An incumbent with a prominent position and the first Republicanrunning for a local office added their names to the qualifying listTuesday, bringing the number of people seeking an elected office inLincoln County up to 16 at the close of the first day ofqualifying.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 15 Democrats and one Republican have signedup to campaign for the vote in 2011, putting together an earlyqualifying list that already includes four contested offices.Several big incumbents have yet to file their paperwork, but moreand more names will be dropped in the hat by week’s end, saidLincoln County Circuit Clerk Terry Lynn Watkins.

“We’ll have people qualifying every day,” she said. “Then we’llhave a little lull. We’ve had several people call the office sayingthey’ll see us this week.”

Adding their names to the qualifying list after 9 a.m. Tuesday -when the first 12 candidates were reported – were incumbent LincolnCounty School District Superintendent Terry Brister, Lincoln CountyTax Assessor/Collector candidate Mike Jinks, District TwoSupervisor candidate Jimmy Diamond and Constable Post Two candidateKirby Ebbers.

“I feel like we are going in the right direction and I’d love to bea part of it,” Brister said about his re-election bid.

Jinks is the first Republican to qualify this year, challenging taxoffice employee April Byrd Williford for the job. Current TaxAssessor/Collector Nancy Jordan has yet to qualify.

Jinks feels no pressure being the only Republican in a field ofDemocrats, the latter party the most commonly elected at the countylevel.

“It feels fine to me. D’s and R’s are not running, Mike’s running,”he said. “I guess one thing most people don’t realize is the cityclerk is the city’s tax collector. I know something about being taxcollector.”

Diamond’s addition to the list makes the race for District Twosupervisor a three-man event, thus far the most contested race.Ebbers’ qualification brings the first challenge to current PostTwo constable Lavon Boyd.

After one day of qualifying, the list of candidates vying foroffice is crowded in some races, spacious in others.

Incumbent Bobby Watts is being challenged by Diamond and Don Smithfor the title of District Two supervisor, while incumbent GaryWalker is being challenged by Benjie Smith. Incumbent NolanWilliamson is so far alone in his race for District Threesupervisor, while incumbent the Rev. Jerry Wilson is alone in hisrace for District One supervisor. Incumbent Doug Moak has yet toqualify for a repeat as District Four supervisor.

The first few hours of qualifying also brought challengers to therace for tax assessor/collector, with Jinks and Williford set tosquare off, while Boyd and Ebbers will try to out-stump each otherfor Post Two constable.

Several incumbents are seeking re-election unchallenged after DayOne, including Brister, Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing,Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris, Post One Justice Court JudgeRalph Boone and Post One Constable Kelly Porter.

The qualifying deadline for county offices is March 1. Partyprimaries are scheduled for August 2, with runoffs where needed onAugust 23, and the general election is November 8.