Northwest Iowa — The candidate filing deadline has come and gone for June’s primary election, so we are now able to bring you the names of individuals seeking public office in the four northwest Iowa counties.
On the ballot in O’Brien County will be three supervisor positions, the county auditor, and the county sheriff. There are no Democratic candidates for any of the positions, making the primary election that much more important. Sherri Bootsma is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the District 1 seat. In District 2 it’s John Steensma, and in District 3 it’s Nancy McDowell. County auditor Barb Rohwer is running unopposed as well. Two candidates are running for county sheriff. They are Brenda Starr Collier and Bruce Devereaux.
In Osceola County, there are no Democrats running either. Incumbents Jayson Vande Hoef, Jerry Helmers, and Ed Jones will run for their Districts 2, 4, and 5 county supervisor seats, respectively. Incumbent auditor Rochelle Van Tilburg is running for her seat too. Chief Deputy Sheriff Kevin Wollmuth is unopposed in his bid to become the Osceola County Sheriff.
In Sioux County, there are no Democratic candidates either. John Degen, Al Bloemendaal, and Mark Sybesma are running unopposed for the Districts 1, 3, and 4 County Supervisor Republican nominations, respectively. Republican Auditor Ryan Dokter is unopposed for the Republican nomination for his position, as is Republican Sheriff Dan Altena.
And in Lyon County, there actually is one Democratic candidate. Brian L. Wibben is running for the Democratic nomination for County Supervisor, District 3. There are also three Republican candidates for that office. They are Cory Altena, Matthew Christians, and Robert Gruis. Douglas Vanden Bosch is unopposed for the Republican nomination for District 2 County Supervisor. Incumbent Republican Auditor Jen Smit is unopposed for the nomination. Republican County Sheriff Stewert Vander Stoep faces a primary challenge from Republican Steve Michael.
Of course, for the President, those candidates were voted on during the Iowa Caucuses. As of right now, it appears the Republican candidate will be President Donald Trump, and the Democratic Candidate will be either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, as all other candidates have suspended their campaigns.
Fourth District Republican Congressman Steve King’s seat is also up for election this year. His primary challengers include Randy Feenstra of Hull, Steven Reeder of Arnolds Park, Bret A. Richards of Irwin, and Jeremy Taylor of Sioux City. On the Democratic side, J.D. Scholten is running unopposed for his party’s nomination.
Since Randy Feenstra is running for Steve King’s seat, his District 2 State Senate Seat is up for grabs. Republican Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center is running unopposed for his party’s nomination. There is no Democratic candidate.
Incumbent Republican John Wills is running unopposed for his party’s nomination for his District 1 State House seat. There are no Democratic candidates either.
Dan Huseman is not running again for his District 3 House seat. Zero Democrats and three Republicans have filed. The Republicans are Dennis J. Bush of Cleghorn, K. Lynn Evans of Aurelia, and Mark McHugh of Sheldon.
District 4 State Representative Skyler Wheeler of Orange City is unopposed for the Republican nomination for his seat, but there is a Democrat running for that party’s nomination in the primary. He is Bjorn Johnson of Ireton.
Again, this is the Primary Election — in which we select candidates to be on the ballot during the general election in November.
Sioux County Auditor Ryan Dokter is among a group of auditors who are strongly encouraging
voters wishing to vote in the June 2 Primary Election to vote absentee by mail due to the recent concerns with COVID-19. For more information, contact your county auditor.
