There’s still one week left to go in the filing period for this year’s municipal elections, but there’s already a crowded field of candidates in some key races.

The most hotly-contended races will likely be for Carrboro Alderman and Chapel Hill Town Council – but observers are also watching the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board election. So far the only declared school-board candidate is incumbent Rani Dasi, but there will be at least one new board member after November: James Barrett is stepping down this year in order to run for state school superintendent in 2020. The other two incumbents are Jean Hamilton (who was appointed to the board two months ago) and Pat Heinrich, who was one of the targets of a failed recall effort earlier this year.

In Chapel Hill, incumbents Jessica Anderson, Nancy Oates, and Michael Parker have all filed to run for reelection; all three are running for their second terms. (Donna Bell is the only other incumbent whose seat is up for election this year.) They’ll be joined on the ballot by at least three challengers: Renuka Soll, who serves on the board of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence; Joshua Levenson, who serves as precinct vice chair for the Orange County Democratic Party; and UNC junior Tai Huynh, who’s only the fourth student ever to run for Town Council.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger has also filed to run for reelection; so far, no one has filed to challenge her.

In Carrboro, Mayor Lydia Lavelle is also running unopposed so far, but there are several strong candidates for three open seats on the Board of Aldermen. Susan Romaine, Stephen Friedman, and Matthew Clements are all running for the first time: Romaine is the founder/director of PORCH NC as well as Orange County Living Wage; Friedman is a local entrepreneur with an MBA from UNC’s Kenan Flagler Business School; and Clements ran last year for State House as a Libertarian. Incumbent Damon Seils is also on the ballot, running for his second term; at least one incumbent, Bethany Chaney, will not be seeking another term. (The third incumbent up for election this year is Sammy Slade.)

And in Hillsborough, incumbents Mark Bell, Matt Hughes, and Evelyn Lloyd have all filed to run for reelection. Incumbent mayor Tom Stevens is stepping down after 14 years on the job; so far, Mayor Pro Tem Jenn Weaver is the only declared candidate to succeed him.

The filing period runs through noon on Friday, July 19.

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