MARIETTA - The race for the City Council's Ward 3 seat became official with incumbent Holly Walquist and real estate agent Johnny Sinclair qualifying Tuesday at City Hall to run in the Nov. 3 election.

Qualifying ends today at 4:30 p.m.

A Marietta native, Sinclair, 41, who was elected to the City Council in 1997 and served eight years before stepping down to focus on his career, is a 1986 graduate of Marietta High School with degrees from Wake Forest and Emory University.

Incumbent Walquist, 48, a native of Madison Heights, Mich., was first elected in 2005 and seated in 2006. She said Sinclair asked her to run when he stepped down.

Walquist said her campaign strategy will be "whatever it takes to get elected," although she and Sinclair, who lives a few doors down from her, are friends, and she intends to remain friends with him regardless of the outcome.

"I don't really see anything wrong with opposition. I think opposition is healthy," Walquist said.

Walquist has a degree in graphic arts from Michigan State University and owns a corporate communications and video production business, which she runs with her husband, Bruce Hamilton.

A master gardener, she is known on the council for her passionate defense of the environment.

The only other incumbent on the seven-member council to have opposition as of Tuesday is Ward 5 Councilmember Anthony Coleman, who is challenged by former councilman James Dodd.

Five council incumbents have no opposition. They are: Annette Lewis, Ward 1, a former Marietta school board member; Grif Chalfant, Ward 2, a commercial developer; Van Pearlberg, Ward 4, a senior assistant district attorney; Jim King, Ward 6, an engineer; and Philip Goldstein, Ward 7, a landlord.

One candidate, former Republican state Rep. Steve Tumlin, of Marietta, has qualified to run for mayor of Marietta to replace Mayor Bill Dunaway, who is retiring.

As for the Marietta Board of Education, whose seven members are also up for election, the race to fill longtime Ward 5 board member Jeannie Carter's seat also officially began Tuesday with two Marietta natives qualifying.

Stuart Fleming, 32, who works in strategy and operations for Coca-Cola Enterprises, is running against Doug Martin, 56, who runs a marketing firm, Diversified Educational Motivational Marketing.

Martin is a 1972 graduate of Marietta High, where his 16-year-old twin son and daughter attend now. A graduate of Norfolk State University and a former Marine, Martin said he was a campaign staffer for the late Hugh Grogan, Marietta's first black councilman.

Fleming is a 1996 graduate of the Walker School who went on to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy and England's Cambridge University. He served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2005, including stints in Africa, Asia and Europe, and as a teacher of Air Force doctrine and strategy at the Air University in Montgomery, Ala.

Fleming and his wife, Kim, are expecting their first child.

Running for Ward 6, which will be vacated by board member Tom Smith, is Michelle Kelly, a manager with Anheuser-Busch, and Thomas Cheater, a manager with BT Global, a telecommunications provider.

Running for the Ward 1 seat held by chiropractor Scott Allen, who is not seeking re-election, is Robert "Bobby" Thanepohn, who works for CryoLife in Kennesaw.

Four incumbents on the school board who have qualified have no opposition. They are board Chairman Tony Fasola, Ward 2, a sales manager for a television production company; Jill Mutimer, Ward 4, a financial consultant; Randy Weiner, Ward 3, owner of a window cleaning business; and Irene Berens, Ward 7, a ballet teacher.