Sen. Bill Cook, a Republican who represents District 1 in the N.C. Senate, filed for re-election this week.

Cook, who lives in Beaufort County, is in his second term in the state Senate. Previously, he served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives. District 1 includes Beaufort, Hyde, Dare, Currituck, Gates, Camden, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties.

F. Mac Hodges filed for re-election to the Beaufort County Board of Education. He represents District 5 on the board. Seats for the odd-numbered school-board districts are available in the 2016 election cycle. The board has nine members.

The filing period began at noon Tuesday and ends at noon Dec. 21.

Also filing earlier this week for the four available seats on the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners in the 2016 election cycle were three incumbents, Gary Brinn (board chairman and a Republican), Jerry Langley and Robert Belcher (both Democrats). Republican Derik Davis makes his first attempt at becoming a commissioner. County commissioners serve four-year, staggered terms.

Beaufort County School Board members Eltha Booth (District 1), Carolyn S. Walker (District 7) and Mike Isbell (District 9) also filed for re-election. Terry W. Draper filed as a candidate for the District 9 seat on the school board, which is nonpartisan.

Board members serve four-year, staggered terms. As of 5 p.m. Friday, no one had filed for the District 3 seat (now held by Barbara Boyd-Williams) on the board.

Jennifer Leggett Whitehurst, the incumbent register of deeds in Beaufort County, also filed for re-election.

Among others filing for office this week were Judy Justice, a Dare County Democrat, and Warren Judge, a Dare County commissioner and a Democrat. Each seeks the 6^th District seat in the N.C. House of Representatives now held by Paul Tine, an unaffiliated legislator who is not seeking re-election. Washington resident Ashley Woolard, a Republican, also filed for the District 6 seat.

The filing period for candidates seeking seats on a county’s soil-and-water conservation board begins at noon June 13, 2016, and ends at noon July 1, 2016.

Republican Michael Speciale is seeking re-election as the representative from District 3 in the state House.

Races for U.S. Senate, governor and Council of State and General Assembly seats are on the ballot. There are also elections for Congress, state judgeships and scores of county positions. The U.S. presidential election also takes place in 2016.

Because of a change enacted by the N.C. General Assembly earlier this year, the filing period began at noon Tuesday and ends at noon Dec. 21. Legislators also moved up the state’s 2016 primaries from May to March 15. In the past, the filing period for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, Council of State and General Assembly races (and others) was conducted in the early months of the election year. The filing period applies to the primaries and general election in 2016.