December 21, 2024

Here are all the candidates running for city, school races in Jasper County

Almost 100 candidates submit paperwork for mayor, council and school board seats

Candidates for city and school board elections throughout Jasper County have been recognized by the auditor’s office and will appear on ballots in November.

From a purely numbers standpoint, the Colfax-Mingo and PCM school districts are the most contested school board races in the county. In Newton, all three incumbents are seeking re-election but will be challenged by only one other candidate; past school board elections in Newton were widely contested.

Discussions about closing down two buildings in the Newton Community School District may have dissuaded some would-be candidates from running this year. Interest seems to have shifted to the city races in Newton. Each open seat — mayor, Ward 1, Ward 3 and at-large — has at least two candidates running for it.

After it was announced Newton Mayor Mike Hansen would not seek re-election, both of the current at-large council members, Randy Ervin and Evelyn George, threw in their bids for mayor. Lonnie Appleby, who ran as a write-in candidate against Hansen in 2021, also announced his run for mayor shortly after.

Probably the most contested Newton race is the at-large council seat currently held by Ervin. With no chance to be re-elected into his seat because of his mayoral campaign, five people have thrown in their names, including: Joel Mills, Cassandra Pence, Robert Williams, Jerry Chandler Jr. and Ron Bookout.

Other notable races include the uncontested run for Baxter mayor by current county treasurer Doug Bishop, who has served as mayor in the past. In Mingo and Oakland Acres, there are currently no mayoral candidates filed for the upcoming election.

In total, there are 96 candidates/incumbents running for the city and school elections in Jasper County.

Here is the list of candidates for school boards:

BAXTER

• School board member: Ashley Kucera, Tyler Akins, Ray Hauser, Christina Roby and Kim Tichy.

COLFAX-MINGO

• School board member director, District 1: Kendra Perry and Betty Brant.

• School board member director, District 2: Jennifer Everett, Mardell Tomlonovic and Ashley Vanderschoor.

• School board member director, District 3: Mary Poulter.

• School board member at-large: Patrick Utz.

• School board member at-large: Dawn Gibson, Melissa Cooper, James Tomlonovic, Shannon Herbold Boehm and Cody Dyer.

LYNNVILLE-SULLY

• School board member: Amanda Jones, Tammy Vos and David Foster.

NEWTON

• School board member: Mark Thayer, Donna Cook, Josh Cantu and Kristina Meyer.

PCM

• School board member director, District 2: Greg Ingle, Scott Grass and Rebecca Bartelma.

• School board member director, District 3: Kelsey Fiorentin and Brent Fridley.

• School board member director, District 4: Rod DeHaai and Arica Brinegar.

• School board member director, District 5: Brandon Teeple and Jeremy St. Peter.

• School board member director, District 7: Steve Nearmyer and Samantha VanWyk.

Here is the list of candidates for city council/mayor:

BAXTER

• Mayor: Doug Bishop.

• City council: Jamie Milligan, Tootie Samson and Stephen Smith.

COLFAX

• Mayor: Howard Williams and David Mast.

• City council Ward 1: Bryan Poulter.

• City council Ward 3: Danny Neal Haney Jr. and Wes Snyder.

• City council at-large: Curtis Small.

KELLOGG

• Mayor: Lonnie Huffaker.

• City council: Tenny Hinshaw.

LAMBS GROVE

• Mayor: Patrick Edwards. (48)

• City council: Catherine Fouts, John Bartello Jr., Chris Norman, Matthew Mason Strumpell and Kathryn Strumpell.

LYNNVILLE

• Mayor: Mark Newberg.

• City council: Bailey Tompins and Tanis Comegys.

MINGO

• Mayor: NO CANDIDATES FILED

• City council: Cory Bode and Kristen Crozier.

MONROE

• Mayor: Douglas Duinink.

• City council: Earl Butch Umble and Andy Algreen.

NEWTON

• Mayor: Evelyn George, Randy Ervin and Lonnie Appleby.

• City council Ward 1: Julia Prendergast and Mark Hallam.

• City council Ward 3: Barney Bushore and Stacy Simbro.

• City council at-large: Joel Mills, Cassandra Pence, Robert Williams, Jerry Chandler Jr. and Ron Bookout.

OAKLAND ACRES

Mayor: NO CANDIDATES FILED

City council: Susan Martin and Lisa Griffith.

PRAIRIE CITY

Mayor: Chad Alleger.

City council: Derek Ingle, Joe Disney and Daniel Riemersma.

City council to fill a vacancy: Debbie Townsend and Phil Holland.

REASNOR

Mayor: Rami Weishaar and Lorrie Cupp.

City council: Derek Stephen Rice and Tara Rose Rice.

City council to fill a vacancy: Darin Galbraith.

SULLY

Mayor: Rebecca Vanwyk and Benjamin Ahrens.

City council: Tim Lecompte and Mary Carol Cross.

VALERIA

Mayor: Zachary Lee.

City council: Jordan Dreher, Shane Craft, Kathie Forck, Chris Molano and Nichol Oldsen.

Christopher Braunschweig

Christopher Braunschweig

Christopher Braunschweig has a strong passion for community journalism and covers city council, school board, politics and general news in Newton, Iowa and Jasper County.