Athens City Hall

The field is officially set for a congested race to determine the makeup of Athens’ next elected municipal government. 

Most city voters will have plenty of choices as they head to the polls on Tuesday, Aug. 26, to cast their ballots for Athens’ next mayor, as well as four of the city’s five contested council races. 

Incumbent Mayor Ronnie Marks faces opposition from two challengers as he seeks to secure a fourth consecutive elected term. Challenging Marks will be local Market & Monroe business owner Danny Whitfield, as well as Mark Wilson, who also ran for mayor in the 2020 election. 

Only one of the city’s five council seats features no opposition this year. Incumbent District 1 council member Chris Seibert will secure another term on the council, after former challenger Paige Pomerank — who signaled her intention to run against Seibert by qualifying ahead of the candidates’ June 24 deadline — subsequently dropped out of the race. 

Candidates Tim Colling and Allen Creasy are each newcomers in the District 2 council race, with current District 2 council member Harold Wales opting not to seek reelection. District 3 voters have four candidates to choose from, including current incumbent James Lucas, alongside challengers Sharon Coffman Carter, Kellie Dye and Henry White.

In District 4, incumbent council member Dana Henry faces opposition from candidate Jarrod Schulte; while in District 5, the field of candidates is all new after council member Wayne Harper chose not to run for another term. Jamie Elliot and Amy Golden each will seek to fill the District 5 seat that Harper currently occupies. 

While all Athens voters will have a say in choosing the city’s next mayor, they’ll see only the names of the candidates who are running to represent the district in which they live when they cast their Aug. 26 ballots. 

Polls in Athens’ municipal election will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 26, and close the same day at 7 p.m. A runoff election, if required, will be held on Sept. 23, to decide still-contested races. The newly-elected candidates will then take office on Nov. 3, of this year. 

Visit the city’s municipal elections website at www.athensalabama.us/295/Municipal-Election-Information for additional information on voter registration and deadlines, as well as information about absentee voting.