Tuesday was the last day for candidates to qualify for the special election for the Alabama House of Representatives District 67 seat that was vacated by Darrio Melton.

Melton gave up the seat after he was elected mayor of Selma in October after defeating former Mayor James Perkins in a runoff.

Nancy Worley, chairman for the Alabama Democratic party, said four Democratic candidates qualified to run, and Reed Phillips with the Alabama Republican party said no Republican candidates qualified. A fifth Democratic candidate completed paperwork to qualify but withdrew before the deadline.

Raymond J. Butler from Orrville, Prince Chestnut from Selma, Valenci’a Quest from Orrville and Latrell “Champ” Richardson from Selma qualified to run for the position for the Democratic party.

Worley said there was a great turnout of candidates for the open House seat, and she expects a great race between the four.

“We’re real pleased that we have a lot of interest,” Worley said. “We’re real excited about four good candidates in this district. We certainly hated to lose a good Democrat in Darrio Melton from the House, but I’m sure with good campaigning and good representation in that district, we’ll have another good Democrat holding that office.”

“Usually when you have multiple candidates they bring out all their family and friends, so it usually means that a lot of people are interested in voting, particularly if they know these people,” she said. “And you would expect since this is for the two remaining years on the term then probably this person would run again.”

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced the timeline for the special election earlier this month.

A special primary election is scheduled in Dallas County for Jan. 31, 2017. If there is no need for a primary because both parties have one candidate, the special general election will be held April 18, 2017. A special primary runoff election will be held April 18, 2017, if one candidate does not receive a majority of votes cast. If a runoff is required, the special general election will be held June 27, 2017.

Melton was first elected to the House in 2010. Melton’s second term was set to expire in November 2018.

Whoever is elected to replace him will serve the remainder of his term. District 67 represents Dallas and Perry counties.v