Candidate filing wraps up - Three races to be on August ballot

Candidate filing wraps up -Three races to be on August ballot

Three Whitman County offices will be on the ballot for the Aug. 16 primary after the positions drew more than two candidates by last Friday’s candidate filing deadline.

The District 3 Port of Whitman County commissioner spot drew four applicants, with Al Sorensen of Pullman, Alan Morgan of Colfax, Jeff Phelps of Pullman and Tom Kammerzell of Colfax filing.

In Colfax, three candidates will vie for Mayor, a position being vacated by 22-year incumbent Norma Becker.

Carol Stueckle, former mayor, Tom Huntwork, a current member of the city council, and G. Todd Vanek, an eight-year resident, all filed for the job last week.

The third primary race will be for commissioner of Fire District 3, which serves the Garfield areas. Alan Wride, Richard Bridge and Chuck Petras all filed for the post.

Wride now holds the office.

Top two vote recipients from the primary election for each post will advance to the November general election.

The primary election for the port seat will be limited to voters in District 3.

November’s ballot will also feature a number of local races, including two seats on the Garfield/Farmington hospital district. In that race, Nikkie Pfaff will challenge incumbent Kurt Kimberling for the first commissioner post, while Tanya Thygeson and Betsy Rawls will square off for the number three seat.

At Lamont, Mike Thomas has challenged incumbent Michael Breckenridge for the Mayor post. Breckeridge was appointed earlier this year after the resignation of former Mayor Steve Lacy.

In other municipal races, Jim Kackman filed a challenge to Earl Leland for his seat on the Colfax City council. In Rosalia, Rick Lau will try to unseat Robert Hill for the number two seat on the Rosalia town council.

Several school board seats will be decided in November, including all but one on the Colfax School Board.

For District 1, Kirby Dailey challenged incumbent Laura Johnson. Eric Doering will challenge Robert Smith for the District 3 seat. Barbara Morgan filed a challenge Friday for the board seat held Brian Becker for District 4. Incumbent appointee Kathy Wride filed unopposed for the District 2 seat.

At LaCrosse, Stacy Aune filed a challenge to Terry Miller for an at-large seat on the school board.

In Tekoa, Troy Wilson and Holly Squibb are running for the District 5 seat.

Rachell Anderson filed against Frank Garrett for a seat on the Endicott School Board, and Nancy Anderson filed a challenge to Dwight Lust.

Michele Beckmann and Clark Miller will vie for a commissioner seat in Fire District 11, which serves Colfax-Steptoe-Albion.

Amie Eaton and Richard Chittenden will square off for a Tekoa Park District seat.

County Elections Supervisor Debbie Hooper said 66 open positions throughout the county failed to attract a candidate. Hooper said a late registration period for those seats will be later this year, likely just before the August primary. A complete list of those offices is on file in the elections office.

If no candidate files for those positions, the current office holder can be re-appointed by the board. Hooper said many districts do that to save election costs.

Candidates for each office, listed by city, were:

Port of Whitman - Dan Boone, Pullman, District 2 commissioner. Al Sorensen, Pullman, Alan Morgan, Colfax, Jeff Phelps, Pullman, Tom Kammerzell, Colfax, District 3 commissioner.

Pullman Hospital Commission - Jennifer Blaylock, position 1, C. Michael Murphy, position 2.

Garfield/Farmington Hospital Commission - Nikkie Pfaff and Kurt Kimberling of Garfield, position 1; Donald Brown of Garfield, position 2; Tanya Thygeson and Betsy Rawls of Farmington, commissioner 3.

Colfax Hospital Commission - Kirk Suess of Steptoe, position 1, Steve Moore of Dusty, position 4.

Colfax - Town: Carol Stueckle, Thomas Huntwork and G. Todd Vanek, mayor; Steven Holberg, council seat 4; Al Vorderbrueggen, council seat 5; Earl Leland and Jim Kackman, council seat 6; Jeremiah “J.W.” Roberts, council seat 7. School: Laura Johnson and Kirby Dailey, position 1; Kathy Wride, position 2; Robert Smith and Eric Doering, position 3; Brian Becker and Barbara Morgan, position 4. Fire District 11: Clark Miller and Michele Beckmann, commissioner 2; Mike Whitman, commissioner 5. Fire District 13: Allen Cochrane, commissioner.

Colton - Town: Jerry Weber, mayor; Charles DeMeerleer, council pos. 1; Sam Keller, council seat 3; Dorothy Sharp, council position 4. School: Jana Schultheis, position 2; Denise Faerber, position 3. Fire District 12, Gary Boone, commissioner 3.

