Saline County general election races are set. See who's running
The stage is already set for this year's general election featuring local races as candidates have officially filed for in Saline County for the Nov. 7 date.
With the June 1 deadline past for candidates to file or withdraw from the ballot, and with not enough candidates in any race and no question or referendum up for vote, Saline County will not need to have a primary election in August.
What are the key races and who is running for them?
Being an odd-numbered year, that means that races this year are for nonpartisan, local seats with the Salina City Commission and various school boards being the races to watch this year.
For the city commission, six people have filed to fill three at-large seats. Candidates for the commission include incumbents Trent Davis and Mike Hoppock, previous candidates Chad Farber and Jerry Ivey II, who both ran in 2021, and newcomers to this race, Robert Klingenberg and Haley Helzer.
Notably absent from the candidate list for the city race is current commissioner Karl Ryan, who was first elected in 2015, and served as mayor for one term during his tenure on the commission.
Three commissioners will be chosen from the six candidates, with the two candidates receiving the most votes elected to a four-year term and the one receiving the third-highest number of votes elected to a two-year term.
This year will also see two different school boards with all or a majority of their respective districts in Saline County that have at least one contested race.
Salina Schools USD 305 sees five candidates vying for four at-large seats. Incumbents Mark Bandre, Sana Kossow, Scott Gardner and Ann Zimmerman will be joined by Paul Gebhardt Jr. in this race.
Ell-Saline Schools USD 307 has two contested races, one for Position No. 3 on the board, with incumbent Cheryl Higgins facing JD Garber, and for an at-large position, incumbent Mitch Drees faces a challenge by Mindy Tillberg.
Advanced voting begins in October
The general election will be on Nov. 7. Voters wishing to apply for an advance ballot by mail can do so beginning on Aug. 9 until Oct. 31. Ballots will be mailed beginning on Oct. 18, must be postmarked on or before election day and received by Nov. 10
In-office advance voting starts on Oct. 23 and goes until noon, Nov. 6, the day before the election.
More information about the election, including a full list of candidates and how to apply for an advance ballot by mail can be found on the Saline County website at www.salinecountyks.gov/election.
This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Saline County local elections set: See the key races
