Today will end the first in a series of special elections, as voters go to the polls to choose between Republican Rev. James E. Carter and Democratic candidate Bobby Singleton for the District 24 State Senate seat.

The seat was left vacant last year when Charles Steele resigned his position as senator to devote more time to his job with the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition. Voters have already been to the polls twice in this campaign – Oct. 29 for the primary and Dec. 14 for the runoff between Demopolis City Councilman Thomas Moore and Representative Bobby Singleton.

Though voters may be reluctant to traipse out to the polls yet again, Marengo County Probate Judge Cindy Neilson said it is just as important as the general election that voters turned out for last November.

“Anytime there is an election, it is important that residents vote,” Neilson said. “I see it as a responsibility of the citizens to go vote for the official they want to represent them.”

Neilson said this election is particularly an important one, because the winner will directly represent parts of Marengo county and the surrounding areas.

“This is a representative that will represent us in the state senate, so it is very important that people go and make their voice heard,” she said.

Singleton has been serving as an Alabama Representative for the past two and a half years and is running on the platform of being a strong advocate for education.

He said he believes that education isn’t just for the public school system, but it should be a part of the family atmosphere.

Singleton was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in November 2002. He received his bachelor’s degree from Alabama State University and J.D. from Miles College School of Law.

He is a member of the Alabama New South Coalition, Alabama Democratic Conference, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He is also the 7th Congressional District Chairman for Hale County and is a Field Director for Campaign 2000 and Beyond.

Carter was born in the poorest county of the Black Belt, in the Greene County community of Boligee. He attended Tuskegee University for three years before moving back home to work in his family’s construction and farming businesses. That same year, he entered the ministry.

He served two terms as a member of the Greene County Commission, and considers himself an African American who is fighting the odds and defying the powers that be in the district by running as the Republican candidate for District 24.

He pastors at two churches both Mt. Horeb Missionary Baptist Church in Newbern, and Greater St. Stephens in Sawyerville are were he calls home.