With the period for candidates to file documents to run in the April election closing on Jan. 15, south Cass County residents are getting a clearer idea of who will be campaigning for election in the coming weeks.
Harrisonville has the largest field of contenders because the position of mayor and four alderman seats are up for re-election.
In the mayoral race, Ward 1 Alderman Judy Bowman is running against incumbent mayor Brian Hasek.
Candidates for Ward 1 Alderman are Dave Doerhoff, Christopher Benjamin and Brenda Durbin Cox.
In Ward 2, incumbent Marcia Milner is running against Morris Coburn, a former alderman.
Three candidates are seeking the Ward 3 Alderman seat, including incumbent Clint Long, William “Bill” Mills and Clint Miller.
In Ward 4, candidates who filed are Gary Davidson and Jessica Levsen.
In Garden City, Matthew Smith and Daniel Strasburg have filed to run for East Ward Alderman. Brian Walton and Alvin Poisal will contend for the West Ward Alderman set. The position of tax collector is also open, but no one filed to run for the office.
In Archie, Ian Wade will face incumbent Les Whiteside for mayor. East Ward Alderman Scott Kendrick will run unopposed for re-election. There are no candidates filed for the West Ward Alderman seat.
In Peculiar, Jared Borden is running unopposed for Ward 1 Alderman, Donald Turner is unopposed in Ward 2 and Ty Erickson will face Roger Dougherty for the Ward 3 Alderman position.
In Drexel, Mayor Terry Mayfield is running for re-election to a two-year term without opposition. Brian Faulkner and Tim Eastwood are seeking election to the two alderman positions which are two-year terms.
In Cleveland, three incumbents, Ray Morgan, Tom Reintjes and Albert “Skip” Muller, are running for re-election to the Board of Aldermen. There is no opposition.
The situation is much the same in Freeman where Casey Nichols is seeking a two-year term as the West Ward Alderman and Sean Flanagan is running for a two-year term as East Ward Alderman. Neither man is facing opposition.
Lake Annette’s mayor, Angela Hansen, is also running unopposed for re-election. In addition, voters will select two aldermen-at-large from a pool that includes Edward DeMoussett, Jim Dalton, Jeff Ford and Donnie McNiel.
In both Freeman and Lake Annette, voters will be asked to allow the municipalities to forgo annual elections where the number of candidates who have filed for office is equal to the number of positions in the office to be filled, or in other words, where a candidate would be running unopposed in any race.
The overall outlook for school board elections this year would seem to be low-key affairs based upon the relatively small number of candidates who have filed to run.
The Harrisonville Cass R-9 School District has two candidates, Tina Graef, incumbent, and Brittney Sexton, to fill two seats.
Four candidates have filed to run for seats on the Raymore-Peculiar Cass R-2 School District Board. They are Susan Edmonsond, Joyce Noah, Bill Lowe and Aaron Howlett.
In the Sherwood Cass R-8 School District, Daniel Turner and Robert Schumacher are running unopposed for re-election to the board. Voters in the district will also be asked to approve an increase in the tax levy to benefit the school district.
Midway Cass R-I School District, candidates Matthew Carver, Charles Bayard and Rex Eckhoff, are vying for the two seats on the board. Carver and Bayard are incumbents while Eckhoff is a challenger.
Archie Cass R-5 School District has two board positions and two candidates, Jonas Jones, an incumbent, and Leslie Shrewsbury.
Finally, Drexel Cass R-4 School District has three candidates, Andrea Harris and incumbents Tim Eastwood and Josh Gordon, running for the two open seats on the governing board.
Municipal elections will be held April 2, and voters must be registered by March 6 to vote in the election. To register to vote, call the Cass County Clerk at 816-380-8108.
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