Cassville North Ward, Seligman East Ward challenged
Voters will have their say in two cities and two school boards in the April 2 General Municipal Election, and two cities will have seats open due to resignations.
Elections with challengers include the Cassville North Ward alderman seat, the city of Seligman East Ward alderman seat, the Southwest School Board and the Purdy School Board.
In Cassville, North Ward incumbent Mike Phillips will see a challenge from Zane LeCompte. Justin Gates filed unopposed to keep a south ward seat, to which he was recently appointed after former alderman Mike Vining moved out of the ward.
The city of Seligman has one contested ward and another ward open. In the East Ward, incumbent Brandon Tanis is being challenged by Eldora Pratt. In the West Ward, incumbent Lynda Freeman declined to refile.
At Southwest, three candidates are vying for two three-year terms. Incumbents Daniel “Danny” Dalton and Robert Catron will appear on the ballot with challenger John Mulkey.
The Purdy School Board has the most candidates at four, with two open seats. Incumbents Ruben Henderson and Ken Terry will face challenges from Joshua Conner and Lee Ann Shamblin.
Four area cities will not hold any elections due to no challengers.
In Exeter, there are no open seats, as resignations in the last cycle prompted an out-of-cycle election where the candidates did not have challengers and won two-year seats. Currently, all four Exeter city council terms are set to expire in April 2025.
Wheaton saw both its incumbents refile, Brandon Shockley for the east ward and Jeremy Martell for the west ward. Purdy saw the same, as East Ward incumbent Bob Moser and West Ward incumbent Heather VanNote each refiled with no challengers.
In Washburn, two alderman at-large seats are up for election, with incumbent Connie Deans refiling and incumbent Cheryl Floyd declining to refile.
Currently, Seligman’s West Ward seat and on at-large seat in Washburn will remain empty.
The Cassville, Exeter and Wheaton school boards will see no changes and hold no elections.
Incumbents Wade Hermansen and Steven Henbest will retain their seat in Cassville, as will incumbents Mitch Sorensen and Sammy Hudson in Exeter. A third person did file in Cassville, but has since withdrawn and will not appear on the ballot.
In Wheaton, incumbents Kevin Schlessman and Christ Ray will retain the three-year seats, and Joel Stansbury was the only person to file for a one-year seat opened by a recent resignation.
Filings for the General Municipal Election closed on Dec. 26, 2023 and are set to be certified on Jan. 23.
The last day to register to vote in the election is March 6, and the election will be held on April 2.
