VIDALIA, La. &045; Now that the dust has settled, a few more candidates have emerged in the Vidalia and Ferriday aldermen’s race &045; with one notable exception.

District D incumbent Sammy Davis Jr. said Monday he decided not to qualify to run for Ferriday councilman this time around in part due to health concerns.

The decision of Davis &045; as well as interim councilmen Bob Jones and Alan &uot;Bud&uot; Cupit &045; not to run means the council will have at least three new faces out of five as of this spring. That includes Robin Charpentier, the only candidate to qualify in District A, who signed up Friday.

Of his decision not to run in the April 2 election, Davis said, &uot;I was sick, and I had to do a lot of different things (outside political office). If something comes up (with town business), somebody else will have to take care of it.&uot;

But Davis, 74, said that doesn’t mean he will be inactive in community affairs. When it comes to the actions of local leaders, he said, he will be watching.

Davis, a Ferriday native, served in the past as a Concordia Parish police juror for 12 years and as Ferriday’s mayor for four years.

In 1997 he joined the Ferriday Town Council to fill the unexpired term of his wife, Elizabeth, who died that year &045; and he has been with the council ever since.

Two candidates &045; former School Board member and ex-mayoral candidate Johnnie Brown and Patricia Ann Martin &045; qualified with the Concordia Parish Clerk of Court’s Office on Friday, the last possible day, to run for Davis’ post.

On Friday several other candidates also entered the race, including:

4Glenn Henderson and Marion Terrell, who signed up to run against Elijah &uot;Steppers&uot; Banks in District B.

Councilman Bob Jones was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mitch Ashmore, who resigned the position last year when he moved to Lake St. John. But Jones, who had also served as councilman a few year prior, did not qualify to run for the post this time around.

4Former Councilwoman Gail Pryor signed up to run against incumbent Jerome Harris Sr. in District C.

4Ruth Gray signed up to run against incumbent Dorothy Johnson and Gloria Lloyd for the District E seat.

In Vidalia, two people qualified Friday to run against incumbents Jon D. Betts, Richard S. &uot;Ricky&uot; Knapp and Maureen &uot;Mo&uot; Saunders for the three at-large alderman seats &045; Paige Ozburn and Bill Staggs.

Triand &uot;Tron&uot; McCoy signed up Friday to run against incumbent Carter Warner and challenger Audrey Gray for Vidalia’s District A alderman post.

And when the Friday deadline passed, no one else had signed up to run in Vidalia District 2, leaving those who qualified earlier in the week &045; incumbent Vernon Stevens Jr. and Jerry A. Foster &045; to run.

In Ridgecrest, Veller Carroll was the only person to qualify for an open alderman’s seat.

Both Vidalia and Ferriday have had to delay their elections several times because the redistricting process required after a new Census was not complete. Current aldermen’s terms were supposed to have ended June 30.

The last day to register to vote is March 2, and absentee voting will be March 21-26.

A run-off election would be held April 23.