Ballots set for Iron County spring elections

With the seemingly never-ending Presidential election cycle in the rear-view mirror, Iron County voters will again head to the polls in February and April for a number of races.

There are no local races on the Feb. 21 ballot, however three candidates are running in the state superintendent of public instruction primary.

Incumbent Tony Evers, of Madison; Lowell Holtz, of Beloit, and John Humphries, of Mount Horeb, are all running, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election.

The April 4 election will feature candidates running in town, city, school board and county races.

At the county level, Judge Patrick Madden is running unopposed for another six-year term.

While a number of the town and city races feature uncontested contests, there are several with more candidates on the ballots than available seats.

In Kimball, Town Chairman Ron Ahonen is facing a challenge from Joe Simonich. Incumbent town supervisor Ray Kivi will be challenged by Don Decker and Randall Stoltenberg. However, as incumbent John Smith isn’t seeking re-election, the three candidates will compet for two seats.

Kimball Clerk Irene Salzmann and Treasurer Pam Backman are running for re-election unopposed.

The other contested town race is in Mercer, where incumbent Jim Kichak is being challenged by John Sendra for the town chairman seat. With incumbent Bonnie Banaszak choosing not to run for another term as supervisor, three candidates — incumbent Jeff Stenberg, Tom Thompson Jr. and James Schmidt — will be vying for two town supervisor seats. Mercer Clerk Christan Brandt and Treasurer Lin Miller are running unopposed.

There is also a seat open on the Mercer Sanitary Board, however no one has filed papers to run.

The city of Montreal also has two seats up for election. In Ward 1, Joan Levra is running unopposed to replace Brian Livingston on the council, while Leola Maslanka is being challenged by Bill Stutz for her seat representing Ward 2.

The other town races, all of which feature unopposed candidates, are as follows:

—Anderson: Edward Brandis is running for chairman, while Jerry Rice and Patrick Hanson are running for town supervisors.

—Carey: Bob Walesewicz is running for town chairman, while Diane Schmidtke and Tom Bainbridge are running for town supervisors.

—Gurney: The candidates will be selected at the town caucus, scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the community building.

—Knight: Daniel Soine is running for town chairman, Kendall Koski and Owen Garro are running as town supervisors.

—Oma: Steve Finco is running for town chairman, while Robert Matz and Larry Erickson are running as town supervisors. Linda Kuduk is running as treasurer and Denise Schmitz-Enking is running as clerk.

—Pence: Michael Paternoster is running for town chairman, Joe Olson and James Maffesanti are running as town supervisors.

—Saxon: Andrew Rowe is running for town chairman, Kelly Thurow and Karl Krall are running as town supervisors. Kathy Brauer is running for another term as town clerk, while the treasurer seat will be a write-in contest, as Sue Brauer is not seeking re-election.

—Sherman: Gerald Luke is running for town chairman, Gerald Mukula is running for town supervisor, while the other seat — currently held by Robert Lepper — will be a write-in vote. Amy Slone is running for clerk and Gerard Murrin is running for treasurer.

Both the Hurley and Mercer school boards have members running unopposed for re-election. In Mercer, Micki Pierce-Hulstrom and Noel Brandt are seeking another term, while in Hurley, Maria Sokol and Darryl Mattson are looking to continue to serve the district.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both Feb. 21 and April 4.