Three candidates are running for the Republican nomination for the chairmanship of the Gwinnett County Commission.

Incumbent Chairman Charles Bannister will try to defend his seat against challenges from District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green and political newcomer Glenn Pirkle of Buford. Democrat Vincent Passariello will run against the winner in November.

While the candidates announced months ago, the campaigns will begin in earnest next week with candidate forums scheduled on Monday and Tuesday. Candidate qualifying ended Friday. The primary will be held July 15.

Two other County Commission seats are also up for election.

Three Republicans and one Democrat are seeking the District 1 seat Green is giving up to run for chairman.

On the Republican side, former Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter is probably the most widely known of the candidates. Duluth resident Bruce LeVell, who serves on the MARTA and Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District Boards, and former Suwanee City Councilwoman Carol Hassell will also challenge for the seat in the primary.

Cheryl Williams, the second vice chair of the county Democratic Party, will wait out the primary to face the winner of the GOP contest in November.

Commissioner Mike Beaudreau will also have a GOP primary challenge in Lilburn's planning manager, Doug Stacks of Dacula. The winner of that race will turn his attention to Democrat Earl Herndon in the November election.

Both parties will extensively poll their voters with non-binding ballot questions in the July primary. Democrats will answer questions on subjects ranging from expansion of the County Commission to withdrawal from Iraq. Republicans will be asked about subjects such as the government's role in bailing out homeowners facing foreclosure and extending MARTA to Gwinnett.

The only binding vote will be a referendum seeking to give Gwinnett County authority to create tax allocation districts in unincorporated areas of the county.

Of the three Board of Education seats up for grabs, only one will have candidates in the primary.

Democrats Ravindra Kumar and Ralph Villani will battle for the right to face Republican incumbent Louise Radloff of District 5 in the November general election. Kumar, 47, is a biochemistry teacher and researcher at the Morehouse School of Medicine. Villani, 66, is a Lilburn attorney.

Incumbents Carole Boyce of District 1 and Mary K. Murphy of District 3, both Republicans, face no opposition in the primary. Boyce will face Democrat Megan Kline in the general election and Murphy will face Democrat Jane Hendrix.

WHO'S RUNNING

Here are the candidates Gwinnett County residents can vote on in the July 15 primaries. Incumbents are marked with (i). Candidates will qualify June 23-27 for nonpartisan offices.

COUNTY OFFICES

Board of Commissioners Chairman

Democrat

Vincent Passariello, Snellville, county engineer in Newton County

Republican

Charles Bannister, commission chairman and former state legislator (i)

Lorraine Green, owner of an environmental engineering firm

Glenn Pirkle of Buford, electrical contractor from Buford

Board of Commissioners District 1

Democrat

Cheryl Williams, second vice chairwoman of the county Democratic Party

Republican

Carol N. Hassell, former Suwanee City Councilwoman and public relations executive

Shirley Lasseter, director of public safety education for the Georgia Department of Insurance and Fire Safety and the former mayor of Duluth

Bruce LeVell, Duluth jeweler who serves on the boards of MARTA and the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District

Board of Commissioners District 3

Democrat

Earl Hendon of Dacula, a manufacturing coordinator for Siemens

Republican

Mike Beaudreau, national accounts manager for Ricoh (i)

Doug Stacks, Dacula, planning manager for the city of Lilburn

Democrat

Megan Kline

Republican

Carole Boyce of Dacula (i)

Democrat

Jane Hendrix of Duluth

Republican

Mary K. Murphy (i)

Board of Education, District 5

Democrat

Ravindra Kumar of Lilburn, researcher and teacher

Ralph Villani, former teacher who later became a lawyer

Republican

Louise Radloff of Norcross (i)

Chief Magistrate

Republican

George Hutchinson of Lawrenceville (i)

Tax commissioner

Republican

Katherine Sherrington (i)

Sheriff

Republican

Butch Conway (i)

Clerk of Superior Court

Democrat

Abby Alaoui of Grayson, a management consultant

Republican

Thomas Lawler of Norcross (i)

