for seats in Elkin at last report have included Robert Ball Jr., an incumbent town commissioner, and Juan Alejandro Manigault,who is seeking the mayoral post now held by Sam Bishop.

Both officially threw their hats into the ring last Friday.

The seat of Commissioner Alvin Hayes also is up for grabs this year in Elkin.

Next Friday (July 19) at noon is the deadline for any other candidates seeking seats in the three towns to file at the Surry County Board of Elections office, 915 E. Atkins St. in Dobson.

Municipal office-seekers who file by next week’s deadline will be on the Nov. 5 Surry County general election ballot.

Candidates must be 21 years old as of Election Day and pay a small filing fee.

The cost for the commissioner seats in Dobson is $24, with $30 the fee for the town board in Pilot Mountain.

That for Elkin mayor is $55, and $33 is the filing fee for the commissioner seats there.