Some familiar names have announced their intentions to fill the term of late Cherokee County Councilman James Batchler.

Lori Batchler, James Batchler's daughter-inlaw, and Cherokee County School Board Vice-Chairman Donnie Lee Smith will file as Republicans for the District 7 seat.

Blacksburg Fire Chief Clay Greer, meanwhile, will file as a Democrat for the District 7 seat.

Lori said she was encouraged to run for the seat by her late father-in-law.

"He wasn't planning to run for another term and he asked me to run," she said.

Lori Batchler, who has worked side by side with her husband, Craig, at their cabinet shop for the past 15 years, said she caught the political bug when she accompanied her ailing father-inlaw to council meetings.

"I got interested when I went to the meetings and I think I can do a good job," she said.

But she cautioned, if elected, she won't be in political lockstep with her famous father-in-law.

"I will have some issues of my own," she said.

She'll be battling a seasoned politician in Smith, who is serving his third term on the school board.

"My main concern in the county is jobs," Smith said. "We need to hold onto the industry we have. We need to do our best to draw more industry into the county."

Smith served as school board chairman in 2007 and represents District 4 in Blacksburg.

Smith worked as a contractor for many years and helped oversee two multi-million dollar school building programs during his three terms on the school board.

Semi-retired, Smith works as a project estimator for Hoke Construction in Shelby, N.C.

Smith will run for the council post while continuing to serve on the school board.

Greer is employed in the Blacksburg public works department and also serves as Blacksburg's Fire Chief.

"When I joined the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department in 1992, I was asked on my application why I wanted to join," he said. "I wrote that I wanted to help people in Blacksburg."

His run for elected office is no different, he said.

The 35-year-old Blacksburg native and father of two believes he can make a difference and bring some new ideas to the table. "I want to be more involved with the daily activities of Blacksburg and Cherokee County to make sure this is a better place for my children and everybody in the county," he said.

Greer said he had been thinking about running for county council for approximately the past year and said he will be stepping down as Blacksburg Fire Chief at the end of this year, regardless of what happens. He intends to remain a volunteer firefighter, though.

Batchler, 85, died last Thursday following a short bout with cancer.

Candidates can begin filing with their party officials at noon Friday, Sept. 11. The filing period will end Monday, Sept. 21, at noon.

The primaries will be held Tuesday, Nov. 10. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff will be held Nov. 24.

The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 29.

(Staff Writer Tim Gulla

contributed to this

report.)