Qualifying to run for office on a major party ticket in Alabama this year may have just recently closed, but likely winners could already be called in several Jefferson County offices simply because only one person is running — so far.

Three members of the Jefferson County Commission appear to have easy paths to reelection in November because they have no opposition from inside their own party or from the other major party. Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, a Democrat, and Republican Commissioners Joe Knight and Mike Bolin all are the only candidates who have declared they are running for the District 2, 4 and 5 seats, respectively, in the May 19 party primaries.

But it is a long time until November and anything can happen. Parties don’t have to submit their final list of certified candidates to the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office for another two weeks. And independent candidates can emerge even after the primaries.

View all qualified candidates for the 2026 Democratic primary in Alabama

View all qualified candidates for the 2026 GOP primary in Alabama

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is also the only major party candidate who qualified to run in the primaries for the House of Representatives District 7 seat; no Republicans qualified to run in that race, and she was the only Democrat.

Likewise, Democrat Gaynell Hendricks is the only person who has qualified to run in the primaries for Jefferson County tax assessor, as is Democrat J.T. Smallwood in the tax collector’s race and Republican Ronnie Dixon in the Jefferson County Board of Education District 4 race.

There will be primary party battles for nominations in several county offices, including for sheriff, but only on the Democrats’ side. The Republicans had just one person to qualify to run in each slot.

Elsewhere on the primary ballots, candidates filed papers to run for a slate of state offices, from governor and attorney general to the Alabama Legislature and judgeships.

We’ve compiled lists of the people who have qualified to run for a Jefferson County office in the Democratic and Republican primaries. These lists also include all who have qualified for statewide primaries.