Rufus Sherman announces Leesburg City Council candidacy

LEESBURG — Although qualifying is still a few weeks away, one Leesburg resident has already announced he will seek to fill the Leesburg City Council seat vacated by long-time council member Sidney Johnson.

Retired truck driver and life-long Lee County resident Rufus Sherman announced Monday that he intends to run for the vacant Post 5 seat, after having discussed it with his family and close friends.

“I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time and had considered it before,” said Sherman of his decision to run. “I didn’t want to do it while I was working and be elected and not be able to attend.

“I talked it over with my wife and children and prayed about it, and I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Sherman also said he got the OK from Johnson, who encouraged him to run after Johnson announced in December that he was leaving the position due to health concerns.

“Sidney’s a good friend of mine,” said Sherman. “He came to my house and we talked. I decided, well, we’ll go on ahead and do it.”

Sherman said he and his wife, Elizabeth, have five children. He has attended Wooden Baptist Church for roughly 60 years and is a church officer and deacon.

He has also lived in Leesburg for 50 years and worked as a truck driver for 38, including stints with Georgia Highway Express and Fed Ex, and said that while this is his first foray into politics, he thinks he can be of service to the people of Leesburg.

“I just want to help the city if I can,” he said. “I’m just feeling things out. I just want to see us progress in the right direction like we’ve been doing. I want progress for the city of Leesburg.”

Before he can truly begin campaigning for the council seat however, Sherman has to officially qualify for the special election, which will be held March 21.

Qualifying for the election will be held for two and half days, according to state rules, Lee County Elections Supervisor Veronica Johnson said Monday. Johnson said qualifying will be open Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Feb. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

“With a special election you only have to have qualifying for a minimum of two and half days,” said Johnson. “We went with what the law specifies.”

Johnson also said that because the council seat in question is a Leesburg seat, only registered voters who live inside the city limits can vote in the special election. Voters have until Feb. 21 to register.

On the March 21 voting day voters can cast their ballot from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Leesburg City Precinct, which is located at the Leesburg Fire Station on the Leslie Highway.

Johnson said that special elections are not uncommon in the county’s municipalities, with most of the special voting days being held to fill seats on either the Leesburg or Smithville councils.

“In my 16 years with the elections office, we’ve done special elections more for the Leesburg City Council and the Smithville Council,” Johnson said. “Typically, it’s been the municipalities that we’ve done the specials for.”

Even though the election will be for one seat only, Johnson said that voters will be able to request absentee ballots, and there will likely be three full weeks of advanced voting.

If only one candidate qualifies, however, Johnson said the law allows the election to be cancelled.

“A lot of times in these city elections, we only end up with one candidate,” she said. “By law, you wouldn’t have to have the election if only one qualifies.”

Although the attention is currently focused on the upcoming Leesburg special election, Johnson did point out that three other council seats, Posts 1,2 and 3, and the mayor’s seat, will be up for grabs this November.

The Leesburg City Council has called a special meeting for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. to set the qualifying fees for the upcoming special and regular elections, as required by law. In the meeting announcement, Leesburg City Manager Bob Alexander stated that the recommendation is that the council set the qualifying fees at $54 for council seats and $108 for the mayor’s seat.