Northwest Iowa — A number of candidates have returned papers to be on the ballot for the June 7th Primary Election in northwest Iowa.
Potential candidates for county offices had until March 30, 2016, at 5 PM to file, and they needed two percent of the 2014 vote for the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the county or 100 signatures, whichever is less.
In O’Brien County, four candidates have filed papers to be the Republican nominee for Board of Supervisors, District 1. They are incumbent James DeBoom of Sutherland, Sherri L. Bootsma of Sanborn, Michael A. Negus of Sutherland, and Jerry J. Nieuwenhuis of Primghar. For the Board of Supervisors District 2 Republican nominee, incumbent John Steensma of Sanborn will face challenger Kelly Ney of Primghar. In District 3, Nancy McDowell of Sheldon is running unopposed for the Republican nomination. Also running unopposed for the Republican nomination is incumbent County Auditor Barb Rohwer of Primghar. For the Republican Sheriff’s nomination, incumbent Michael Anderson has decided to retire. Two law men have filed papers to be the Republican nominee. They are Chief Deputy Allen G. Schuknecht of Primghar, and Sheldon Police Officer Todd Wood. No Democrats filed for any position.
In Osceola County, no Democrats filed for any position either. There, for District Two Supervisor, incumbent Jayson VandeHoef will be challenged by Doug Hensch for the Republican nomination. In Supervisor District 4, Incumbent Phil Bootsma will run unopposed for the nomination. In District 5, incumbent Merlin Sandersfeld will face challenger Ed Jones for the Republican nomination. Incumbent County Sheriff Douglas Weber is unopposed for the nomination, as is incumbent County Auditor Barbara Echter.
In Sioux County, for Supervisor District 1, incumbent John Degen of Hawarden is unopposed for the Republican nomination. For District 3, incumbent Al Bloemendaal will face challenger Rich Koele the Republican nomination. Both are from Sioux Center. In Supervisor District 4, incumbent Mark Sybesma of Hull is unopposed for the Republican nomination. Incumbent County Auditor Lois Huitink is not running for re-election. Running unopposed for the Republican nomination is Ryan Dokter of Hull. Incumbent Sheriff Dan Altena is also unopposed for the Republican nomination for that position. No Democrats filed for any position.
In Lyon County, it’s the same situation with no Democrats filing. For the Board Of Supervisors District 2 Republican nomination, incumbent Merle Koedam is running unopposed. For the District 3 nomination, incumbent Mark A. Behrens will face Gerald Klinkenborg for the nomination. Incumbent
County Auditor Jen Smit is unopposed for the nomination as well, as is incumbent County Sheriff
Stewart Vander Stoep, who last time after a primary loss as a Republican, filed as an independent, and won in the 2012 General Election.
For the State House, in District 1, incumbent John Wills is running unopposed as a Republican. No Democrats filed. In District 3, incumbent Dan Huseman is unopposed as a Republican in the primary. No Democrats filed for the primary. Three people are running for the District 4 seat recently held by Dwayne Alons — and for the last year by John Kooiker after Alons died. They are Skyler Wheeler and Jeffrey VanDerWerff, both of Orange City; and Kevin Van Otterloo of Rock Valley. No Democrats filed for the District 4 nomination. In the State Senate, for District 2, incumbent Randy Feenstra of Hull is running unopposed, and no Democrats filed for their nomination. The other State Senate district that is partially in our area is David Johnson’s District 1, but that seat is not up for election this year.
In the US races, US Senator Chuck Grassley’s seat is up for election. No Republicans filed papers to oppose him. Four Democrats filed for their party’s nomination however. They are Robert Hogg of Cedar Rapids, Thomas Fiegen of Clarence, Patty Judge of Albia, and Bob Krause of Fairfield. For US House of Representatives, District 4, incumbent Steve King faces primary opposition from Republican Rick Bertrand of Sioux City. Democrat Kim Weaver of Sheldon is the only Democratic candidate to file papers for the seat in the primary.
