Contested Elections throughout the County; Mayor races heat up

Following Friday’s official write-in deadline for this fall’s elections, the races in Caribou County got even hotter.  At the end of the week prior, the first filing deadline ended with a number of surprises on the ballots.  Though it was tempting, we held those filings in the off chance that write-in candidacies and other developments changed the dynamics of the race, and it’s a good thing we did.  Often, odd-numbered election years are the less intense ones, since they are set aside for municipal and special district elections.  Sometimes, though, a lot happens at once.  In alphabetical order:

Bancroft

Bancroft saw the biggest effects of write-in candidacies as they affected both the the race for mayor and city council.  In the mayor’s race, Eric Christensen and Joe Perry are both on the ballot.  Mike Ackerman, who had initially filed in the mayor’s race, switched to a write-in spot in the city council race.  The city council race also includes write-in candidates Jessica Thurman (currently appointed to the council following a vacancy), and Raquel Reed.  The three candidates are running for two open positions.  Only candidates who have officially filed the paperwork to run as write-in candidates will have votes cast for them officially counted.  With a new mayor and recent changeover at the city council level, Bancroft will definitely look a bit different for next year.

Grace  

In Grace, Kim Lowe and Tyler Hyrum are running unopposed for the two open seats, with no write-in candidates entering the ring last week.  

The mayor’s race is a different story, however, as current mayor Jackie Barthlome announced that she will be seeking another term, and challenger David (Dave) Pristupa putting his hat in the ring as well.  

Soda Springs

Soda Springs has the busiest election slate locally, and like Bancroft has a contested mayoral and city council election.  Current mayor Austin Robinson is not running for another term, leading to several well-known candidates filing to run for the position.  On the ballot are Brock Byram, Paul Gritton, and Robert Lau.  Paul Gritton is a currently serving councilmember, and if elected to the mayorship a new councilmember would need to be appointed.  Lau is a former councilmember.  Byram is a local business owner, whose wife Paige is running for one of the city council spots.

The city council has two seats up, with Paige Byram joining currently serving Ryan Carpenter and Rod Worthington on the slate.  City Council seats are not assigned to particular districts, so the top two vote earners will win the seats.  

Other elections

The only other contested race on the ballot is for Zone 3 School Board Trustee in School District #149.  James Philip and Brandi Wakley are running for the position.  Running uncontested are Raini Hayden (Zone1), and Marc Holbrook (zone 4).

Other uncontested elections include District #148 Trustees Andrea Smith in zone 3 and Laura Johnson in Zone 4;  District #150 will see Myra Leatherman (Zone 3) and Michael Leman (Zone 4) run unopposed as well.  Richard Mydzik and Darrell Moore are on the ballot for the Bailey Creek Fire District.