Northwest Iowa — It would appear that Sheldon is not the only city in O’Brien County that will have no names on the November ballot for some elective city offices.
In Paullina, no nomination papers were filed for the Mayor’s position, so it will be left up to write-in votes to decide who gets the job. Also in Paullina, there is just one candidate , Steve Heeren, running for the two open seats on the city council.
Primghar may start the new session with an empty seat at the council table. Jack Black and Tim Honkomp are the only candidates to file papers for the three positions that are up for election.
The only contested races in O’Brien County are for Calumet City Council, where Andrew Lichter, Deb Peck and Danielle Rehder are vying for the two open seats. Sutherland will have a three-way race for mayor, with Kay Giffor, Paul Hibbing, and Elizabeth Peters all filing papers to run for that job. The Sutherland City Council has three candidates seeking two open seats; Johanna Homan, Dennis Templer, and Gary Bud Tunink.
In Osceola County, no candidates filed to run for City Council or Mayor in Ashton, so those 4 positions will have to be decided by write-in. There’s a contested City Council race in the City of Harris. Carol Biggs, Jeff Loring and Russell Meier are vying for the two available positions. The cities of Melvin and Ocheyedan have no contested races. In Sibley no candidates filed for either the 1st or 3rd Ward positions, so those seats will be filled through the write-in vote process.
In Sioux County, in the town of Boyden, the incumbent mayor is not running. Laryl Koerselman and Jeremy Kruid are running for the position. In Hawarden, three seats are open on the city council. Robert Bak, Jenn Bergsma, Jesica Butler, Robert Klocke, and incumbent Timothy Kurth are running. In Hospers, the mayor is not seeking re-election. John Gregory Den Hartog and Dan Dykstra have filed papers to run for mayor. Two seats are available on the council, and Amanda A. Boersma, John Junior Solsma, and Michael Thompson are all running. In Ireton, three people are running for mayor and none of them are incumbents. Brett Buyert, Russell D. De Vos, and Chris Mueller are seeking the Mayor’s chair. Bradley Kooi, James Lewis, and Rodney Ten Napel are running for two available seats on the city council. In Matlock, no candidates filed for mayor, so the winner will be a write-in.
In Lyon County, two people are running for three seats on the Doon City Council. Incumbent Jerry Keizer, and Matt Van Engen have filed papers, and one winner will be a write-in. In Little Rock, incumbent Bill Henrichs, Terry Cohoon, and Diane Peters are running for two available positions. In Rock Rapids, three people are running for mayor. Incumbent Jason Chase, former council member Matthew Oedekoven, and former mayor Lawrence D Lupkes all filed papers. Three people are running for two available spots on the city council. They are incumbents Cody Hofert and Ed Reck and challenger Michelle Sprock.
The election will be on Tuesday, November 7th, 2017.
