Two qualify to run for Cairo’s mayor

Qualifying for municipal elections got underway Monday and as expected a contested race for mayor of Cairo has already developed.
Both Hansell Bearden and Booker Gainor qualified this week with Bearden qualifying Monday and Gainor on Tuesday.
Cairo City Councilman James H. (Jimmy) Douglas was the first local candidate to qualify on Monday, according to Assistant City Clerk Sandra Roberts.
The only other candidate to qualify as The Messenger went to press Wednesday morning was veteran Councilman Ernest W. Cloud.
Douglas and Cloud had previously announced their plans to seek re-election. Cairo Mayor Bobby Burns announced earlier this year he would not seek a second term.
Qualifying for municipal elections ends at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
In Whigham, not a single candidate had qualified and all five members of the council and the mayor are up for election.
“I guess they are all waiting until the last day,” Whigham City Clerk Lisa Calhoun mused Tuesday afternoon.