Where is Carnac the Magnificent when you need him? Remember him?

Carnac was a character created by king of late night TV Johnny Carson in the mid-1960s. Carnac continued to make appearances on The Tonight Show through the early 1990s.

Carnac, wearing a rather outlandish looking turban and cape would hold up a sealed envelope that contained a question and “divine” the answer publicly before opening the envelope and reading the comical, corresponding question.

The skits always got big laughs due to Carson’s impeccable comic timing. But truthfully, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to see into the future a bit?

This week in our community, much of the talk has been of the political nature, specifically, who is running for which positions in county and state government — most of which will be on the primary ballots in August and then the general election in November.

Just about everyone has an opinion on who the best candidate is and what their likely chances to win are.

While the qualifying period just opened on Wednesday, already lots of folks are lining up to put their names on the ballots.

Across the state, races for Mississippi governor will be hotly contested with Republican heir apparent Tate Reeves ready to square off with long-time Democrat Attorney General Jim Hood. Sparks will certainly fly in that race.

But the excitement won’t just be at the state level.

Plenty of local political drama is in store here at home as well.

A number of candidates are already lined up to run for various county offices and a handful of offices will be up for grabs with no incumbent or obvious shoo-in.

Several people either have qualified or have publicly said they plan to qualify for Adams County sheriff, including incumbent sheriff Travis Patten.

Beating an incumbent that’s doing a reasonably good job is difficult, one former lawman and political observer told me years ago.

He’s correct. Patten seems to be well received by most citizens and he should have no trouble in the August primary, barring some kind of surprise.

If he succeeds in August, he may face current Adams County Constable Adam Kirk, who plans to run as an independent, in the general election, along with any other independents.

If Patten and Kirk wind up facing one another, it will be a good political race, with two good and likable men facing off with one another. Again, though, as the wise gentleman told me once, beating an incumbent is tough. Patten did it when he claimed the office, so it is possible, but it’s not easy.

So far, all of the county supervisors have said they plan to run for reelection and as of last week, only one opponent had stepped forward. That will likely change as qualifying continues.

Barring a strong candidate stepping up or a miscue by an incumbent most current office holders should be safe for reelection.

The most fickle district in the county tends to be district 5, currently represented by Calvin Butler.

Butler was first elected in 2011 and re-elected four years later, surviving a crowded field of challengers.

If any supervisor race winds up being crowded it might be Butler’s.

One of the more interesting races will be that of the Adams County Circuit Clerk. It’s one of a handful of elected positions that, if one can obtain it, tends to pay out healthy earnings to the lucky officeholder.

With the retirement of current clerk Eddie Walker, that field is already getting crowded, and we still have nearly two months left to go before the race “officially” starts.

If Carnac were here, he would hold the envelope up to his forehead and pronounce, “Only God,” before smugly opening the envelope to reveal the question:

“Who knows who will win in November?”

But guaranteed it will be a heck of a good race.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.