February 15 Primary Election will narrow the field in two races
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The deadline to file paperwork declaring candidacy for local offices, along with the appropriate nomination signatures, was Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.
There will be some new names on the ballot in April, and some races will be hotly contested. In some cases, incumbents filed notification of non-candidacy paperwork and will not be running for office this year, while a couple have not, so the timeframe for additional candidates to file candidacy paperwork for those positions has been extended to Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. And, of course, a number of candidates (some new, some incumbents) are running unopposed in the Spring 2022 election on April 5, 2022.
February Primary Election
As of Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, there will be a Primary Election on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, to decide the two candidates who will face off in the April 5 Spring Election for City of Merrill Alderman for District 8 and also for Lincoln County Board Supervisor for District 12. Three candidates filed papers to run for office in each of those races. The two candidates in each race who receive the highest number of votes in the Primary Election will go head-to-head against one another on the April 5 ballot. If additional candidates file paperwork to run for Supervisor positions in Lincoln County Board Districts 4 and 15, there is a possibility of those races being added to the Feb. 15 ballot, as well.
Multi-jurisdictional race
The position of Multi-Jurisdictional Judge in Merrill/Lincoln County will be a contested race this year. Robert W. Lass is challenging incumbent Ned R. Seubert in the April 5 Spring Election for the position.
City of Merrill races/candidates
Merrill will elect a new Mayor in April. Derek Woellner, the City’s current Mayor, has filed a notification of non-candidacy and will not run for re-election in 2022. Former Merrill Mayor William R. Bialecki [2010-2018] and current City of Merrill Alderman for District 2 Steve Hass are both running for Mayor in the Spring Election. Steve Hass has filed non-candidacy paperwork with regard to his position as Alderman and will not run in that race this year, giving preference to his bid to become Merrill’s 37th Mayor.
Former City Clerk Bill Heidemann, who resigned effective Jan. 4, 2022, has filed non-candidacy paperwork and will not run in this election. Instead, two new names in City of Merrill politics will be on the ballot: Lori L. Anderson-Malm and John Guenther are both running for election to be Merrill’s next elected City Clerk.
Incumbent Paul Russell is running for District 1 Alderman unopposed.
Michael J. Caylor, Jr. is running for District 2 Alderman unopposed, since the current District 2 Alderman Steve Hass is running for Mayor.
Incumbent Rick Blake is running for District 3 Alderman unopposed.
In District 4, current Alderman Steve Osness has filed non-candidacy paperwork; LaDonna Fermanich is running for the office unopposed.
In District 5, Richard “Dick” Lupton is challenging incumbent John Van Lieshout for the position of Alderman. And in District 6, Kyle Gulke is challenging incumbent Mike Rick for the Alderman position.
Incumbent Mark Weix, Jr. is running unopposed in District 7.
In District 8, incumbent Steve Sabatke will run against challengers Ann Heller and Renea Frederick in the Feb. 15, 2022, Primary Election to determine which two candidates will be on the April 5 ballot.
Incumbent Ronald Liberty is running unopposed for the position of Street & Weed Commissioner.
Lincoln County Board races/candidates
In Lincoln County Board Supervisor races, incumbent William R. Bialecki will run unopposed for the position of County Board Supervisor for District 1.
In Lincoln County District 2, Robert Weaver has filed non-candidacy paperwork. Lori L. Anderson-Malm will run unopposed for the position of District 2 County Board Supervisor.
In District 3, incumbent Elizabeth McCrank will run unopposed for Board Supervisor.
In District 4, incumbent Joshua Wendt did not submit either candidacy or non-candidacy paperwork by the deadlines, so he will not be listed on the ballot. As of the morning of Jan. 6, 2022, Steven L. Osness Jr. and Derek Woellner will be listed on the ballot and are vying for the position. However, additional candidates have until Jan. 7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. to file the appropriate candidacy paperwork if they would like to run. Should additional candidates file such paperwork, increasing the pool of candidates running for the position to three, this race would also be included in the Feb. 15 Primary Election.
Incumbent Nathan Peterson is running unopposed in County Board District 5 for Board Supervisor.
In County Board District 6, Landis Paul Holdorf is challenging incumbent Norbert Ashbeck for the Board Supervisor position; in County Board District 7, Wallace Jay Downey is challenging incumbent Greta Rusch; and in County Board District 8, Laurie J. Thiel is challenging incumbent Christopher Heller.
Incumbent Don Friske is running unopposed for County Board Supervisor in District 9.
In District 10, Jesse Boyd is challenging incumbent Judy Woller for the Board Supervisor position; and in County Board District 11, Randal John Detert is challenging incumbent Hans Breitenmoser Jr.
The two candidates to be listed on the April 5 ballot for the County Board Supervisor position for District 12 will be decided in the Feb. 15 Primary Election. Both Julie DePasse and Jon K. Weiler are challenging incumbent Paul Gilk. The two candidates in each race who receive the highest number of votes in the Primary Election will go head-to-head against one another on the April 5 ballot.
In County Board District 13, Alan Bishop is challenging incumbent Calvin Thomas Callahan for the Board Supervisor position; and in County Board District 14, Marguerite Lyskawa is challenging incumbent Brian Hafeman for the Board Supervisor position.
In District 15, incumbent Ann Nelson did not submit either candidacy or non-candidacy paperwork by the deadlines, so she will not be listed on the ballot. As of the morning of Jan. 6, 2022, only Marty R. Lemke had submitted candidacy paperwork and is slated to run unopposed on the April 5 ballot. However, because Nelson did not complete a notice of non-candidacy, additional candidates have until Jan. 7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. to file the appropriate candidacy paperwork if they would like to run. Should an additional candidate file such paperwork, resulting in two candidates running for the position, both names will be listed on the April 5, 2022, ballot. However, should more than one additional candidate file the necessary paperwork, increasing the pool of candidates running for the position to three or more, then the race would also be included in the Feb. 15 Primary Election to narrow the number of candidates to two, with the two candidates garnering the highest number of votes from that Primary moving forward to the Spring Election.
In County Board District 16, Sarah Ann Miller is challenging incumbent Michael Loka for the Board Supervisor position; in District 17, George Brixius is challenging incumbent Kevin Koth for the District’s Board Supervisor position; in District 18, Kenneth L. Wickham is challenging incumbent Patricia Voermans for the Board Supervisor position; in District 19, Matthew Webb is challenging incumbent Julie L Allen for the Board Supervisor position; and in County Board District 20, Angela Marie Cummings is challenging incumbent Dora Gorski for that District’s Board Supervisor position.
Incumbent Eugene Simon will run unopposed for the Board Supervisor position in County Board District 21.
In County Board District 22, incumbent Timothy Panfil filed his notification of non-candidacy, so Greg Hartwig will run unopposed for the Board Supervisor position of Lincoln County’s final District.