Choices abound for voters

The candidate filing period ended Friday. This is when individuals officially put their hats in the ring for elected offices.

Interest was high this time around, and openings for many local offices generated more than one candidate. The races with two contenders will be decided in November.

The races with more than two contenders will appear on the August primary ballot. The fields then will be narrowed to two. These two candidates will appear on the November ballot for a final decision.

Three such races have developed. The Colfax mayoral race, the open seat on the Port of Whitman County Board of Commissioners and the race for Fire District 3 commissioner will be on the primary ballot in August. Each of these positions have more than two hopefuls.

Ballots for the primary will be due by Tuesday, August 16. That is still well off, but these races are worthy of consideration even at this early date. Some important decisions will have to be made by voters.

This primary is just the start of an interesting and important local election season. In addition to the three races that need to be narrowed in the primary, a number of important positions to be decided in November offer voters important, distinct choices.

Details on these and other contested races are on Page 6.

Gordon Forgey,