Probate Judge

Republican

Walter J. Clarke of Lawrenceville (i)

District Attorney

Republican

Danny Porter, 53, of Lawrenceville, district attorney. (i)

STATE SENATE

Democrat

Curt Thompson, 39, of Tucker, attorney (i)

District 9

Republican

Don Balfour, 50, of Snellville, businessman (i)

Democrat

Martin McConaughy, 61, of Tucker, retired educator

Republican

Paul D. Achey, 58, of Norcross, educator

Brian Anderson, 44, of Dunwoody, attorney

Dan Weber, 51, of Atlanta, attorney (i)

District 41

Democrat

Steve Henson, 49, of Tucker, administrator. (i)

District 45

Republican

Peggy Armstrong, 71, of Lawrenceville, retired

Renee S. Unterman, 54, of Burford, insurance executive (i)

District 48

Republican

David Shafer, 43, of Duluth, businessman (i)

District 55

Democrat

Gloria Butler, 66, of Stone Mountain, consultant (i)

Robert Crowder, 55 of Snellville, businessman and professor

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

District 51

Republican

Tom Rice, 67, of Norcross, consultant (i)

District 88

Democrat

Robford Hill, 27, of Redan, business consultant

Billy Mitchell, 51, of Stone Mountain, vice president (i)

District 95

Democrat

Toney Collins, 42, of Conyers, engineer

George Wilson, 65, of Stone Montain, president and CEO of AFB Inc.

Republican

Erick Hill, 54, of Snellville, marketing

District 96

Democrat

Torry Lewis, 24, of Norcross, loss prevention investigator

Pedro "Pete" Marin, 50, of Duluth, business consultant. (i)

Republican

Keith Shewbert, 48, of Norcross, educator and small business owner

District 97

Republican

Brooks Coleman, 67, motivational speaker (i)

District 98

Republican

David Hancock, 47, of Suwanee, marketing businessman

Bobby Reese, 53, of Sugar Hill, real estate broker (i)

District 99

Democrat

Hugh Floyd, 67, of Norcross, legislator (i)

District 100

Democrat

Brian thomas, 47, of Lilburn, archaeologist (i)

District 101

Republican

Michael T. Coan, 39, of Lawrenceville, commercial construction (i)

District 102

Republican

Clay Cox, 39, of Lilburn, CEO (i)

District 103

Democrat

Allan Burns, 57, of Lilburn, general contractor

Republican

Davis Casas, 36, of Lilburn, teacher (i)

District 104

Democrat

Lee Thompson, 52, of Lawrenceville, attorney

Republican

John Heard, 53, of Lawrenceville, architect (i)

District 105

Republican

Donna Sheldon, 46, of Dacula, business owner (i)

District 106

Democrat

Tony Lentini, 43, of Snellville, collections representative

Republican

Melvin Everson, 50, of Snellville, minister (i)

District 107

Republican

Len Walker, 58, of Loganville, minister (i)

U.S. SENATE

Democrat

Dale Cardwell, 45, of Atlanta, media consultant and former TV newsman

Vernon Jones, 47, of Decatur, DeKalb County CEO

Rand Knight, 36, of Atlanta, director of sales

Josh Lanier, 55, of Statesboro, writer

Jim Martin, 62, of Atlanta, attorney and former legislator

Republican

Saxby Chambliss, 64, Senator (i)

U.S. HOUSE

Democrat

Hank Johnson, 53, of Decatur, attorney (i)

District 7

Democrat

Doug Heckman, 48, of Norcross, executive

Republican

John Linder, 65, of Duluth, congressman (i)

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

District 4, North

Democrat

Bob Indech, 53, of Norcross, engineer

Jim Powell, 59, of Hiwasee, retired from U.S. Department of Energy

Republican

Pam Davidson, 44, of Blue Ridge, a renewable energy consultant

Lauren W. McDonald Jr. , 69, of Clarksville, businessman

District 1, South

Republican

Rick McCollum, 38, of Moultrie, lawyer

H. Doug Everett, 70, of Atlanta, member of Public Service Commission (i)