When the registration deadline passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the field for Clark County’s ballot had grown significantly, and we think that’s a good thing.

While we commend our current elected officials for the difficult and often thankless service they offer our community, we all benefit when more people run for office.

Having more people on the ballot is beneficial for the community for multiple reasons.

First, by having contested races we can ensure that the citizens of Winchester and Clark County have a choice. Uncontested races don’t offer an opportunity to pick the best candidate for the job. And while we can honestly say we believe Clark County is lucky to have many honest, trustworthy and dedicated elected officials, the point of elections is to give the people choices to elect their representation in government.

Nearly across the board, the people of Clark County have just that.

The following races are on the ballot this year: county attorney, county clerk, judge-executive, sheriff, jailer, coroner, circuit clerk, property valuation administrator, six magistrate seats, six constable positions, Winchester mayor, four city commissioners, 73rd district state representative, 28th district state senate, three district judge seats, Commonwealth’s attorney and 6th district U.S. representative.

Additionally, more interest in elected office signals a clear interest in the investment of time and energy into the improvement of the community.

Every one of these individuals has the potential to bring innovative and exciting ideas to the table about how to make our community a better place to live and work.

Whether they want to focus on job development, crime reduction, youth empowerment, public policy, all of the above or more, it is never a bad thing to have new, fresh ideas — even if they come from elected officials who have served for many years.

We want to commend the 76 individuals who have put themselves out there for the sake of serving their community.

Running for office is undoubtedly no easy task. These individuals have now opened themselves up to tough criticism and have dedicated themselves to having difficult conversations about how to improve Winchester-Clark County.

That’s nothing to be taken lightly. We hope this election season is one that will focus on the key issues and the important details that will bring real, positive change in our community.

We encourage candidates to avoid the typical political and election rhetoric and think seriously about what work we have to do and how they can help make it happen.