VIDALIA — Qualifying for municipal and police jury races began Wednesday with a long line outside of the Clerk of Court’s Office at 8:30 a.m.

Chief Deputy Clerk of Court Becky Zerby said the first day is always the busiest time for qualifications and that usually it tends to slow down on day two and three.

However, a significant number of open positions left Zerby questioning whether the slow down would come.

“It normally does slow down, but who knows this year,” Zerby said. “We’ve got a lot of slots to fill.”

Vidalia incumbent Mayor Hyram Copeland qualified for re-election and remained unchallenged as of Wednesday evening.

Former Ferriday Mayor Gene Allen qualified for the Ferriday post as well as District D Alderman Johnnie Brown.

Others to qualify by Wednesday evening were:

Vidalia aldermen:

4 District 1 — Frank Duson and “Tron” McCoy.

4 District 2 — Vernon Stevens.

4 District 3 — Richard S. “Ricky” Knapp.

Vidalia police chief:

4 Arthur K. Lewis and Todd Ainsworth.

Police jury

4 District 1, Place A — Carey Cook and Marcus T. Martin.

4 District 1, Place B — “Joe Bear” Parker.

4 District 2 — Willie J. Dunbar and Richard White.

4 District 3, Place A — “Randy” Temple.

4 District 3, Place B — Whest Shirley.

4 District 4, Place A — Jerry Beatty and Curtis Nelson.

4 District 4, Place B — Melvin Ferrington, David Turner and Jimmy “Boo” Wilkinson.

4 District 5, Place A — Jack Crane, “Jimmy” Jernigan and Samuel “Tom” Lowry.

4 District 5, Place B — Kent Campbell and Tommy “Red” Tiffee.

Republican state central

committee member:

4 21st Representative District, Subdistrict A — “Bob” Strozier.

Republican parish executive committee member:

4 District 3, Place B — Susan Rabb.

Qualifying continues through Friday for the March 24 primary, which also includes elections for political party committees. The general election is slated for April 21.

The fee to qualify for police jury as a Democrat or Republican is $230, while the cost is $115 for an independent.

The qualifying fee for a municipal office is $80 for a Republican or Democrat and $40 for an independent.

Races for municipal office include mayor, chief of police and alderman in Clayton and Vidalia, as well as mayor and aldermen in Ferriday.

Qualifying will also take place for Democratic State Central Committee, Republican State Central Committee, Democratic Parish Executive Committee and Republican Parish Executive Committee.

All nine seats on the Concordia Parish police jury are open for qualifiers. The election was originally set for this fall, but the jury failed to submit its redistricting plan in time for U.S. Department of Justice approval. The plan has now been approved and elections will be this spring.