For the second consecutive election cycle, there are no contested races for city office in Cumming.

City Clerk Jeff Honea said only the mayor and five incumbent councilmen signed up to run during the qualifying period, which ended Monday.

"We’ll still have an election [Nov. 8], but it’ll just be for the SPLOST [extension], which is a countywide vote," Honea said. "As far as the city [posts], we won’t have one."

The city receives a portion of the SPLOST, or 1-cent sales tax, which generates revenue for various capital improvement projects.

If approved, this tax extension would fund construction of a new courthouse and expanded jail, among other projects.

The same election situation unfolded four years ago.

"The last time, the city posts were the only thing on the ballot, so we didn’t even have [an election]," Honea said.

Uncontested races are nothing new for Cumming, which has experienced long-term continuous leadership for many years.

The same six men have held their posts since 1993, with some having served since the 1960s.

All five councilmen – Quincy Holton, Lewis Ledbetter, Ralph Perry, John D. Pugh and Rupert Sexton - qualified for re-election Monday.

Mayor H. Ford Gravitt qualified Wednesday for the position he has held since 1970.

This election cycle is the first to feature the city’s new staggered terms.

Previously, all positions were for four years.

This go-around, however, the mayor and council Posts 1 and 2 are two-year-terms.

Council Post 1, held by Sexton, and Post 2, by Holton, will come up for election again in 2013 and every four years thereafter.

Posts 3, 4 and 5 – held by Ledbetter, Perry and Pugh – will be for four years.