It appears 2022 will be an easy election for the county’s Republican Party.

The Lawrence County Board of Elections released its certified list of candidates and both countywide races on the ballot have no Democratic filings listed.

This pretty much guarantees that the Republicans win both offices in the fall.

We are not singling out any incumbents or any of the Republicans vying for office, but it is disappointing that any race of importance becomes an afterthought in a general election.

And the county Democratic Party’s failure to recruit anyone to run has made that the case.

Participation is key to good government and the county deserves a viable second party to create debate and offer a wide range of ideas.

No officeholder, no matter how good, should ever take re-election for granted.

And this year’s lack of candidates comes on the heels of last year’s elections when many trustee and council races (in nonpartisan races) did not garner enough candidates to fill vacancies on the ballot.

We hope this is a situation that changes and that those who have considered running will engage in the civic action of running for local offices.

A vibrant democracy and an active election is something to strive for and the first step is for people to show the initiative to run.