Mondays filing deadline has passed, setting up a number of contested city and school board races throughout Allen County.
In Iola, Mayor Jon Wells will face a pair of challengers in November. Ron Ballard, elected to a seat on the Iola City Council in 2016, has filed for mayor, as has Iolan Larry Walden.
Meanwhile, City Councilwoman Kim Peterson will face a trio of challengers in Iolas Ward 3, Josiah DAlbini, Kyle King and Ashley Varner, in an August primary, the only local race with enough candidates to warrant a primary vote. The top two vote-getters in August will advance to Novembers general election. Ward 3 covers the southwest quadrant of Iola.
In Iolas Ward 4, the southeast quadrant, two candidates have filed to replace Aaron Franklin, who is not seeking re-election. Ben Alexander will face off against former Councilman Steve French.
In Ward 1 (northwest), Nickolas Kinder has filed to replace Chase Martin, who is not seeking re-election. Kinder was the only candidate to file.
There were no filings to represent Iolas Ward 2 in the northeast part of town, which likely means a write-in candidacy will decide the next Council member. Daniel Mathew did not seek re-election.
The primary election is Aug. 6; the general election is Nov. 5.
ALLEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE has four candidates to fill three seats.
Mary Kay Heard is the only incumbent to seek re-election. Also on the ballot are Gena Clounch, Vicki Curry and Lonnie Larson. Incumbents Spencer Ambler and Ken McGuffin did not file for re-election.
USD 257 has four candidates for four seats. Incumbents Douglas Dunlap, Jen Taylor and Dan Willis have filed to run again, as has former school board member Tony Leavitt. Mary Apt declined to run again for her seat. This will be the first year for an all at-large election for USD 257.
IN HUMBOLDT, Mayor Nobby Davis filed for re-election, and will be unchallenged in November.
Also unchallenged are City Council members Paul Cloutier, incumbent, and Jeffrey C. Bowman in Ward 1, which covers all parts of town south of Bridge Street. Incumbent Sunny Shreeve and Otis Crawford are the only two candidates for the two Ward 2 vacancies as well.
A write-in candidate will be necessary to fill a USD 258 Board of Education seat, because only three candidates, Drake Tilman, Sandra Whitaker and Josh Wrestler have filed for the four seats up for grabs. Whitaker and Wrestler are incumbents. Board members Donald Hauser and Joe Works did not file for re-election.
