By Tom Embrey

Senior Writer

Some familiar names to Southern Pines and Aberdeen residents are among those in a final rush to file for the November municipal elections.

Prospective candidates have until noon today to file if they wish to appear on the November ballot.

Southern Pines council member David McNeill has filed for mayor. Incumbent Fred Walden and former council member David Woodruff have also filed for the Town Council.

"My preference would have been for Mayor (Mike) Haney to seek re-election," McNeill said of his decision to run.

Haney announced before the start of the two-week filing period that he had decided against seeking re-election.

Through Thursday, no other candidates had filed to oppose McNeill. Council member Chris Smithson, who lost to Haney in the 2007 election, said earlier this month he was mulling another bid for mayor.

Both McNeill and Smithson were elected to the council in 2009.

Walden and Woodruff join Jim Simeon in the race for two council seats. The other seat is currently filled by Mike Fields, who announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election.

Woodruff, who filed Wednesday, said he chose to run because he felt "the people of Southern Pines need a choice."

In Aberdeen, four incumbents, including Mayor Betsy Mofield, have entered the race. Jim Thomas, Robbie Farrell and Pat Ann McMurray have all filed in the past 48 hours.

Mofield, who ran unopposed in 2009, will face opposition from David Butler, who filed last week.

Mofield is not the only mayor who will face competition in November. Robbins Mayor Theron Bell will have to run against Lonnie B. English, who filed on Thursday.

In all, more than a dozen candidates have filed since Wednesday.

The most crowded race so far is for the Pinehurst Village Council, with five candidates vying for two seats. Incumbents Mark Parson and current Mayor Ginsey Fallon are joined in the race by John Cashion, Scott Lincicome and John Strickland.

Fallon chose not to run for mayor, opting instead to seek re-election to the council. She was elected to the council in 2007 and then appointed mayor in March 2010 after the death of then, Mayor George Lane. At that time Parson was appointed to fill the vacancy on council.

Joan Thurman's seat on the Pinehurst council is also up for election. She had not filed as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

In Taylortown, six candidates str vying for five spots.

As of Thursday afternoon, Pinebluff and Vass still lacked enough candidates to fill the vacancies.

"I hope we can rustle up some folks and get them in here," said Moore County Elections Director Glenda Clendenin.

The three-member Board of Elections has two options if not enough candidates file in a particular municipality.

The board can vote to extend the filing period for a period of five days. If it does not choose to extend the period, the ballots will have space for write-in candidates.

In 2009, Whispering Pines lacked enough candidates to fill its vacancies, and the BOE chose not to extend the filing period.