The political roller coaster to fill Jo Bonner’s empty Congressional seat took several twists and turns as the brief three-day qualifying period came and went.

Two men who previously threw their hats in the Republican ring backed out, leaving the GOP with nine candidates and a likely primary runoff election on Nov. 5. The Democratic Party had been quiet since Bonner announced he would step down after 10 years in Washington. At the last minute, a pair of candidates qualified.

The full slate of candidates will not be complete until Sept. 24. That is the deadline for Independent candidates to qualify with the Secretary of State’s office.

Sept 24 is also the date of the primary election. With nine candidates on the Republican side, it will be virtually impossible for one candidate to win a majority of the vote. That will force a runoff election on Nov. 5.

The winner of that runoff would face the Democratic challenger and any Independents in the general election on Dec. 17.

The election schedule was created to ensure the district has a representative when the next session of Congress begins in January 2014. The First district covers Baldwin, Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.

According to Sec. of State Jim Bennett’s website, the Democratic candidates are Lula Albert-Kaigler, a retiree; and Burton LeFlore, a real estate agent.

According to a press release by the Alabama Republican Party, their candidates are:

* Bradley Byrne - Attorney, Republican candidate for Governor in 2010, former Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education and former state senator.

* J. Daniel Dyas Sr. - general contractor and small business owner.

* Chad Fincher - state representative and small business owner.

* Wells Griffith - attorney and deputy chief-of-staff of the Republican National Committee.

* Quin Hillyer - nationally recognized conservative columnist for the American Spectator.

* Jessica James - realtor, grant-writer for Bishop State Community College and former candidate for Alabama State Board of Education.

* Sharon L. Powe - entrepreneur, legal assistant for the US Small Business Administration and government affairs for Mobile (Pritchard municipality).

* David G. “Thunder” Thornton - retired Shell production specialist and retail employee.

* Dean Young - realtor, owner of four small businesses and former candidate for Congress.

State Rep. Randy Davis (R - Daphne) had announced that he would run for the seat. But two days before qualifying officially began, he withdrew, saying he would focus his attention on his current job representing Baldwin and Mobile County’s District 96 in the Alabama House of Representatives.

Former state Senator and county commissioner Albert Lipscomb announced on July 30 that he would run. A week later on Aug.6, he announced that he had changed his mind and did not qualify. Qualifying ended Aug. 5 at 5 p.m.