Endicott - Town: Verne Strader, mayor; David Bilow, council position 3; Judy Arneson, council seat 4; Bonnie Holiday, council seat 5. School: Greta White, position 1; Rachell Anderson and Frank Garrett, position 2; Marvin Scmick, position 3; Dwight Lust and Nancy Anderson, position 5. Fire District 6: Jason Huntley, commissioner 1; Charmaine Despain, commissioner 2. Parks: Leslie Starrett, position 3; Linda Greenhaigh, position 4; Jennifer Meyer, position 5.

Farmington - Town: Frank Triplett, council position 1; Noreen Ewing, council seat 2; Dave Baker, council seat 4; Todd Lobdell, council position 5. Cemetery: Jerry Wagner, commissioner 2; Ollie Hurley, commissioner 3.

Garfield - Town: Sharon Schnebly, council seat 1; Mark Young, council seat 2; Tim Southern, council seat 3; Larry Hunt, council seat 4. School: Andy Olson, position 1; Keith Rawls, position 2; John Orfe, position 3, Raul Hendrickson, position 4; Russell Jamison, position 5. Fire District 3: Alan Wride, Richard Bridge and Chuck Petras, commissioner 3. Parks: Debbie Anderson, position 3; Tami Southern, position 4.

LaCrosse - Town: Thomas Cauley, council seat 1; Dennis Mackleit, council seat 2; Randy Camp, council seat 4. School: Michael Stubbs, position 4; Terry Miller and Stacy Aune, position 5. Parks: Jerry Townsend, position 2; Jamie Nelson, position 3; Kim Berquist, position 4.

Lamont - Town: Mike Thomas and Michael Breckenridge, mayor; Gary Breckenridge, council seat 1, Julie McDaniel, council seat 5. School: Todd Billigmeier, position 5. Fire District 5: Robert Morton, commissioner 1; Tim Sauer, commissioner 2.

Malden - Town: Danny Sturgeon, council seat 4; Chris Beard, council position 5.

Oakesdale - Town: Al Evans, council seat 1; Kelli Meserve, council seat 2; Thomas Crooks, council seat 3; Randy Robinson, council seat 4. School: Larry Peringer, position 1; Doug Hinkins, position 3; Shelly Lobdell, position 5. Cemetery: William Johnson, commissioner 2. Parks: Dawna Chappell, position 1; William Lanius, position 2; Doug Hovde, position 3.

Palouse - City: Michael Echanove, mayor; Bo Ossinger, council seat 2; Tim Jones, council seat 3; Cecil Floyd, council position 4; Rick Wekenman, council position 5; Norman Schorzman, council position 6; Connie Newman, council seat 7. School: Ed Griner, position 1; Mike Dymkoski, position 3; Brenda Boyd, at large position 4.

Pullman - City: Glenn Johnson, mayor; Francis Benjamin, Ward 1; Nathan Weller, council Ward 2; Pat Wright, council Ward 3; Keith Bloom, at large council seat 6. School: Susan Weed, position 1; Allison Munch-Rotolo, position 2, Jim Evermann, position 3.

Rosalia - Town: Rick Lau and Robert Hill, council position 2; Nan Konishi, council position 4. School: Tricia Hereford, position 1; Graig Maley, position 2; Ken Jacobs, position 4.

St. John - Town: K.B. Trunkey, mayor; Michael Webb, council position 1; Jeff Smick, council seat 3. School: Scott Hollingsworth, position 1; Toni Blackwell, position 2; Mark Bailey, position 3; Kelly Lundberg, position 5. Cemetery: Karen Mills, commissioner 3. Parks: Kris Thrasher, position 1; Dana Crider, position 2; Denny Hinds, position 4; Bruce Porubek, poistion 5.

Steptoe - School: Damon Burke, position 1; Dan Hall, position 3; Lavonne Hall, position 5.

Tekoa - Town: John Jaeger, mayor; Deborah Groom, council seat 3; John Giudice, council seat 5; David Tysz, council seat 7. School: Duane Groom, position 2, Janine Zimmerman, position 3; Michael McHargue, position 4; Holly Squibb and Troy Wilson, position 5. Parks: Chanda Heer, position 1; Shannon McHargue, position 2; Amie Eaton and Richard Chittenden, position 5.

Uniontown - Fire District 14: Rick Heitstuman, commissioner 2; Ben Wolf, commissioner 3.