It’s election day, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Manhattan voters are electing city commissioners and school board members for USD 383.
There are six candidates running for the three open positions on the Manhattan City Commission, with only one incumbent running for re-election. The candidates are Mike Dodson, Jerred McKee, Wynn Butler, Linda Morse, John Ball, and Kaleb James.
There are five candidates for the four open Manhattan/Ogden USD 383 Board of Education positions including four incumbents. Nicholas Dyer, Curt Herrman, Darrell Edie, Leah Fliter, and David Colburn are trying for the at-large USD 383 slots.
Voters in rural Riley County are electing school board members this election–with Riley County’s USD 378 drawing the most candidates. 11 candidates are running for the four open positions.
Glen Hawkins, Kyle Bohnenblust, and Jay Caley are trying for position one; incumbent Shane Allen, Donna Bulk, and Michael Lindell for position two, Dennis Tegtmeier and Randy O’Boyle are running for Position three; and Jared Larson, Vinton Visser, and Michael McCoy for the at large position.
USD 378 patrons can vote for all four positions.
Blue Valley/Randolph USD 384 also has four positions open–only one is contested. Incumbent Marla Webster and Stephen Corkill are both trying for position three. Incumbent David Innes is running for position two. James Peter, also an incumbent, is the only candidate for the Position seven, at large opening. No one filed for Position one, which means a write-in candidate will likely be elected.
Manhattan’s not the only city with an election. Leonardville, Ogden, Randolph, and Riley all have elections for mayors and council members.
In Ogden, only incumbent Mayor Robert Pence is running for that position. Seven candidates are running for five council positions in Ogden including Ed Burch, Felecia Zeedyk, Kenneth Carroll, Jim Arp, Brian Still, Roger Graham, and Eladio Reid Jr.
In Leonardville Mike Johnson is the only candidate for Mayor, with Jim and Evadne Olson the only candidates for the three council positions.
Randolph has no candidate for Mayor, but two candidates for five council positions. Donna Baer and Jane Dunstan are running for Randolph City Council.
Riley has one candidate, Timothy Sharp, for Mayor. Only Jeremy Ballard filed for Riley City Council, with two positions open.
Pottawatomie County voters will be deciding on several city and school board races.
While all cities and school boards in the county have elections, the only ones that are contested include St. George, with three people running for Mayor and five people running for two council seats. Mayoral candidates include Derrick Milham, Kendall Ricker, and Timothy Calmes. City Council candidates for St. George include Theresa Calmes, Christy Calmes, Josh Winkleman, Christopher Collins, and Tina Mudge.
In Onaga, two people are running for Mayor–including August Hartwich and Gary Holthaus. Four people are running for three council positions including Dale Renfro, Verne Ratcliff, Tom Walsh, and Max Loughmiller.
Wamego’s USD 320 has two candidates for it’s at large, position seven slot.. Richard Weixelman and Bruce Coleman are both running for that school board position
Kaw Valley’s USD 321 and Onaga’s USD 322 also have contested races.