Trent Holcomb

The period for candidates to file for the September school election ended at noon Friday, and just one individual filed for the open seat on the Piggott School Board.

Trent Holcomb, owner of Holcomb Insurance in Piggott, filed his petition and will be the only candidate for the seat being vacated by Shawn Parker. Now in the final year of his second five year term, Parker has long indicated that he did not plan to run for re-election.

Holcomb, a 1987 graduate of Piggott High School, earned a B.S. in finance from Arkansas State University in 1991. He is the son of Larry and Judy Holcomb. He and his wife Michelle have two children -- Abby, 11, and Ben, 6. He will also be a second-generation member of the board, as his father had previously served the district as a board member.

Although several individuals had expressed an interest in the job, Holcomb was the only candidate to complete the required petition and file it with the county clerk's office. Write-in candidates did have until noon on Wednesday, July 23, to file their paperwork to be included in the September election. As of Tuesday, no individuals had expressed an interest in filing.

The county clerk's office also reported there are no contested school board races in Clay County this fall, as all three school districts had only one candidate file for their open seats. The school election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 16, but since none of the races is contested, school boards can vote to conduct early voting only, which would save thousands of dollars in election expenses.