Not all Allen Countians will have many choices on their respective ballots Tuesday.
In fact, several races will depend on write-in votes to fill vacancies, with contested seats few and far between.
Only voters in Gas and LaHarpe, Humboldt area and Savonburg will decide contested races.
Gas and LaHarpe voters have two candidates for the USD 257 Board of Education election. Jennifer Coltrane and Tracy Lee are seeking to fill the seat held by Darrel Catron, who chose not to seek re-election this year.
For Humboldt USD 258, five candidates are seeking three seats: Candidates are Nathan Ellison, Helen Harrington, Kevin Heisler, Kristal Julich and Jamie Mueller.
Meanwhile, Savonburg voters will pick their next mayor, choosing from incumbent Vern Cuppet Jr. and Aaron Wilson.
ALL OTHER Allen County races have as many or more vacancies than candidates.
Iola City Councilman Jon Wells is the only candidate for mayor. Mayor Joel Wicoff did not file for re-election.
Councilwoman Nancy Ford filed for re-election to represent Ward 1, while Ronald Ballard filed to fill Beverly Franklin’s seat in Ward 2 and former Councilman Gene Myrick filed to fill the outgoing Donald Becker’s seat in Ward 3. None have opponents
No candidate — including incumbent Sandy Zornes — filed to fill Zornes’ seat in Ward 4.
Zornes has encouraged several residents in her ward to mount a write-in campaign.
Thus far, only one — Mark Peters, a retired Gates Corporation employee — has done so, at least publicly.
Peters announced on his Facebook page this week he was looking to replace Zornes.
“My main focus is, we don’t need more businesses in town; we need more people,” Peters told the Register Friday. “We have places begging for people to hire, but they can’t get them.”
He noted Gates recently closed down a coupler assembly line, rather than expand it, because the plant could not find the 140 workers necessary to fill the extra jobs.
The 90 or so employees already in the line were moved elsewhere in the plant.
