In a little more than a month, voters in Early, Bangs and Blanket will head to the polls. In Early, for the first time in 12 years, incumbent mayor Robert Mangrum will be challenged. Also running for mayor are Sean Fulton and Frankie Wilder. Two council seats are also up for election in Early. The seats of incumbents Joel Johnson and Janice Bush are up for election. Bush did not re-file, but Johnson did. The other challengers in that race are Travis Eoff, Noah Williams and Amy Beam.

With that, a candidate forum has been scheduled for the candidates in Early. The forum will be April 18 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. inside the lecture room at Ranger College. Those in attendance will be given the opportunity to submit questions for the candidates to answer. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

In Bangs, incumbent mayor Eric Bishop will be challenged by former mayor and current council member Carrol Wells. In Blanket, there will be no contested races on the city council. However, on the Blanket School Board, Place 2 Incumbent Mary Wilson will be challenged by Janis Kincaid and in Place 1, incumbent Steve Schulze will be challenged by Angela Dozier. Election day is scheduled for May 6, with early voting the week prior.