We had a number of stories from the suburbs this week about upcoming elections. What incumbents are running. What challengers they could face. Deadlines for qualifying and even a few sticky scenarios that could really muck up things.

And you can expect the stories to continue periodically through early November.

Most every suburb from Millington to Collierville and those in between has offices on the Nov. 5 ballot. Heck, some of them — most notably Arlington — even want to get a head start on the others by holding theirs in August with those pesky party primaries.

Arlington alderman position up for grabs in August election

The suburbs don’t have such primaries. I mean the majority of the folks out there are some version of Republican or maybe independent. I used to tell my good friend, Susan — a Democrat — that I could always find her vote at the Germantown Middle School precinct, since she was among the rare Democrats back in the day.

That dynamic has probably changed over the years, but not to the point that any of the suburbs are holding party primaries.

The other thing about suburban offices — all of them are at large. Every voter gets to vote in every race. The positions — for the most part — just designate where the winner sits at the dais.

The most interesting lead up to the filing deadline could be in Collierville. Long-time mayor Stan Joyner indicated this week that he is still pondering whether to seek another term in the southeast Shelby town.

State senator explores carving new suburban judicial district out of Memphis

If Stan steps aside, there seem to be several sitting aldermen interested in the top office. Ah, but here’s the rub; Collierville requires those running for another office to resign their current seat. That could create several open alderman offices for the board to fill even if the aldermen do not win the mayor’s race.

Otherwise, the various cities have various offices. Some are selecting mayors. Some are voting for selected alderman offices. All six have school board races.

Those municipal offices probably won’t draw the interest of the presidential race. And while I understand that, if you think about it, your vote in a suburban race will have more influence in you local lifestyle than pulling the lever for a presidential candidate.

Those suburban elected officials will respond to your complaints, concerns and criticisms. You can reach them by phone or walking through the grocery store on a Sunday morning. They can do more when you want school matters addressed or have police patrol your neighborhood a bit more. You certainly may have more of a say in how your tax dollars are spent.

And in most cases, the local folks get things done instead of dealing with the impasse and gumming-up things at the federal level.