Early voting to begin

Early voting in the general elections for the city of Rusk, as well as the school districts of Alto, Jacksonville and Rusk starts Monday, April 22 and goes through Tuesday, April 30, at various venues located within the areas holding each election.

Election day in these races is Saturday, May 4.

Rusk residents are the only citizens in Cherokee County who will have the opportunity to vote in both city and school district elections May 4.

Contending for the mayor’s seat in Rusk are incumbent Angela Raiborn, Connie Parsons and Jefferson Jackson.

Running for Rusk City Council District 1 are incumbent Ben Middlebrooks and Trey Todd. Incumbent Walter Sessions has no opposition for his seat representing Rusk City Council District 2. Residents of Rusk’s Districts 4 and 5 will also be able to participate in this year’s election, despite their councilmen having only served one year of their two-year terms, due to the fact that both District 4 Councilman Ken Ferrara and District 5 Councilman Jan Pate are the subjects of a recall election.

Early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., April 22-26; and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 29-30, at the Rusk Municipal Courtroom, behind the fire department, 502 S. Main St., Rusk. Early voting in the RISD election will be held 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, April 22-30, at the administration office, 203 E. Seventh St., Rusk.

General elections for both the city and school district will be held 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the RISD Administration office, 203 E. Seventh St., Rusk.

Alto ISD’s election includes three candidates -- incumbent Jay Jones, Jeremy Jackson and Charley Reid -- each seeking one of two seats on the AISD school board. AISD’s early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, April 22-30, at the AISD Administration office, 244 CR 2429, Alto. Voting for the general election on Saturday, May 4, will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., also at the administration office.

Jacksonville ISD incumbent Jeff Horton is seeking re-election for Place 1. District citizens Matthew Leinback and Meredith Tarrant have filed for Place 2. Early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, April 22-30, at the JISD Administration office, 800 College Ave., Jacksonville. JISD’s general election on Saturday, May 4, will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., also at the administration office.

Due to lack of opposition for any seat up for re-election, the cities of Alto, Jacksonville, New Summerfield, Reklaw, Troup and Wells, as well as the New Summerfield, Troup and Wells school districts, have all canceled their May elections.