Online candidate filing opens Monday

The online candidate filing period opens Monday for the November General Election. Several offices around the county will have slots on the ballot, including the Port of Whitman County, several city and town councils and school, fire, cemetery, hospital and park districts.

The Port of Whitman County seat is currently filled by Kristine Meyer, who was appointed for the remainder of Commissioner Dan Boone’s term which is set to conclude at the end of this year. Boone passed away March 2, and Meyer was appointed by the Port on April 20.

Meyer has said she plans to file as a candidate for the six-year position.

Online candidate filings open on Monday and will conclude on Friday, May 19. In-person filing began May 1 and will conclude May 19 at 4 p.m.

Other positions around the county that are open for filing are as follows:

Colfax: Colfax will see four council positions on the ballot this November. Positions one, two and three are up for four-year terms, while position four will be up for a two-year term. The positions, respectively, are currently held by Whitney Aguilar, Steven Bretveld, Jeanette Solimine and Sarah McKnight. Solimine has stated she does not intend to seek re-election. McKnight was appointed to her seat last year after it was vacated by Steve Holberg.

The Colfax School District will have a director position on the ballot. Position five is currently held by Jennifer Hauser.

Palouse: Palouse City Council will have five seats up for election this year. These include seats currently held by Doreen Hanson (position one), Bill Slinkard (position two), Michael Hicks (position three), Senja Estes (position four) and Robert Stout (position five).

The school district will also have three positions on the ballot, one each for district two and district three and one for district five, which is at large. Those positions, respectively, are held by Joe Merrill, Rachel Handley Chartan and Christopher Cook.

Pullman: The Pullman City Council has three four-year terms set for the ballot. Council position two, ward two; council position five, ward three, and council position seven, ward one, are open for election. The seats are currently held, respectively, by Fritz Hughes, Jeff Hawbaker and Alan Sorensen. Brandon Chapman, a current member of Pullman’s Board of Adjustment and community and marketing director at WSU’s College of Education, announced his intention to run for Hawbaker’s seat in April. Hawbaker has not announced his intentions. Hughes has said he will not seek to be re-elected. Sorensen has announced he will seek re-election.

Two director positions from the school district will also be up for election. Those positions are held currently by Karl Johanson and Dean Kinzer, who also serves as a Whitman County commissioner.

Tekoa: The City of Tekoa will see four council positions on the ballot. These positions are currently held by Carol Sturman (one), Alyssa Heagy (three), Roy Schulz (four) and Ted Blaszak (six).

The school district will also have spots on the ballot for three director positions. Seats held right now by Mary Marsh, Janine Zimmerman and Brandon Vandalsen will be on the ballot.

Albion: Two council seats will be open in this election. Council positions three and four are going to be on the ballot. These seats are currently held by Rhonda Anderson and Crystle Morgan.

Colton: Colton’s council has two seats on the ballot. Council positions two and five, held by Kyle White and James Dahman, will be open for filing.

The school district will also have seats on the ballot in Colton. Four director positions will be up for election, including seats currently held by Gary Riedner (one), Jana Schultheis (two), Shannon Miller (four) and Niki Wolf (five).

Endicott: Endicott will have just one council position on the ballot, position two held by BJ Johnson. The school district ballot in Endicott will feature two at-large positions, currently held by Jamie Misner (position two) and Debbie Schlomer (position four).

Farmington: Farmington will have a big ballot this year, with the mayor’s seat and four council positions on it. Mayor David Baker and councilpersons Lavon Erickson, Jaime Lopez, Brian Oliver and Jason Brausen have their seats open.

Garfield: The mayor’s position is also set for the ballot in Garfield. The position is currently held by Ray McGown, who was actually the subject of an unsuccessful impeachment hearing last fall. McGown prevailed and continues to serve as mayor. He has not announced if he will seek re-election. Council positions four and five, currently held by David Jones and Daymon Marple, will also be on the ballot.

Three at large positions will also be on Garfield’s ballot for the school district. Andy Olson (position one), Paul Hendrickson (position four) and Russell Jamison (position five) currently hold those spots.

LaCrosse: The mayor position will be on the ballot.

Randy Camp is the incumbent. There will also be three council positions on the ballot – positions three, four and five, currently held by Roger Downing, Jacob Wigen and Donna Wigen.

The school district also has three positions on the ballot. These positions, all at-large, are held by Kara Harder, Tami Schwartz and Harmon Smith.

Lamont: Lamont will see its entire council up for election, including the mayor’s seat. The positions are currently held by Steve Ulrich (mayor), Vicki Falkenstein (position two), Bob Falkenstein (position three), Cathy Ulrich (position four) and Leslie Jaqua (position five). Council position one in Lamont is currently vacant.

Two at-large positions will also be up for election in the school district. Positions one and two, currently held by Michelle Howes and Elizabeth Melville, will be on the ballot.

Malden: Mayor Christina Ferrell’s seat is up for election. Ferrell was appointed to the seat on June 1, 2016, after previous mayor Fran Maxwell stepped down. Positions currently held by Krista Nybo (one), Tamra Van Dyke (two), Dan Harwood (three), Robert Law (four) and Laura Dickenson (five) will also be on the ballot. Dickenson was appointed to the council at the April 2016 meeting following the resignation of Diana Totten, Nybo was sworn in at the June 2016 meeting to take over the council duties from Ferrell after her appointment to mayor and Law was appointed at the July 2016 council meeting following the resignation of councilman Ted Maxwell when the Maxwells moved.

Oakesdale: Oakesdale is another town that will see the mayor’s slot on the ballot. Currently held by Dennis Palmer, the seat is open this year. Council positions four and five, held by Randy Robinson and Thomas Johnson, will be on the ballot as well.

Three positions will be on the school district’s ballot. Two director positions, held right now by Brian Crow (position two) and Kristina Cooper (position five), will be up for election. Cap Perry’s at-large position will also be on the ballot.

Rosalia: Mayor Nanette Konishi’s position will be up for election on November’s ballot, as will council positions one, three and five. Those seats are currently held by Matthew Floyd, Robert Hill and Eric Eilertson. Eilertson was appointed June 28 to the seat after the passing of councilman Ernie Witte in June.

The school district will also have positions on the ballot. Director positions three and five, held right now by Frank Lazcano Sr. and Heather Smith, will be up for election.

Steptoe: The Steptoe ballot will consist of school district positions. Both are at large, and the positions are currently held by Julie Stilson (one) and Jessi Hall (four).

St. John: Three council positions will be on the ballot for St. John. Positions currently held by Jeff Smick (three), Frank Watson (four) and Carol Harrison (five) are open for election.

School district seats on the ballot will be the director district one position, held right now by Shantyl McGuire, and position five at large, currently held by James Rodgers.

Uniontown: Rounding out the mayor’s elections will be Uniontown. Mayor David Jacobs’ seat is open for election, as are three council positions. The positions are three, four and five, currently held by Dan Warner, Daniel Baker and Steve Kelly.

Fire, cemetery, hospital and park districts

Various positions will be up across the county in fire, cemetery, hospital and park districts. In total, 21 commissioner positions in the fire districts, 19 commissioners positions in cemetery districts, six commissioner and two at-large positions in hospital districts and 31 at-large park positions will be on the ballot throughout the county. For the full list, see the Whitman County Elections page online.