ELKINS — This week Elkins City Clerk Jessica R. Sutton announced several changes in the number of candidates seeking office in the upcoming municipal election, set for March 7.

In the race for mayor, incumbent Van Broughton, who is running for his third two-year term, will face official write-in candidate Sam Barbagallo Jr.

Barbagallo’s name will not appear on the ballot, as he did not file for candidacy before that deadline. However, he did file in time to be considered an official write-in candidate, Sutton said.

In the First Ward race, incumbent Rhett Dusenbury is facing the following challengers: Robert Chenoweth, a local businessman and former City of Elkins attorney; Joyce Johns, a former Randolph County Commissioner; and Merllene Yorkey, a local business owner.

Sutton said former candidate Phillips Kolsun withdrew from the First Ward race in early December, and his name will not appear on the ballot.

The other contested race is for Fifth Ward, which will see incumbent David C. Parker facing the following challengers: Robert L. Chewning Jr., a local businessman and veteran; Howard Knapp Jr., a local concerned citizen; Cody H. Thompson, a teacher at Elkins High School; and Jeanie Weese, a local concerned citizen.

Clayton D. Moore has withdrawn as a candidate for the Fifth Ward council seat as of Feb. 10, Sutton said. However, Moore’s name will still appear on the ballots because they already had been printed.

In the Second Ward, incumbent Charles H. Friddle III is unopposed, as well as incumbent Carman Metheny in the Third Ward. Marly Hazen also is running unopposed for the Fourth Ward.

Council members are elected to four-year terms, with two people serving in each of the city’s five wards. Municipal elections are scheduled to take place every two years.