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Voters across Dallas County will head to the polls in March to cast their votes in not only the presidential primaries, but for many local offices as well.

The deadline for candidates to qualify was Friday, Nov. 8 – with all of the candidates now confirmed, it appears that all four incumbent Dallas County Commissioners will be challenged by at least one or more other candidates.

District 2 Dallas County Commissioner Roy Moore will face off against two candidates in March.

Michael Irwin and Vivian Rogers will both challenge Moore for his District 2 seat, which he has held for seven terms, a total of nearly 28 years.

Moore first ran for commissioner to better represent District 2 and continued to run because of the accomplishments the commission made.

“We’ve made a lot of progress over the past 27 years,” said Moore.

Moore said that Dallas County is in excellent financial condition and maintains a surplus in its general fund each year, in addition to being debt free aside from a bond issue with Jim Minor Garden homes.

“We are one of the number one contributors to economic development [in Dallas County],” said Moore. “We’re extremely involved in economic development.”

Moore serves on advisory boards for both the Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority Board and the International Paper Advisory Board.
“There’s a lot going on out there that the average person doesn’t know about,” said Moore.

“There’s all kinds of industry out there. There’s some good things coming down the pike.”

Based upon his interaction with citizens, Moore said that many people think that the Dallas County Commission is only responsible for the condition of the county’s roads.

Moore said that there is much more to the commission’s responsibilities.

“We just ask the general public to be patient with us,” said Moore. “We’re one of the poorest counties in the Black Belt, but we do extremely well with the funds that we have. We’re really prudent with our money and we try to spend it wisely because we know that that’s what our citizens expect out of us.”

According to Moore, he and the other three Dallas County Commissioners and Commission Chairman Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn have an excellent working relationship.

“We get along extremely well,” he said. “We work through our issues during our work sessions and get everything ironed out before the commission meetings.”

Though the commission does not always agree with one another, Moore said the group is able to put their differences aside for the good of Dallas County.

Moore commended Nunn on his role as Commission Chairman, which he has had for nearly a year.

“We have an excellent Probate Judge now in Jimmy Nunn,” he said. “He’s a tremendous person and he works with the County Commission as closely as he can. The commissioners have all the confidence in the world in him. He’s a great guy.”

If reelected, Moore hopes to continue to work with his fellow commissioners to focus on economic development, infrastructure and meeting the needs of children through the recently renovated Dallas County Sportsplex.

“I think the people that live in my district know me and have confidence in me,” said Moore.

“I think I’ve done a good job over the years in taking care of what we could for the county… We’ve shown there is good leadership there and the people expect that. I think it will get me reelected.”